{"id":269098,"date":"2025-11-18T05:15:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T05:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/269098\/"},"modified":"2025-11-18T05:15:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T05:15:13","slug":"russians-pay-more-for-less-as-12b-shrinkflation-crisis-hits-everyday-groceries-united24-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/269098\/","title":{"rendered":"Russians Pay More for Less as\u00a0$12B \u201cShrinkflation\u201d Crisis Hits Everyday Groceries \u2014 UNITED24 Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russian food manufacturers and major retail chains are increasingly turning to\u00a0\u201cshrinkflation\u201d\u2014reducing package sizes while keeping prices unchanged\u2014masking the real scale of\u00a0inflation and eroding household budgets, according<\/a> to\u00a0new estimates from the Russian Consumers Union (SPRF) on\u00a0November\u00a017.<\/p>\n

The practice now costs shoppers over $12.3 billion annually, or\u00a0roughly 3% of\u00a0all food expenditures, the union reported. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe product gets thinner, but the price stays the same,\u201d SPRF noted, adding that most consumers \u201csimply don\u2019t notice they\u2019re paying the same amount for less.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shrinkflation has spread across nearly all food categories\u2014from pantry staples to\u00a0dairy and confectionery\u2014confirmed Stanislav Bogdanov, head of\u00a0the Association of\u00a0Retail Trade Companies (AKORT). Producers are cutting package sizes to\u00a0absorb rising costs while preserving familiar price tags.<\/p>\n

\"Trump<\/p>\n

Read more<\/p>\n

CategoryLatest news<\/a>Trump Backs 500% Tariffs on\u00a0Nations Trading With Russia, Warns Iran Could Be\u00a0Next<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Nov 17, 2025 09:45\n <\/p>\n

The Moscow Times highlights<\/a> that the trend is\u00a0especially visible in\u00a0beverages, said Ilya Mosyagin, a\u00a0senior lecturer at\u00a0the Institute of\u00a0International Economic Relations. Standard soft-drink bottle sizes have shrunk from 0.5 to\u00a00.45 liters. Tea, coffee, cooking oil, and pasta producers have reduced quantities by\u00a010\u201320% without changing prices.<\/p>\n

Research firm NTech reported<\/a> that average food package sizes decreased by\u00a03% this year, after a\u00a01% drop in\u00a02024.<\/p>\n

For the first time in\u00a0years, Russia\u2019s food sales declined in\u00a0real terms as\u00a0households entered full austerity mode. According<\/a> to\u00a0Romir, 68% of\u00a0consumers now search for discounts and promotions and 58% have stopped buying products they previously purchased.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0Gallup poll found<\/a> that 31% of\u00a0Russians say they do\u00a0not have enough money for food\u2014one of\u00a0the highest levels in\u00a0recent years.<\/p>\n

Mosyagin expects shrinkflation to\u00a0become systemic and intensify in\u00a02026\u00a0as\u00a0production costs rise and companies hunt for ways to\u00a0disguise price increases.<\/p>\n

\"Why<\/p>\n

Read more<\/p>\n

CategoryOpinion<\/a>Why Firms That Choose to Return to Russia Will Lose Their Money and Reputations<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Mar 12, 2025 13:42\n <\/p>\n

\u201cShrinkflation is\u00a0becoming an\u00a0additional factor of\u00a0social tension,\u201d he\u00a0said. \u201cIt\u00a0hits the hardest those with fixed incomes and low-income families, who already spend most of\u00a0their budgets on\u00a0basic groceries.\u201d<\/p>\n

SPRF is\u00a0calling on\u00a0the government to\u00a0establish nationwide regulations aimed at\u00a0curbing hidden pricing practices. Its recommendations include mandatory unit-price labeling, expressed per kilogram or\u00a0liter, and strict requirements that all price tags, including promotional ones, be\u00a0presented in\u00a0a\u00a0uniform font, size, and color.<\/p>\n

Earlier, it\u00a0was reported<\/a> that Russians are increasingly feeling the country\u2019s economic difficulties, with expectations dropping sharply, according to\u00a0a\u00a0survey by\u00a0the Public Opinion Foundation, which conducts monthly polls for the Central Bank on\u00a0inflation, consumer confidence, and savings attitudes, and quarterly surveys on\u00a0four key economic indicators, calculating indices of\u00a0economic outlook.<\/p>\n

\"Support\"Logo\"Support our frontline reporters<\/a><\/p>\n

We report from the front lines to show the reality of war. Your support helps us stay there and tell the stories that matter.<\/p>\n

\n Related articles\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Russian food manufacturers and major retail chains are increasingly turning to\u00a0\u201cshrinkflation\u201d\u2014reducing package sizes while keeping prices unchanged\u2014masking the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-269098","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}