Shoppers left fuming after Febreze shrinks popular household product but price stays the same

FEBREZE have caused a stink by reducing the size of their air fresheners – and charging customers the same amount.

Virtually half of the popular Air Mist spray has evaporated from the cans, as it becomes the latest victim of supermarket ‘shrinkflation’.

Tesco

The aerosol, which comes in a variety of scents such as Cotton Fresh and Pet Heavy Duty, has been reduced from 300ml to 185ml.

But despite the 39 per cent reduction, Tesco were spotted advertising the two products with the same £2.50 price tag.

It means that hard-hit consumers are forking out more than £13.50 per litre, compared to just £8.33 before.

After sniffing out the mammoth reduction, Jon Silk fumed on social media: “Febreze, what’s with the shrinkflation? 

“300ml in a can from last year and only 185ml this year! What’s the likelihood that the price has dropped by 40%? 

“And all the extra packaging involved in having smaller cans? What a waste of packaging!

Another said: “Even Febreze has discreetly made their spray bottles smaller by making them thinner. 

“They look the same but when you still have an old one and put them side by side you notice the “slimming”. The price has not gone down!”

Whilst a third added: “Oh look, another shrinkflation rip off!”

Tesco confirmed that manufacturers Proctor and Gamble had discontinued the original 300ml product. 

And a spokesperson for Procter and Gamble said: “This year, we improved our Febreze Air Mist product.

“This has given shoppers the same number of sprays but now with 2X longer freshness vs the previous formula.

“Thanks to these improvements in formula, propellant and bottle design, the Febreze Air Mist now uses 20% less packaging.”

What is shrinkflation?

Shrinkflation is when manufacturers shrink the size or quantity of a product while keeping the price the same.

This means that consumers will be paying more per given amount.

It is a form of hidden inflation and can go unnoticed by customers.

But companies run the risk of turning customers away from a product or brand if they do notice they are getting less for the same price.

The “shrink” in shrinkflation relates to the change in product size, while the -flation part refers to inflation – the rise in the price level, according to Investopedia.

What causes shrinkflation?

Companies will often engage in shrinkflation when their production costs begin to rise.

When key materials or labor shoot up in price, the cost to manufacture goods rises as well.

This can cause a heavy hit to profit margins and may force the company to simply shrink their products rather than increase the sticker price.

One of the best ways to notice shrinkflation is by spotting a redesign on the packaging or a new slogan.

This may means the company has made a change and that change may just be the size of the product.

The price of cocoa, for example, will impact companies producing candy bars.

Rather than increase the price of their product, the company may choose to reduce the size to keep competitive with other companies.

Mars Inc took this path in 2017, shrinking its range of Maltesers, M&Ms, and Minstrels in the United Kingdom by 15%, according to powderbulksolids.com.