Government crackdown on ‘shrinkflation’ could force supermarkets to come clean
A pressure on brinkflation may soon see what supermarkets say when the packages are shrinking to consumers, but they may not have prices.
The federal government will enter the supermarket shrinkage and start consulting consumers and stakeholders on Monday.
The government shall take into account the options for combating shrinkage, including introducing a notification system, making unit pricing more pronounced or getting a fine of companies that do not comply with.
Deputy Minister of Treasury Andrew Leigh said that a chocolate bar lost two frames, but it protects the same price – it was shrinkage.
“Clearer information means that the Australians can determine the change and decide whether it will be worth it,” he said.
Consultation follows the Supermarket investigation of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which proposes to publish notification of supermarkets when the product dimensions are shrinking, but when the price increases.
ACCC Vice President Mick Kegh said that this information should be minimum and that it should be published on supermarket shelves and websites near the product.
“By giving consumers effectively about price increases, consumers can vote with their feet ‘and their preferences will pass to cheaper alternatives,” he said.
Australian supermarkets have found that the world’s most profitable and product margins have increased in the last five years.
The consumer observer received more than $ 30 million to cope with misleading behaviors in supermarket and retail sectors as part of the promise of assisting consumers to make a better agreement in the safe.
