France in Focus

Yes, I have definitely noticed this. I'm fairly sure this list is a drop in the bucket of reality.

https://www.bfmtv.com/economie/doritos- ... 50188.html

Is it in the government's (any government's) interest to prevent this?

Inflation and related indices are calculated around a basket of products - but if we look it is per item not per gram - so making a package smaller and keeping the price the same looks better than increasing prices and keeping the packet size the same.

So the inflation figures (and CPI/RPI in the UK) are lower this way - so ministers who have promised to reduce inflation can say they did their job and all those pay rises based on the figures can be lower saving the government money.

Everyone's a winner - apart from the consumer.

Mars bars and Wagon Wheels were a lot bigger when I was a lad.

Isn't the Mars bar shrinkage, in part, due to the 250-calorie limit that all manufacturers have to adopt?

Yes Wagon Wheels were the size of dustbin lids and it took two of us to carry a Mars Bar when I was a lad

The one we notice most is the cost of Felix (Tendre effiles) cat food.

Once upon a time (5 years ago) we bought boxes of 48 sachets at a price of 2.67€/kg (which is the only price I am interested in). These then went to boxes of 44 sachets at the same price per box. Then 40 sachets per box. Then back to 44 sachets but the size of a sachet had dropped from 100g to 85g. I have seen boxes with 80g per sachet but never bought. I expect that that will be the next move.

I am now buying boxes of 120 sachets (85g) at a price of 4.61€/kg. So in 5 years a 73% increase in price, much of it hidden through reducing the number of sachets and the sachet size. Shame on you Nestle.

@exile I
Yes, we were buying it from zooplus but no longer. They now get supermarket own label food but also Purina croquettes. In the evening they share (two cats) a sachet of Whiskas (85g).
Just looked at zooplus 6.66 euros/kilo for a box of 44!

Mice around here are free, and a hungry cat is pretty good at catching them.

ajm wrote: ↑Tue Sep 05, 2023 11:39 am Mars bars and Wagon Wheels were a lot bigger when I was a lad.

and you were a lot smaller

Dishonesty and deception are the mainstay of modern retail capitalism. Of course the shareholders raking in their dividends don't complain.