Tubs from I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!, Flora and Bertolli are latest victims of ‘shrinkage’ as 500g packs shrink by 10% – but price has remained the same or increased in supermarkets
- 500g tubs Bertolli, Flora and ICBINB! shrunk to 450g in major supermarkets
- Bertolli Original price has risen from £2 in Asda to £2.85 despite 10% contraction
- Adds to cost of living crisis after shoppers see £10 Lurpak and Twix bars shrink
- Spread giants Upfield blame rising commodity costs, but try to ‘limit impact’
‘Shrinkflation’ has spread to supermarket essentials I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!, Flora and Bertolli, a worrying development for UK shoppers.
The 500g tubs of all three buttery spreads, owned by spreads giant Upfield, have shrunk to just 450g, a 10 percent drop despite prices in some supermarkets stabilizing or even rising.
The 1kg tub of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! has also shrunk by 10 percent to just 900g.
In asdaa 500g pack of Bertolli Original rose from £2 for the trade on 29 June from £2.85 to £2.85 – a 43 per cent increase, the grocer reports.
The price of Bertolli Original in Asda has gone up from £2 for a 500g fairing, then increased to £2.85 for the swap to a 10% smaller 450g fairing…still at £2 ,85!
However, the newly shrunk 450g fairing still sells for £2.85, resulting in a 58 per cent increase in price per kilo compared to the older 500g fairing price.
A 450g Bertolli Original tub on sale from Tesco rose in price to £2.85, despite the 500g tub costing £2.45 – an increase of 29 per cent per kilo.
Bertolli Light, however, remained in Tesco at £2.45 after shrinking from 500g to 450g and the new 450g Flora Buttery Spread has remained at £2.25 at its new weight.
This is because last week shoppers saw 1 kg cans of Lurpak that were for a dazzling £9.30 and 750g tubs cost over £7exposing the deepening crisis in the cost of living.
It was also reported last week those “nice size” Twix bars were about 15 percent less fun — with the caramel-chocolate cookie weight dropping from 23g to 20g.
Supermarket essential bread and butter products have been hit by contraction as consumers are increasingly battered by the cost of living crisis. Lurpak (left) is selling for over £7 in some stores – and Twix (right) is downsizing its ‘fun size’ bars from 23g to 20g
The price of Flora Buttery has remained £2.25 in Tesco, despite the tub shrinking from 500g to 450g.
An Upfield spokeswoman blamed the shrinking spread tubs on the rising cost of raw materials, including raw materials that impacted their supply and production costs.
She told the grocer: “In order to continue to offer consumers affordable and quality products, we have had to reduce the amount of litter in our 500g tubs to 450g to ensure a reasonable price and have clearly stated this on the packaging.”
However, she said the final selling point was “always at the discretion of each retailer.”
She added that in these ‘unprecedented times’ Upfield is committed to ‘limiting the impact of these difficult times on consumers and will strive to provide the best value possible, while remaining competitive’.
When asked for comment, Tesco and Asda MailOnline referred to Upfield’s statement.