Kraft Dinner: Canadian shoppers lament latest target of 'shrinkflation' — boxes of KD are now smaller
The latest grocery debacle to go viral is the new size of the boxes of KD, a traditionally cheap meal meant to feed four people
A viral Reddit post that points out the shrinking quantity inside of a box of Kraft Dinner macaroni and cheese has many wondering if the traditionally cheap meal in a box can still feed as many people as it used to.
The photo posted to the forum "Loblaws is Out of Control" under the simple title “Shrinkflation” from user psc_mtl shows two boxes of Kraft Dinner that appear to be the same size, except one box contains 200 grams of food while the other contains 225 grams.
Many in the nearly 300 comments reminisced of a time when a box of the cheap instant pasta with the powdered cheese was able to feed a small family.
“When I was a kid one box would feed me and three siblings with some cut-up hot dogs in it,” reelcanadian wrote.
“A single box used to feed me and my three siblings in the early 2000s. I was wondering why I'm able to now eat a box to myself ... This is why,” Maritimes- wrote.
Another user noticed: "No wonder a single box doesn't fill me up anymore!"
Loblaw has been selling the 200 gram boxes of KD for 55 cents this month, though the current sale ends as of Feb. 21. Some in the comments wondered if the sale price was an attempt to distract from the decreased quantity in the product, while others reminded users that the box's contents and the "shrinkflation" on this item in particular would be a Kraft issue.
“I honestly think it’s to distract from the shrinkage ... People may not see the size difference if they are that cheap [and] they will just dump them all in their cart,” wolfe1924 wrote.
Meanwhile, other grocery stores that Yahoo Canada called were selling the box for full price. At a Sobeys in Toronto, a 200 gram box was $1.99, while at Freshco, it was being sold for $1.69.
Shoppers notice another change: A forkful or a spoonful?
Several people in the comments noticed another difference between the two boxes of KD. The 200 gram box featured a fork with a few noodles, while the 225 gram box featured a spoon that appeared to have more noodles on it.
“There's even less noodles in the picture on the box, and we have switched from spoon to fork,” Zodiac343 wrote.
Reader tip: Cheap alternatives at Bulk Barn
Others chimed in to recommend an even more thrifty way to make macaroni and cheese, which doesn’t involve a box.
“Costco now sells large jars of just the orange KD powder,” user TerrorNova49 wrote. “Boil up as much as you want of your standard pasta of choice and mix in the powder with milk and butter.”
“You can buy pretty good cheese powder at Bulk Barn,” rebelhead wrote.
Kraft Dinner isn’t the only conventionally cheap food to be critiqued on the Reddit forum devoted to highlighting how inflation is impacting everyday grocery items.
Earlier this month, a user shared a photo to the subreddit of a 400-gram box of gluten-free pancake mix next to a scale with the content in a measuring cup on top of it, which showed that they only weighed 205 grams.
Back in September, someone took to TikTok to decry a 200-gram bag of No Name ripple cut chips that only weighed113 grams on a scale.