Price Increase Trick by Reducing Product Volume... Four Shrinkflation Cases Detected

Consumer Agency, Q3 Monitoring and Survey
Checking Two Domestic and Two International Products Each

The Korea Consumer Agency announced on the 27th that, as a result of investigating a total of over 260,000 cases of 'Shrinkflation' in the third quarter of this year, four domestic and foreign products were found to have reduced their volume or increased unit prices without notifying consumers.

Shrinkflation is a compound word combining "shrink," meaning to decrease, and "inflation," referring to rising prices. It refers to the deceptive practice where companies reduce the volume of a product without raising the selling price, effectively increasing the price in practice.

The domestic products caught for shrinkflation include two items: the instant meal "The Banchan Haenyeo's Kitchen Jeju Conch Seaweed Soup" (frozen), produced by Oseong Food and sold by Dongwon F&B, and the snack "Gojipssen Cheongnyeon Handmade Oranda," manufactured and sold by Gojipssen Cheongnyeon. The Banchan reduced its volume by 8.3%, from 600g to 550g in July, and Gojipssen Cheongnyeon reduced its volume by 10.0%, from 500g to 450g in September.

Among imported products, two types of "Lush Dirty Springwash Shower Gel Spearmint Scent" by Lush Korea were identified. The company reduced the 280g product to 250g and the 560g product to 500g, each by 10.7%, in July.

According to the "Notice on Designation of Unfair Consumer Transaction Acts by Businesses," which was enforced in August, businesses engaging in shrinkflation-related acts may be subject to penalties such as fines imposed by the relevant local governments.

The Korea Consumer Agency disclosed information on products with volume changes in the third quarter through the "Chamgagyeok" website and recommended that the manufacturers and sellers of these products provide related information on their company websites or online shopping malls.

Additionally, major distribution channels such as department stores, large supermarkets, and online malls selling these products were guided to post information about the volume changes so that consumers can be informed.

The Korea Consumer Agency stated, "We will continue to monitor shrinkflation to support consumers in making rational purchases based on accurate price information."

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