Whiskas cat food wins shrinklfation award; Pay €1 more for 180g less food

Whiskas 7+ cat food won the shrinkflation award, program Radar, who organized the election, announced on Monday. The Whiskas 7+ box of 12 wet food sachets not only increased from 4.49 to 5.49 euros in price, but the sachets shrunk from 100 to 85 grams each.

Radar presenter Antoinette Herstenberg personally presented the prize to Roel Govers, director of corporate affairs at Mars Nederland, the producer of Whiskas 7+, on Monday.

“Research by Whiskas showed that those portions had to be reduced to prevent cats from overeating and becoming too fat,” Govers told Radar. “We’ve been working on that for years, and it now coincides with that price increase. That gives - I admit - a typical picture.”

According to Radar, despite its explanation, Whiskas is a justified winner of the shrinkflation award because it never communicated that the packets were getting smaller. “Per gram of the product, consumers now pay 44 percent extra. It seems to me that you should be very clear about this to the consumer,” Hertsenberg said.

Radar asked consumers to vote for the biggest shrinker in recent weeks. Whiskas was one of ten nominees. Others included Albert Heijn’s tulips, which shrank from nine to eight tulips per bunch, and Hema coffee pads, which went from 3 euros for 46 pads to 3.75 euros for 40 pads.