SHRINKFLATION & DIY

There’s been much media mention recently on the modern phenomenon otherwise known as ‘shrinkflation’ where the size of everyday items magically diminishes but the price remains the same or increases. 

 

Private Eye's Xmas Giftmart 

Profiteering retailers accused of adopting this tactic have justified their actions by claiming that it protects consumers from price rises – yeah, right!  More like protecting their shareholders from dwindling dividends and saving their profit margins.  Everyone knows that adverse price differentials are passed down to consumers faster than Sonic the Hedgehog.

Faster than your average hedgehog

Shrinkflation has been happening across supermarket products for some time now.  Marzipan packs having recently shrunk in the wash are a good example. 

 

How much?????

Previously marzipan was sold in packs of 500 grams.  Now pack sizes are 454 g which means that in order to have 1 kg of marzipan to cover an averagely sized cake, three packs not two have to be purchased.  Not only is this more costly to the consumer but wasteful too as you end up with quite a chunk left over because you’ve had to buy more than was actually needed.  

Guess what?  Going forward I won’t be bothering to cover my fruit cakes with marzipan, I’ll just rough royal ice them instead thus saving myself a ton of cash.  Have you seen the price of marzipan lately?  Around £3 for under half a kilo! 

It seems shrinkflation has now landed in the DIY world too so take care when buying lengths of pre-packed timber such as pineboard as you may end up with a costly timber bill.  Previously most timber lengths were based around multiples of the number 6 with most pieces measuring 900 mm, 1200 mm, 1800mm and 2400 mm making it easy to work out your requirements.

 

I remember the days when timber was longer

However, I’ve noticed that these dimensions are slowly being replaced by shorter lengths measuring 850 mm, 1150 mm, 1750 mm and 2350 mm.  As with the marzipan example, these new sizes result in more wood having to be purchased and greater wastage particularly if your project revolves around even numbered measurements.