As skyrocketing food prices chew through South Koreans’ salaries, is shrinkflation crackdown purely a ‘political stunt’?
- Food inflation in South Korea is going through the roof, with cabbages 32 per cent more expensive year on year. Pears have more than doubled in price
- To slyly charge more without alerting customers, manufacturers have been shrinking the size of their products – but regulators have sussed them out
But from August, manufacturers in the East Asian nation will be required by law to publicise any such changes to their products, under punishment of a fine.
And though the move may boost transparency, observers say its long-term effect is questionable.
“This measure is to prevent consumers from being unknowingly hit by indirect price increases”, the Fair Trade Commission, South Korea’s market regulator, said in a statement announcing the crackdown.
I feel cheated and it’s really irritating
Manufacturers of milk, coffee, instant noodles, toilet paper, shampoo and other daily necessities will be required to alert customers about any changes to product sizes or else face a fine of 5 million won (US$3,600), doubling to 10 million won from the second violation onwards. Notices must be placed on product packaging, in shops or on the manufacturer’s website for at least three months after the change.