You’ve probably felt it. That nagging suspicion when you’re replacing the toilet paper roll for the third time this week, or when your favorite box of cereal runs out faster than usual. Maybe you chalked it up to using more product or just not paying attention.
Turns out, you weren’t imagining things. Welcome to the reality of shrinkflation, where everyday items you buy at the grocery store are getting smaller while their price tags stay stubbornly the same. Three-quarters of Americans have noticed shrinkflation at their grocery store, and the numbers paint a troubling picture. Let’s pull back the curtain on some of the biggest culprits hiding in plain sight on supermarket shelves.
1. Toilet Paper Is The Silent Shrinker
Let’s be real here. If there’s one product that’s been hit hardest by shrinkflation, it’s toilet paper. Household paper products like toilet paper and paper towels are the worst offenders, and the history is almost comical if it wasn’t so frustrating. Back in the 1970s, a Charmin roll had 650 single-ply sheets, but by 1975 it shrunk to 500, then to 400 in 1979.
Fast forward to today, and things have gotten even worse. In 1992, a standard roll of Charmin Ultra boasted 170 sheets per roll, compared to today’s versions which contain only 56 sheets. Think about that for a second. The same brand, roughly the same price point, but you’re getting about one-third of the product you got thirty years ago. Charmin’s ultra soft toilet paper 18-count mega package now contains 244 two-ply sheets, down from 264 sheets per roll, and super mega rolls now display 366 sheets versus 396 sheets, amounting to losing the equivalent of about a roll and a half in the new 18-count package.
Companies love to confuse you with terms like “Mega” and “Double” rolls, but these names don’t mean much anymore. The manufacturers keep rebranding and renaming their products with bigger-sounding labels while the actual content keeps shrinking. It’s almost like watching a magic trick, except instead of being amazed, you’re just annoyed.
2. Paper Towels Are Vanishing Sheet By Sheet
Out of 20 household paper products tracked from before the pandemic until today, about 60% had reduced their sheet count. Paper towels are right there alongside toilet paper in the shrinkflation hall of shame. Remember when you could actually clean up a decent-sized spill with just one or two sheets? Those days are fading fast.
Bounty paper towels’ triple pack has shrunk from 165 sheets per roll to 147 sheets. Meanwhile, Costco shoppers noticed something sneaky happening. Kirkland Signature paper towels went from 1,026 square feet to 898 square feet, a reduction of roughly 12.5 percent. That’s a significant chunk of absorbency disappearing without much fanfare or explanation.
The manufacturers aren’t stupid about this either. They’ve created this confusing maze of “Giant,” “Mega,” “Family Size,” and “Super” rolls that make it nearly impossible to figure out what you’re actually getting. You need a calculator and a degree in mathematics just to comparison shop these days.
3. Breakfast Cereals Keep Getting Lighter
Breakfast foods had the second-highest rate of shrinkflation, with about 44% of tracked items now sold in smaller portions. Your morning bowl of nostalgia is literally shrinking before your eyes. Cereal has been a shrinkflation target for years now, and it shows no signs of stopping.
Family-sized Frosted Flakes, made by Kellogg’s, has slimmed from 24 ounces to 21.7 ounces, resulting in a 40% increase in per-ounce pricing. That’s not a minor adjustment. Cocoa Puffs’ family size box dropped from 19.3 ounces to 18.1 ounces at the same $3.99 price, meaning consumers lost a bowl of cereal when they purchased the new one.
Here’s where it gets tricky. Manufacturers are playing games with size labels to mask the shrinkage. Some cereal brands have recently reduced the contents of their family- and giant-sized boxes by more than 20%, and Kellogg’s Corn Flakes had labeled a 24-ounce box as “family size” but now does so on an 18-ounce box, and a 24-ounce box is now labeled as “giant size”. So that “family size” box you habitually grab? It’s probably smaller than it used to be, even though the label makes it sound generous. Clever, but infuriating.
4. Coffee Cans Are Brewing Up Less Product
If you need your morning caffeine fix, you’re paying more for less these days. Folgers coffee cans have gone from 51 ounces to 43.5 ounces. That’s a substantial drop, and it means you’re buying coffee more frequently than you used to, even if you’re drinking the same amount.
Folgers downsized its 51-ounce container to 43.5 ounces but still says it will make up to 400 cups, claiming it’s using a new technology that results in lighter-weight beans. Sure, new technology might make beans lighter, but consumers aren’t buying the explanation when they’re clearly getting less product for their money. Coffee packages have reduced from 12 ounces to 10.5 ounces across multiple brands.
The coffee industry knows you’re hooked on your daily routine. Most people don’t weigh their coffee containers or keep track of exact ounces. They just grab the familiar can and keep moving. That makes coffee an easy target for quiet downsizing.
5. Snack Chips Are Full Of Air And Less Product
You’ve opened a bag of chips and been disappointed by how much empty space sits at the top. That’s nothing new. But what might be new is just how much the actual chip content has decreased. Ruffles potato chips went from 9 ounces to 8.5 ounces, and the complaint about air in the bag still stands.
Party-size Cheetos, made by Frito-Lay, shrank to 15 ounces from 17.5 ounces while its per-ounce price rose to 40 cents from 17 cents. Think about that jump. The bag got smaller, but the price per ounce more than doubled. Woolworths’ original salted corn chips were 200 grams for $2.30 in October 2023, but the price stayed the same while you now get just 175 grams.
Chips are almost the perfect shrinkflation vehicle because the bags are opaque and filled with air for protection. You can’t see through the packaging to judge how much product is actually inside. You’re trusting the weight printed on the label, which most people don’t scrutinize closely enough.
6. Candy And Chocolate Are Losing Weight
About 38% of candy items are now sold in smaller amounts, including party-size Reese’s miniatures which went from 40 ounces to 35.6 ounces, and party-size milk chocolate M&M’s from 42 ounces to 38 ounces. Your Halloween stash and movie night treats are getting noticeably lighter, even if the packaging looks similar.
The Sharing Size of M&Ms had 10.7 ounces worth of candies just a couple of years ago, but now the new 10-ounce bags have about 22 fewer M&Ms in them. Ironically, the name “Sharing Size” feels less accurate when there’s literally less to share. Reese’s party-size miniatures are now 35.6 ounces down from 40 ounces, and Gatorade bottles shrank from 32 ounces to 28 ounces.
Chocolate bars have also been affected. Chocolate bars decreased from 1.55 ounces to 1.48 ounces at unchanged price points. These changes might seem tiny on paper, but when you’re buying these products regularly, the cumulative effect on your wallet adds up fast.
7. Crackers And Cookies Are Crumbling In Size
Your pantry staples for snacking and lunch boxes have been hit hard too. The Family Size box of Wheat Thins was reduced from 16 ounces down to 14, resulting in a loss of about 28 crackers. That’s nearly two full servings disappearing from the box.
The Family Size box for Wheat Thins was reduced from 16 ounces down to 14, resulting in a loss of about 28 crackers, and that doesn’t even account for broken crackers. Other crackers followed suit. Breton’s box size went from 8.8 ounces down to 7 for Original and Sesame flavors and 7.3 for Multigrain Crackers, which equals a loss of roughly 9 or 10 crackers per package.
Cookie packages dropped from 15 ounces to 13.7 ounces. Whether you’re packing school lunches or stocking up for afternoon snacks, you’re getting fewer crackers and cookies than before while paying similar or even higher prices. It’s becoming harder to stretch those grocery dollars.
8. Laundry Detergent Is Quietly Diluting Your Value
Even your cleaning supplies haven’t escaped shrinkflation’s reach. Arm & Hammer laundry detergent shrunk from 75 ounces to 67.5 ounces while still promising “50 loads” of laundry. How exactly does less detergent wash the same number of loads? The math doesn’t quite add up unless they’re relying on you using less per load.
The detergent aisle has become particularly confusing because manufacturers are constantly changing formulas, claiming they’re more concentrated or more effective. Multipacks and “big size” detergent bottles have quietly reduced fluid ounces while maintaining retail price, with one example showing a standard 64-ounce bottle reduced by 14 ounces and still labeled “100 loads”. These claims make it harder to track whether you’re actually getting a fair deal or just paying more for less.
Consumers are essentially forced to trust that the “new and improved” formula really does work better with less product. Honestly, it’s hard to say for sure without doing your own side-by-side testing, which most busy people don’t have time for.
