Chocolate lovers face smaller bars as ‘shrinkflation’ takes hold
When I read the title of this article it really struck a chord with me. I've been a huge fan of chocolate and all the forms it comes in for probably my entire life, but to be honest this could be the final straw. The main issue I have is what is being described as "shrinkflation" where the price of the product remains the same but the portion size gets smaller. The issue has arisen due to the increase in cost of a chocolate bars main ingredient, cocoa. Now I still remember the humble days of when a Freddo's chocolate bar would cost 10p, now the gradual fluctuation in price has seen Mr. Freddo's grow up, get a mortgage and have 3 kids, with the price now rising to an astonishing 25p.
All I can think about is how as a child I would be given a single pound by either my mam or dad and it would be like I've just won the lottery, I could go down to the shops and the world was my oyster. However it's now a rare occasion I can push the boat out and splash the cash on a pack of Freddo's (partly due to the fact I'm now a student). To be fair to Mr. Freddo's I can see this happening in other areas of the confectionary world, Toblerone, Cadbury's and Mars are just a few of the other big names who have either altered the design of their product or they have reduced the amount of product you get, whilst keeping the price of the product the same. I really really struggle to see how this is fair to us though, yet again it is the die hard confectionary lover who is suffering due to changes way out of our control.
But where does all this come from? Well it's not the actual price of cocoa which is rising- that in fact is actually falling, it is the price of the cocoa butter which is rising, cocoa butter is made from other ingredients such as cocoa beans, whole milk powder and sugar which have increased in price drastically at a rate of 50%. This means it has a significant knock on effect for chocolate lovers like me and others around the world. As I feel so strongly about this certain topic I decided to look into the factual date in more detail and found some interesting statistics, cocoa butter prices have risen by 40% in the past year alone where as cocoa bean prices have recently reached a 3 year low, so it should come as no great surprise that as it's the cocoa butter which gives us the unforgettable melt in your mouth feeling (which lets be honest is the reason we all have fallen in love with chocolate) confectionary manufactures would be reluctant to change its recipe as it could risk the whole companies reputation.
If I we're to look at this from a businesses point of view then I can totally understand the reasoning behind the decisions which have been made. Lets face it, companies like Cadbury's are there to create products and make profits, if the cost of one of their ingredients is on the rise then one of either two things will happen, either the cost of the product will increase just like the beloved Freddo, or alternatively the manufacturer will reduce the amount of product in each packet, shown in the case of Cadbury's multipack of cream eggs which has seen a reduction from 6 eggs in a pack to 5.
So in my overall opinion I am deeply hurt by the decisions which have been made by the founding fathers of the confectionary world, however in reality there is very little we can do about it. Businesses are businesses and profits are their main goals, the increased cost of products is likely to continue and "Shrinkflation" is here to stay, much to my disappointment.
Please feel free to let me know how you have been impacted by the changes which have been made to confectionary products below.
https://www.ft.com/content/9e71ebe2-ab56-11e6-9cb3-bb8207902122
All I can think about is how as a child I would be given a single pound by either my mam or dad and it would be like I've just won the lottery, I could go down to the shops and the world was my oyster. However it's now a rare occasion I can push the boat out and splash the cash on a pack of Freddo's (partly due to the fact I'm now a student). To be fair to Mr. Freddo's I can see this happening in other areas of the confectionary world, Toblerone, Cadbury's and Mars are just a few of the other big names who have either altered the design of their product or they have reduced the amount of product you get, whilst keeping the price of the product the same. I really really struggle to see how this is fair to us though, yet again it is the die hard confectionary lover who is suffering due to changes way out of our control.
But where does all this come from? Well it's not the actual price of cocoa which is rising- that in fact is actually falling, it is the price of the cocoa butter which is rising, cocoa butter is made from other ingredients such as cocoa beans, whole milk powder and sugar which have increased in price drastically at a rate of 50%. This means it has a significant knock on effect for chocolate lovers like me and others around the world. As I feel so strongly about this certain topic I decided to look into the factual date in more detail and found some interesting statistics, cocoa butter prices have risen by 40% in the past year alone where as cocoa bean prices have recently reached a 3 year low, so it should come as no great surprise that as it's the cocoa butter which gives us the unforgettable melt in your mouth feeling (which lets be honest is the reason we all have fallen in love with chocolate) confectionary manufactures would be reluctant to change its recipe as it could risk the whole companies reputation.
If I we're to look at this from a businesses point of view then I can totally understand the reasoning behind the decisions which have been made. Lets face it, companies like Cadbury's are there to create products and make profits, if the cost of one of their ingredients is on the rise then one of either two things will happen, either the cost of the product will increase just like the beloved Freddo, or alternatively the manufacturer will reduce the amount of product in each packet, shown in the case of Cadbury's multipack of cream eggs which has seen a reduction from 6 eggs in a pack to 5.
So in my overall opinion I am deeply hurt by the decisions which have been made by the founding fathers of the confectionary world, however in reality there is very little we can do about it. Businesses are businesses and profits are their main goals, the increased cost of products is likely to continue and "Shrinkflation" is here to stay, much to my disappointment.
Please feel free to let me know how you have been impacted by the changes which have been made to confectionary products below.
https://www.ft.com/content/9e71ebe2-ab56-11e6-9cb3-bb8207902122
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