’Shrinkflation’ and the scope for potential changes in unit pricing laws

One response by manufacturers and brand marketers to higher labour and production costs has been to decrease product pack size or quantity in order to reduce costs or to obscure visibility of price inflation. This has been criticised and called ‘shrinkflation’ because it signifies less value for each dollar spent. In May 2024, the Australian Federal Senate signalled some changes might be made to the Competition and Consumer (Industry Codes—Unit Pricing) Regulations 2021 (Unit Pricing Code)]. This article explores recent developments in Australia, interesting relevant French regulation and draft proposals elsewhere.