Toblerone orm: Chocolate bars feel wrath of ‘shrinkflation’

Passing through an airport will never be the same again after the makers of Toblerone confirmed that the gap between the triangular chunks of chocolate is now almost wide enough to park a jumbo jet.

Mondelez International, which makes the chunky chocolate bars , said it had decided to widen the gap between the peaks and to reduce the weight of its 400g and 170g bars while keeping the price and the packaging the same.

It blamed the rising cost of ingredients on the move which will see the weight of the 400g fall to 360g. However, the 170g bar which be reduced to 150g in the UK will remain at its full size in the republic .

If the company had hoped consumers wouldn't mind the gap they were left sorely disappointed by the reaction to the news on social media with hundreds of people lining up on Facebook and Twitter to condemn the move.

Mondelez International is the parent company of Cadbury and while it employs over 900 people in Ireland the Toblerone is manufactured in Switzerland.

It is just the latest high profile company to engage in a dubious practice known as shrinkflation and many products beloved of Irish consumers have gone through the process in recent years.

The Yorkie bar which maintained its size was what made it special for years after its debut on our shelves in the 1970s has been reduced in size from 70g in its heyday to just 46g today.

The pink Snack started giving its devotees two fingers over a year ago after Cadbury reduced its three-fingered treat by a third.

A multipack of Cadbury Creme Eggs meanwhile fell from six to five while the Snickers bar has also shrunk alarmingly in recent years and Twirls now have barely enough chocolate in them to make their way round a small ballroom even once.

The list of products hit by Shrinkflation goes on and on. One- litre tubs of Carte D’Or ice cream turned into 900ml tubs, while a litre of Innocent smoothies became 900ml. Magnum ice creams, which used to be 360ml, are now 330ml and even the biscuit coating on a Brunch has been significantly diminished.

Ratula Chakraborty, a senior lecturer in retailing in the University of East Anglia has been researching how companies use Shrinkflation to pass on higher costs to consumers rather than raising prices and she warned that there would be more cases of changing chocolate sizes and shrinking sweets in the months ahead as a result of Brexit.

“The new gappy-teeth Toblerone is yet another example of shrinkflation, where shrinking pack contents allows for a backdoor price rise,” Ms Chakraborty said.

“The packaging sneakily remains the same size and it is only when you open it that you discover you have been short-changed.

“Unfortunately, we can expect to see many more cases of sly, shrinking products in the coming months as international producers try every means possible to pass on rising prices in the wake of the falling Pound.”