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Tipsheet

Companies Begin 'Shrinkflation' to Mask Inflated Prices

AP Photo/Matt Rourke

No, you're not imagining it — the products we rely on are, in addition to rising in price, shrinking in size. From paper towels and toilet paper to beverages and snacks, Americans are finding their dollars getting them less and less in another inflationary phenomenon known as "shrinkflation."

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The practice of decreasing the amount or quantity of goods is something of a last-ditch effort for producers to keep from passing additional costs trigged by record-high inflation on to consumers in a less noticeable way. By shrinking their products, the price on the shelf stays the same, but the amount of product goes down. 

Consumer World tracks prices on common goods as well as the shrinkflation phenomenon, and it's apparently sweeping the country, as this AP explainer video from the group explains:

Angel Soft toilet paper's mega rolls went from 425 sheets to 320. Miracle Gro plant food decreased from 5 pounds to 4.25 pounds. Each box of Kleenex now contains five fewer tissues. Honey Bunches of Oats shrunk from 14.5 to 12 ounce boxes. Arm & Hammer laundry detergent now comes with 67.5 fl oz, instead of the previous 75.

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The New York Post also noted that Chobani Flips yogurt went from from 5.3 ounces to 4.5 ounces. Folgers coffee cans shrunk from 51 ounces to 43.5 ounces. Fritos "party" bags now pack less of a party at 15.5 ounces down from 18 ounces. Gatorade bottles have also gotten smaller, with 32 ounce sizes being phased out in favor of new 28 ounces. Even Domino's Pizza shrunk the quantity of chicken wings per order from 10 to 8.

As Townhall has tracked for months, the Producer Price Index has continued to hit all-time highs as the costs for companies to manufacture their products and get them to markets rise. The latest PPI data (April) showed an 11 percent increase year-over-year. 

Price watchers advise consumers to check the unit price listed on labels in stores rather than trying to remember what size common products used to be. Those unit prices, like overall prices in the U.S. economy, however, continue to soar as well.

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On Friday, the government's latest measure of consumer inflation will be released. It's likely to show that — even with shrinkflation being employed to try and mask price increases — Americans' paychecks are buying them less and less as any wage growth is dwarfed by rising costs. 

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