Skimpflation: Food manufacturers save on ingredients

Skimpflation: Food manufacturers save on ingredients

Food manufacturers are resorting to drastic measures such as ingredient changes to save money, which is degrading the quality of some products. This phenomenon is called “skimpflation.” The consumer can already notice that the quality of some products on the supermarket shelf has decreased. The Hamburg consumer advice center points to current cases of “skimpflation” in which products such as cream sliced ​​meat from Gut & Günstig (Edeka), Serbian bean soup from Erasco and chicken noodle stew from Sonnen Bassermann are affected.

“Skimpflation” is a tactic used by food manufacturers where they save valuable ingredients and offer the product at the same price. As a result, the quality of the products deteriorates because, for example, the proportion of meat in some products has been reduced and is replaced by cheaper ingredients such as mushrooms and cream. Other well-known manufacturers such as Granini, Rügenwalder Mühle and Iglo have already noticed changes in ingredients, which indicates possible “skimpflation”.

Aside from “skimpflation,” manufacturers also use “shrinkflation” to try to make more profits by reducing the fill quantity of products but keeping the price the same. These practices, aimed at deceiving consumers and making higher profits, are not new. For example, Rama was chosen as “Deceptive Packaging of the Year” in 2022 because there had never been so many complaints about a product before. The Hamburg consumer advice center criticizes these practices and points out that most manufacturers react to the alleged wishes of customers in order to justify their changes.