Edeka is planning something very unusual. The international manufacturers of branded goods such as Nestlé, Unilever or Mondelez probably won’t like this at all. The largest food retailer in Germany in terms of sales is considering labeling so-called deceptive packages on the shelf for everyone to see. If this happens, it would be a real novelty in Germany’s supermarkets and quite unpleasant for the Milka, Wagner pizzas and Knorr soup producers. A price pillory right on the shelf.
“We are increasingly noticing,” says an Edeka spokesman, “that the international brand industry in particular is trying everything to maximize its margins. In addition to disproportionately high price increases, this also includes the trick of selling less content at the same or even higher price, Also called deceptive packaging in Germany. Not only Edeka, but also the federal government wants to put a stop to cheating.
Such deceptive packages are a major nuisance for consumers. They often don’t even notice at first when they are being deceived. The product they reach for on the supermarket shelf actually looks the same as it always does. Only when they take a closer look do they realize that the packaging has become a little smaller, but the price has increased a little.
The Hamburg consumer advice center has now chosen the “deceptive package of the month”
The Hamburg consumer advice center has made a name for itself by uncovering such deceptive packages and has now chosen “the deceptive package of the month”. In September, the dubious award was given to the mouthwash Listerine, content minus 100 milliliters, price plus 33.5 percent. Edeka is considering branding such sales practices. “We are considering making our customers aware of the issue,” says the company spokesman.
The problem for supermarkets: consumers aren’t stupid either. Once they realize that they’ve essentially been groomed, they’re pissed. Then they buy somewhere else or forego altogether. This phenomenon can also be observed: Germans’ purchasing mood is in the basement. It fell as much as the number of unmasked fraudulent packages increased. By the way, not just in Germany, everywhere in Europe.
The French supermarket group Carrefour is already putting stickers on deceptive packages. “Shrinkflation,” it says, is an English word created from the terms shrink and inflation, i.e. shrinkage and inflation. “The weight of this product has decreased and the price from our supplier has increased. We are committed to renegotiating the price,” Carrefour’s sticker continues. Such consumer climate stickers could soon also be emblazoned at Edeka if the company doesn’t back down.
“As a grocer, we are doing everything we can to relieve the burden on private households during this difficult time,” says the company spokesman. But Armin Valet, the fraudulent package revealer at the Hamburg consumer advice center, is skeptical. He considers Edeka’s initiative to be an “image campaign”https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/.”Because the retailers are involved in this scam,” says the consumer advocate. Only they are allowed to set the price. And you don’t know who will benefit in the end: the retailer, the manufacturer or both.
Another aspect is that shrinkflation is primarily a phenomenon that is noticeable among large international brand manufacturers. But discounters have also used the scam more frequently in recent months, namely on their own products. Discounters sometimes sell more than 90 percent of their own brands, i.e. products they produce themselves. According to Valet’s knowledge, Aldi in particular is at the forefront of deceptive packages. When asked, neither Aldi Nord, Aldi Süd, Lidl and Rewe wanted to provide “information on pricing”.