Cost of Living - Shrinkflation is speeding up at an alarming rate

CMA still need to investigate the UK supermarket supply lines
(fixed priced contracts, that screwed over egg/dairy producers under Ukraine/covid/bird-flu vs european supermarkets)

but in the mean time looks like another bogeyman
Over at Unilever, life is nothing like that. Tuesday’s half-year figures showed underlying operating profits at the Dove, Hellmann’s and Marmite titan up 3% to €5.2bn (£4.5bn). And forget any notion of rubbing along on low single-digit margins: at the same operating level, the figure was a plump 17.1%.

Lifebuoy, Dove, Sunsilk, Knorr, Lux, Sunlight, Rexona/Degree, Axe/Lynx, Ben & Jerry's, Omo/Persil, Heartbrand (Wall's) ice creams, Hellmann's and Magnum
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Personally it's only the shrinking bars of dove soap that impact us.
 
It seems the BBC has found an absolute clown show of people to quote on their article today. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66049150

Lola, a 23-year-old student at Oxford University, may not be the type of person who springs to mind when someone thinks of a shoplifter.
"I only steal things I need but I can't afford. Like instant coffee. How's it £7?" she says.
Lola is living off a £12,000 student loan while she completes her Masters. She doesn't get any help from her parents. After paying rent, she says she struggles to afford basic items so has turned to shoplifting.
"I'm a student and I can barely afford to eat. It should be everyone's right to afford a shop a week."
Last year, Lola was working full-time on a good salary and she didn't shoplift. "When you have a full-time job, paying £7 for coffee isn't as hard hitting," she says.
When asked why she doesn't buy cheaper products she said she prefers the taste. Because she used to be able to afford it, she's gotten used to it.
"I'm not defending thieving, but I think stealing £7 here and there doesn't have a huge impact."

The problem is that shrinkflation and increases in costs are undeniable and affecting a lot of people, but when you invite muppets like the above it just damages the issue. She steals coffee because she doesn't like the cheap stuff? Really? And then goes on to say that she isn't defending thieving, but then defends her thieving?

Couldn't the BBC find any better examples?
 
Since when was coffee considered an essential ingredient for sustaining life? This kind of crap makes me furious, coffee is a luxury item. Now if she didn't have access to water on tap and she was nicking bottled water I might be more sympathetic.

£7 for coffee is ridiculous though.
 
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NooBish AbbZ said:
Not necessarily shrinkflation but a few weeks ago I had an out-loud exclamation in Lidl. I buy their 10kg bag of Basmati Rice. In the past it's always had a handle at the top for carrying (juts holes in the plastic bag, but it worked fine) and then the last time I picked up a new bag, no holes. SO now you have this 10kg bag of rice which is an utter **** to hold on to because the plastic is also slippery. My out loud vent was a simple "Why the **** does everything get *******?!?!"

Going to a supermarket now is just... demoralising. I have a good job, cheap accommodation and decent savings. Yet I bought a certain pack of eggs today because they were 13.3p(mixed size) per piece rather than 23.3(large) per piece(Lidl)
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I've noticed this with Tesco parmesan. It used to have a air lock on the package so it would keep in the fridge once opened but they got rid of it. Now I waste it before getting through it all. :mad:
 
Monkeynut said:
It seems the BBC has found an absolute clown show of people to quote on their article today. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66049150

Lola, a 23-year-old student at Oxford University, may not be the type of person who springs to mind when someone thinks of a shoplifter.
"I only steal things I need but I can't afford. Like instant coffee. How's it £7?" she says.
Lola is living off a £12,000 student loan while she completes her Masters. She doesn't get any help from her parents. After paying rent, she says she struggles to afford basic items so has turned to shoplifting.
"I'm a student and I can barely afford to eat. It should be everyone's right to afford a shop a week."
Last year, Lola was working full-time on a good salary and she didn't shoplift. "When you have a full-time job, paying £7 for coffee isn't as hard hitting," she says.
When asked why she doesn't buy cheaper products she said she prefers the taste. Because she used to be able to afford it, she's gotten used to it.
"I'm not defending thieving, but I think stealing £7 here and there doesn't have a huge impact."

The problem is that shrinkflation and increases in costs are undeniable and affecting a lot of people, but when you invite muppets like the above it just damages the issue. She steals coffee because she doesn't like the cheap stuff? Really? And then goes on to say that she isn't defending thieving, but then defends her thieving?

Couldn't the BBC find any better examples?
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Sure they could. But the BBC wants clicks like every other "news" channel, these days. It's all about "engagement" and brand BBC.

Honestly, the BBC has fallen a long way since my childhood, when it was well-respected.

News is classified as an entertainment product, these days.
 
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Peter75 said:
Since when was coffee considered an essential ingredient for sustaining life? This kind of crap makes me furious, coffee is a luxury item. Now if she didn't have access to water on tap and she was nicking bottled water I might be more sympathetic.

£7 for coffee is ridiculous though.
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I buy Lidl’s own gold label coffee and that’s about £3.50.

Problem is most people are too ignorant to try supermarket labels
 
Supermarkets love customers who don’t change their shopping habits - don’t look at the offers, buy the same stuff each week. Plus those who grab the first thing “that will do”

Hence why most of the budget lines are at the bottom shelf
 
FoxEye said:
Sure they could. But the BBC wants clicks like every other "news" channel, these days. It's all about "engagement" and brand BBC.

Honestly, the BBC has fallen a long way since my childhood, when it was well-respected.

News is classified as an entertainment product, these days.
Click to expand...

Yup couldn't agree more.

BBC is horrendous these days.
 
Monkeynut said:
It seems the BBC has found an absolute clown show of people to quote on their article today. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66049150

Lola, a 23-year-old student at Oxford University, may not be the type of person who springs to mind when someone thinks of a shoplifter.
"I only steal things I need but I can't afford. Like instant coffee. How's it £7?" she says.
Lola is living off a £12,000 student loan while she completes her Masters. She doesn't get any help from her parents. After paying rent, she says she struggles to afford basic items so has turned to shoplifting.
"I'm a student and I can barely afford to eat. It should be everyone's right to afford a shop a week."
Last year, Lola was working full-time on a good salary and she didn't shoplift. "When you have a full-time job, paying £7 for coffee isn't as hard hitting," she says.
When asked why she doesn't buy cheaper products she said she prefers the taste. Because she used to be able to afford it, she's gotten used to it.
"I'm not defending thieving, but I think stealing £7 here and there doesn't have a huge impact."

The problem is that shrinkflation and increases in costs are undeniable and affecting a lot of people, but when you invite muppets like the above it just damages the issue. She steals coffee because she doesn't like the cheap stuff? Really? And then goes on to say that she isn't defending thieving, but then defends her thieving?

Couldn't the BBC find any better examples?
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You missed Ash the assclown, who steals so he could afford to go out with his friends
"If I was earning enough I'd probably stop [stealing]. At the moment I have to choose between paying for food or being able to go out to see my friends. I shouldn't have to make that choice."
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Seems that way.

Picked up a few things from Lidl today, coconut milk up 30p. Bleach only 10p cheaper than Sainsburys. With Lidl being a PITA to queue at, i'll suck the slight cost increase on most items to avoid going there. When you could save a good amount it was worth it, but £1 saving every few weeks, no ta.
 
A couple of things I noticed on the shelves while in Tescos...
Colmans condiments (horseradish / mint sauce etc) was always £1, now £1.75
Primula cream cheese tube, used to be £1, now £1.85...
So, about that 20% inflation...
 
Uther said:
A couple of things I noticed on the shelves while in Tescos...
Colmans condiments (horseradish / mint sauce etc) was always £1, now £1.75
Primula cream cheese tube, used to be £1, now £1.85...
So, about that 20% inflation
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Very strange the timing and amounts on selected products. There's some reasoning in delays such as using up stock and the trickle down costs from imported ingredients, but hmm.

Sainsbury's own bread when introduced around 2021 i reckon (unless i missed it prior to CoL), went up from around 60p to 85p gradually, then dropped ~6 months to 75p. Definitely games are being played out.
 
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