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Unilever's Cremissimo ice cream: price increase by reducing the filling quantity
Find out why the popular ice cream brand Cremissimo was named “Sham Pack of the Month” and how prices are unfairly increased. Discover what tricks consumer advice centers uncover.
Unilever's Cremissimo ice cream: price increase by reducing the filling quantity
With the start of the ice cream season, ice cream lovers face an exciting time as the rising temperatures finally make you want to cool off. However, many customers are likely to be anything but happy about the recent price developments of some popular ice cream brands. In particular, Unilever and its ice cream brand Cremissimo are in focus, as the company is pursuing a price increase that leads to price increases of up to 44 percent by reducing the filling quantity. Because of this methodology, Cremissimo received the inglorious award of “scam package of the month”.
A concrete example is the “family pack” of “Cremissimo Bourbon Vanille”, in which the filling quantity was reduced from 1300 milliliters to 900 milliliters without the retail price being reduced from 3.99 euros. This represents a hidden price increase of approximately 44 percent. Similar reductions in filling quantities also took place in other Cremissimo variants, which led to hidden price increases of around 9 percent.
Unilever defends its approach to the Hamburg consumer advice center by stating that the original family pack size is still available, but that a smaller 900 ml version is now also offered in order to meet the needs of consumers. However, there is criticism that there is a lack of communication about the availability of the original 1300 milliliter pack.
In addition to Cremissimo, Unilever has also reduced the quantities of other products such as the Magnum ice cream brand without adjusting the prices. For example, the volume of the Magnum popsicle was reduced from 110 milliliters to 100 milliliters and the number of pieces in the pack of the Magnum “After Dinner” variety was reduced from ten to eight.
In order to counteract hidden price increases, the Hamburg Consumer Center recommends consumers to keep an eye on the price per kilogram, which must be displayed on the shelves, and to pay attention to changes in the packaging design, which are often accompanied by price adjustments.