The consumer regulatory authority has noted this is not an illegal practice on its own, making it a case of "let the buyer beware."

According to University of Tartu marketing professor Andres Kuusik, this hidden form of price hike is a common occurrence on Estonia's store shelves.

For instance, the 330ml and 300ml Tetra Pak cartons of Aura "Super smuuti"(smoothie drinks) were both priced €1.85 at the same supermarket, the Torupilli (Tallinn) branch of Selver, at the time of writing.

Why this is the case was something drinks company A. Le Coq, who produce the Aura brand, said they did not have time to comment on at the time of writing.

The practice has a name, too: "Shrinkflation." Bank of Estonia (Eesti Pank) economist Rasmus Kattai defined shrinkflation as the same phenomenon: The unit price of a product does not change, but the size of content of a package falls instead.

"In practice, the buyer then gets less product for the same amount of money. Essentially, it is a hidden form of inflation, where an attempt is made to demonstrate to consumers that the price has not changed, but in practice, the price per weight or volume unit has risen noticeably," Kattai explained.

This price increase by stealth, Kuusik noted, is a trick which lies in consumer psychology. It takes advantage of a change the customer likely will not notice, whereas a straight price hike for the same volume of product, they are more likely to spot.

The volume change needs to be minor, though, for retailers to pull the stunt off, and the targeted product needs to be one with a higher price elasticity, ie. a product, usually frequently-purchased smaller items, where price rises are internalized by the consumer.

"For example, packs of butter. For ages, these were 200 grams, but then at some point suddenly 195 grams appeared. People don't notice it, the price stays the same. Five grams doesn't significantly affect the size of the package, so you buy it," Kuusik said.

Sometimes, different volume denominations are used, too. For instance in one example, the original, larger carton was printed as 0.33l (ie. 330ml), while the newer, smaller carton displayed its volume in milliliters (ie. 300ml). Again, the price was the same, €1.49 for a carton.

The tactic is used in many product categories, especially with fast-moving goods: For example, chocolate bars, juice cartons, chocolate and curd snackbars (Kohuke), loaves of bread, minced meat packages, and even some cleaning products.

"When we buy something constantly, two factors make price matter a lot. If an essential item becomes more expensive, it affects the family budget considerably. And second, we know the usual prices of frequently purchased products. That creates pressure not to adjust the price, but the quantity," Kuusik explained.

In a recent instance, Orkla, whose product ranges include the Kalev brand of chocolate, reduced the weight of its larger chocolate bars. In this case, 300-gram bars were reduced by 10 percent (to 270 grams) and 200-gram bars by five percent (to 190 grams). Again, the prices for the two types of bars stayed the same.

Orkla Eesti sales director Andrei Holm stated in a written comment to ERR that the reduction in mass is the result of the exceptionally high price of cocoa.
Shrinkflation is also common during periods rapid inflation, such as Estonia has been experiencing in recent months, Kattai added.

"When input prices for companies are rising quickly and producers are trying to soften the psychological impact of those price increases on consumers, they often choose to reduce the package contents, while the package's price appears unchanged," Kattai said.

These same rising input costs also put pressure on producers to scale down the packaging itself, while keeping prices unchanged.

"When the costs go up, what do you do? One option is to hike the price, another is to cut the quantity, and a third is to make a lower-quality product to save in production. All of these choices are essentially bad ones, so perhaps reducing the quantity is not the worst among them, as the person can then still afford it — albeit in a smaller amount — and the price didn't go up. Even if it leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste," Kuusik went on.

Kaimo Niitaru, chief buyer and head of product range at supermarket Prisma, said these actions are usually the result of exceptional situations.

"It is mostly the case of producers launching new products where, if the previous package had been 200 grams and the new one is 180 grams with the same purchasing terms, then the retail price will be the same. But this is usually an exceptional situation where the old stock is still in the store and the new product has already arrived," Niitaru said.

In other words, it is worthwhile for consumers to check and compare for weight products which are at first glance the same, and certainly carry the same price tag.

Margot Leen, head of the consumer disputes advisory division of the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA), stated in a written comment to ERR that Estonia enjoys freedom of enterprise, and that the shrinkflation practices noted above are, on their own, compliant with the law.

"This means that traders have the right to offer goods or services for sale as they see fit, as long as this complies with the law. Traders certainly must not mislead consumers, and must provide the necessary information (for example, on price). What was mentioned in the query may be objectionable, but is not necessarily illegal," Leen wrote.

Leen added that a few individual consumers have drawn the TTJA's attention to instances of shrinkflation, but again these have not been cases which would trigger supervisory proceedings. In itself, changing, hiking, or reducing the price and adjusting package size are all permissible commercial practices.

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