Shops are tricking the public to hide inflation in Hungary

People often do not realise that they are getting less for their money than before. It is not only inflation and various global market trends that are causing prices to rise. Shops are also playing tricks to make us get less for our money. In the last year and a half, many products have been packaged smaller. This means that the prices that customers are used to do not change, but the shops still make a profit. Shrink inflation is also being seen in a number of products.

Smaller packaging, same price

There are many legends about how some products are packaged much smaller than expected. Many people think that milk is only 0.9 litres. Or a packet of cigarettes has less than it should. But these are legends, and are strictly regulated by the European Union and the Hungarian authorities.

But there is a basis for this legend too, napi.hu writes. Inflation has been around or above 10 percent for more than 10 months. The phenomenon is called “shrinkflation” or “deflation”. It is a process whereby the filling weight of some goods in the usual packaging is reduced.

So if you shop out of habit, you will not notice that the packaging is smaller than it should be. Shrink inflation is a mood-boosting service, experts say. People do not feel that products are becoming more expensive, while they are affected in the same way as if they were more expensive. One’s money is worth less, one can buy less in the shop, but often does not even notice.

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Which products are concerned?

The first time shops use shrink inflation is in relation to their own brand products. You see it first in the case of their own-packaged salami, ham and dairy products. Now you can also find 80 gram packets of salami instead of 100 grams, and 450 or 400 grams of sour cream instead of 500 grams.

A comparative article was made with the help of mindenár.hu. The most frequent changes in the past year and a half have been in the weight and presentation of bakery products. In processed dairy products, yoghurts and sour cream have seen the biggest decreases.

The least product shrinkage was seen in cut and pre-packaged cheeses. Similarly, beer and butter have very few smaller packs. The Central Statistics Office said this trick is also reflected in the inflation figures.

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Source: napi.hu, mindenar.hu