Doritos has become the next victim of inflation in the most upsetting result of price increases yet.
As petrol prices hit a historical high, chip numbers are dropping as Dorito bags are now set to feature five fewer chips - pure blasphemy.
According to Food and Wine, the chip company is the next victim of 'shrinkflation', the ever-prevalent occurrence in which beloved food is being cut down in size due to inflation.
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As if the chip packets weren’t filled with enough air already.
Doritos’ parent company Frito-Lay confirmed the horrific news to business magazine Quartz.
A representative said: “Inflation is hitting everyone. … We took just a little bit out of the bag so we can give you the same price and you can keep enjoying your chips.”
According to Statista, as of February 2022, the United States inflation rate currently sits at 7.9 per cent higher than February 2021.
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It is estimated that Frito-Lay will save AUD$67 million (USD$50 million) as they decrease the weight of the bags from 276 grams to 262.
The horror doesn’t even end there, with Doritos just one of many American consumer brands suffering from the downsizing.
Gatorade recently replaced its 32 oz (946ml) bottle with a 28 oz (828ml) bottle without changing the price point.
PepsiCo, which is the parent company of Gatorade, told Quartz: “The redesign generates a new cost and the bottles are a little bit more expensive… this is only a matter of design.”
Toilet paper company Bounty has also now decreased their 165 sheet rolls to 147 sheets, while toothpaste company Crest has also downsized their toothpaste tubes.
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Over the years, it certainly has felt evident that the amount of empty space in our chip packets far outweighs the crunchy goodness itself.
However, according to Dr Andrew Novakovic, Professor of Agricultural Economics Emeritus at Cornell University, people aren’t really paying attention to the weight or visual change to our chip packets.
He told The National Desk: “The fact is, people pay attention to price and unless there’s a super big visual change in the package, they don’t notice that so much.”
While the five chip drop has been designed to make the change indistinguishable, there will certainly be a sense of emptiness when you reach into the packet for the final handful of corn chips only to find there’s nothing left.
Jayden Collins