"Oreo Cream Quantity, Why Is It Like This?"... US 'Shrinkflation' Boiling Over

Shrink + Inflation portmanteau
Suspicion of "Did they reduce cream due to cost pressure?"
WSJ "The biggest Shrinkflation scandal"

The world's most beloved cookie, 'Oreo,' has become embroiled in a 'Shrinkflation' controversy. Shrinkflation is a portmanteau of 'shrink,' meaning to reduce quantity, and 'inflation,' referring to rising prices. When companies face cost pressures, instead of raising product prices?which may provoke strong consumer resistance?they opt to 'reduce quantity,' effectively resulting in a 'hidden price increase' for consumers.

Oreo cookie.
Photo by Pixabay

According to major foreign media reports on the 12th (local time), posts claiming that 'Oreo cookie cream has decreased' are rapidly spreading among American consumers online.

On Reddit, an online community with 100,000 members, claims have been made that the 'Double Stuf Oreo,' which is supposed to contain twice the amount of cream, actually has a normal amount of cream, while the regular version contains less.

Some have voiced complaints that the cream does not reach the edges of the cookie, making the product different from the image on the packaging. Oreo fans promoting its competitor, 'Hydrox,' have also emerged.

However, Oreo's manufacturer, Mondelez, has denied changing the ratio of cookie to cream.

They rebutted that monitoring has not detected serious complaints related to the cream ratio, and that the Oreo brand?which sells about 40 billion units annually in over 100 countries, forming a market worth $4 billion (approximately 5.3 trillion KRW)?has not been affected.

Mondelez CEO Dirk Van de Put dismissed the controversy, saying, "If we start messing with quality, it would be shooting ourselves in the foot."

The Wall Street Journal pointed out that this controversy is the largest 'shrinkflation scandal' to date.

Among Mondelez's products, the chocolate bar 'Toblerone' also drew consumer criticism in 2016 due to shrinkflation.

Meanwhile, some countries such as Brazil and Russia have enacted laws requiring mandatory notification for over six months when changing product volume and mandating the price per liter to be clearly indicated, in order to prevent shrinkflation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.