Hard-pressed UK shoppers feel food ‘shrinkflation’

Consumers increasingly claim that manufacturers are reducing the size of products, Barclays research finds

Hard-pressed consumers feel they are becoming the victims of food industry “shrinkflation” amid signs the UK’s persistent cost of living crisis is making households more alert to the need to get value for money.

With food prices up by almost 20% in the past year, the latest snapshot of consumer activity from Barclays found households were concentrating spending on essentials and increasingly concerned that manufacturers were reducing the size of products such as chocolate bars and packets of crisps.