Consumers are in a lather about the cost of shampoo – the latest product to be hit by shrinkflation.
Many family favourites, including ice cream, beer, washing powder and tea have already fallen victim to the trend, which sees firms make products smaller while hiking prices.
In the latest hair-raiser amid the cost of living crisis, a bottle of Pantene Repairand Protect shampoo has lost 100ml but costs 25p more.
Tresemmé fans still pay £6 but get 680ml, not 900ml, while Head & Shoulders is £4.99 for 400ml, down from 500ml.
A 300ml Aussie shampoo is up 30p to £4.49 and Elvive by L’Oréal – whose ad slogan is “Because I’m worth it” – was £2.49 for 400ml but is now £2.24 for 250ml.
Shoppers vented their anger online, with one moaning: “Shrinkflation at its finest – bought a new bottle of Unilever’s family-size shampoo and they’ve shrunk the bottle by 25%.”
Consumer champion Martyn James warned shrinkflation is “conning” shoppers.
He said: “People say they’d rather be told honestly about price hikes than discover they’ve been misled.”
Inflation on household items soared to 9.2% between January and February.
Unilever said its 680ml Tresemmé bottles were introduced to give a wider range of size choices and pricing “is at the discretion of the retailer”.
The other firms were contacted for comment.
