Packets of six Purex Mega Long toilet rolls placed beside each other shows how a decrease in sheets has affected the product's overall size.
Packets of six Purex Mega Long toilet rolls placed beside each other shows how a decrease in sheets has affected the product's overall size.
Toilet paper is the latest product to be hit by the minimising forces of shrinkflation.
A Kiwi shopper online spotted a recent change to Purex Mega Long White Two-Ply Toilet Rolls. Comparing wrappers of two six-packs of the rolls shows that while there used to be 450 sheets perpack, you now get 410. Laid side by side, there is a noticeable variance in the pack sizes.
Despite the 40-sheet reduction, the shopper said the product costs the same. “Shrinkflation” is an economic term that refers to a tactic by which companies give you less product for the same price.
Purex products are manufactured in Kawerau as a subsidiary of Swedish-based hygiene and health company Essity. It has yet to respond to inquiries from the Herald about the rationale behind these product changes.
In a call to the Purex helpline, an Essity spokesperson confirmed the Mega Rolls had changed from “450 sheets to 410 sheets”.
A packet of six Purex Mega Long rolls used to contain 450 sheets of loo paper but this has been reduced to 410 sheets.
They said this change was still in the process of being rolled out and it was possible, though not intended, that some stores may have both versions on shelves for sale.
The spokesperson couldn’t confirm if the pricing for these packs would change, saying retail pricing was set by stores. They would not discuss whether there had been a change in the wholesale price.
Last year, Massey University marketing professor Bodo Lang told The Front Page that downsizing a product, but not the price, has become more frequent as retailers and manufacturers become more attuned to the ways customers respond to price increases.
“They have cottoned on to the fact that consumers are very sensitive to price changes because the price is often advertised very heavily and at the point of sales, and it’s generally the most important attribute that people look at when they make a purchase.”
Ipsos New Zealand’s quarterly survey of 1004 New Zealanders (released in November) revealed inflation and the cost of living remained the most pressing issue facing New Zealanders, with 61% identifying it as a concern.
The report says the topic “has remained the No 1 issue facing New Zealanders for the 15th survey, since Feb ’22. This result was trending downwards until May this year and has been increasing ever since”.
Speaking to ways consumers could combat inflation, Lang encouraged shoppers to pay attention to unit pricing. Comparing the price of products by their volume, weight or per unit lessens the likelihood shoppers are duped by unchanged packaging hiding less product.
In an Auckland Central supermarket this week prices for “long” toilet rolls varied by 19c per 100 sheets between brands. Paseo’s eight-pack of three-ply long rolls was 45c per 100 sheets; Cotton Softs’ six-pack of three-ply was priced at 38c per 100 sheets, and the Purex six-pack of two-ply was on special for 26c per 100 sheets.
