Inflation: Your soap or cookies may not be getting pricier but lighter

Companies have moved toward lighter loads in their cheapest packages amid rising costs of edible oils, grains and fuel

As India’s inflation surges, the cheap single-serving packets of staples like soap and cookies aren’t budging in price -- they’re just getting lighter. 

By paring the weight of fixed-price items -- popular among lower income and rural areas at the equivalent of roughly a penny, nickel or a dime -- firms are using “shrinkflation” to cope with higher input prices while keeping customers.

Companies including Unilever Plc’s India unit and domestic consumer goods firms Britannia Industries Ltd. and Dabur India Ltd. have moved toward lighter loads in their cheapest packages amid rising costs of edible oils, grains and fuel. 

The development isn’t unique