A disgruntled Real Canadian Superstore customer shared his firsthand experience of seeing shrinkflation in action.
On May 12, a Reddit user shared a photo on the subreddit Loblaws Is Out of Control, highlighting his experience witnessing shrinkflation at the Loblaw-owned supermarket. He spoke with Daily Hive to discuss what happened.
The shopper, who preferred to go by the name Alan, said he was at the Loblaw-owned Real Canadian Superstore on Sunday, May 11, at around 5:30 p.m. CT. The supermarket is located at 1385 Sargent Ave. in Winnipeg, Man.
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While at the frozen food section, he spotted $10 bags of pork and vegetable potstickers. However, upon closer inspection, he realized something was different about the identical bags: on top was a bag that weighed 1.13 kg, while underneath was a bag that weighed 1.25 kg. Despite the weight difference, both were priced at $10.
Alan shared the photo with the caption, “Gotta love when they put the newly shrinkflated stock right on top of the old stock.”
Canadian non-profit Équiterre defines shrinkflation as “a merchandising strategy, often used in inflationary times, which involves reducing the quantity and/or size of a product without any accompanying reduction in the retail price.”
According to its website, it’s a common strategy for keeping prices low. A 2004 study by Harvard Business School revealed that shoppers are more likely to notice a price increase than a change in the quantity of a product.
When asked how he felt about seeing the difference in the weight, Alan said, “My reaction was, ‘What a bunch of money-grabbing scammers.’ They keep selling us less of the product for the same price and hope we don’t notice, but they can’t even rotate the product correctly so we can see their dirty work.”
Another Redditor wrote, “Saw the same sh*t with Mini-Wheats the other day too — one box was 460 g, while the other right next to it was 400 g. ”
A Real Canadian Superstore employee who asked to remain anonymous shared a similar experience.
“Started happening last week at my work,” they commented. They told Daily Hive that while restocking, they noticed the difference between the bags of Pepperoni Pizza Snacks — one weighs 1.2 kg, while another weighs 1 kg.
One commenter stated, “I’m surprised they didn’t put ‘new look’ or ‘improved formula/recipe’ to distract from the shrinkflation like most other companies do.”
Daily Hive has contacted Loblaw for a comment and will update this story when it responds.
Have you witnessed shrinkflation first-hand recently? Let us know in the comments or email us at trending@dailyhive.com.