CADBURY is under fire from parents after making a major change to a popular kids treat.
The chocolate maker has cut the size of snack bags of Animals biscuits leaving mums and dads feeling short-changed.
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A pack of the chocolate-coated biscuits used to contain seven smaller bags to dish out to kids every day of the week.
Now the number has been reduced to five – two fewer – although the price remains the same.
The popular product used to weigh a total 139.3g, but now is only 99.5g but the price remains the same at £1.25 in most supermarkets.
Parents have railed at the change, which amounts to a 29% reduction in weight, as previously they could give kids one each day of the week.
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But Cadbury said it was facing high costs across its supply chain, including the soaring prices of cocoa and sugar.
One upset dad said on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Another staple off the food shop, as @cadburyUK decided not just to increase the price of their Animals biscuits by 20%, but also reduce the pack size from seven to five.”
They added: “Seven was just convenient – one a day.”
Meanwhile on the Morrisons website, a shopper said little children were being “cheated”.
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“Less Animals in the packet for the same price. Why not put the price up a little and keep the contents the same,” they said.
Another moaned: “The packaging has changed and there used to be seven packs in the bag and now there’s five for the same price.”
I’m a money expert – I have evidence of how shrinkflation is affecting five common items on your supermarket trip
The snacks are another victim of shrinkflation – where manufacturers reduce the size of a product while keeping the price the same.
They often do this to avoid increasing prices, but shoppers are left with less.
Mondelez International, which owns Cadbury, said the change was down to rising cost of key ingrediants.
A spokesperson said: “We understand the economic pressures that consumers continue to face.
“However, as a food producer, we are continuing to experience significantly higher input costs across our supply chain, with ingredients such as cocoa and sugar, which are widely used in our products, costing far more than they have done previously.
“This means that our products continue to be much more expensive to make and while we have absorbed these costs where possible, we still face considerable challenges.
“As a result, we’ve made the decision to decrease the amount of packs in Cadbury Animals so that we can continue to provide the great taste and quality our fans expect.”
What is shrinkflation?
Shrinkflation is when manufacturers reduce the size or quantity of a product, while keeping the price the same.
Prices are rising and food and drink makers are reluctant to pass this on to consumers.
Instead, shrinking the item means the price tag doesn’t change. But shoppers get less for their money.
Some manufacturers have even put UP the price at the same time as making products smaller.
Another tactic used is known as skimpflation.
This is when the recipe of food and drink is changed to try and reduce production costs.
But shoppers still pay the same, or more.
For instance a Channel 4 documentary recently found Jacob’s Mini Cheddars had 20% less cheese compared to two years ago, when they were almost a third cheaper.
An investigation by The Sun found a number of supermarkets watered down mulled wine at Christmas.
Cocoa prices hit a record high earlier this month and has roughly doubled since the start of last year.
Chocolate lovers will face record price hikes this year, major suppliers have warned.
Cocoa — its key ingredient — has already seen prices jump by 20 per cent since the start of the year from poor harvests in Ghana and Ivory Coast.
The chocolate maker has also made a number of other changes to Animals, including packaging and different characters.
“We’ve made positive changes to our Cadbury Animals packaging, including refreshing the design and minimising the amount of packaging used across all Cadbury Animal packs,” the spokesperon said.
“At the same time, we’ve replaced the plastic outer packaging with paper so consumers can recycle our bags more easily.”
It added alongside designing new packaging the company had updated the characters inside Cadbury Animals, including removing the Freddo the frog character.
The Freddo character still lives on through the Freddo chocolate bar.
The change has happened in recent weeks and some stores have not yet sold out of the old version.
Poundland confirmed it still had 500 left in stock, while Sainsbury’s still have them listed on its website.
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Often changes to food and drink products can take a while to hit shelves, as shops clear old stock.
For example, Caramac bars can still be found in some branches despite being discontinued.
What’s getting smaller?
Cheetos when bought in a multi-pack were found to be 25p per pack, rather than 12.5p. They used to be sold in packs of eight for £1, but changed to sixes for £1.50.
A Penguin bar cost 5.8p more since when a pack of seven went up to £1.50 — 25p more than when they were in packs of eight.
Heinz baked beans 415g cans went from 51 % beans to 50% last year. It means about a 4g reduction in beans — or an estimated ten fewer — in a tin. Meanwhile, the price has gone from £1 to £1.40 in the past year.
Christmas chocolate tubs weighed up to 50g less at the end of 2023 than the year before and cost cost up to 50p more.
Cadbury Buttons sharing bags shrunk from 240g to 184.4g, but the price stayed the same at £2.
Consumer group Which? recently found Bisto Best Chicken Gravy Granules fell from 250g to 230g and Cadbury’s Brunch Chocolate Chip Bars now contain five, not six.
The number of PG Tips Tasty Pyramid Decaf bags dropped from 180 to 140.
Andrex toilet wipes reduced from 40 to 36 and the weight of McVities dark chocolate digestives fell from 433g to 400g.
Which? Retail editor Ele Clark said: “While some popular products are subtly decreasing either in size or quality, the same can’t be said for their prices, so shoppers are paying more for less.”
