17 November 2025
Russian food producers and retailers are increasingly reducing packaging sizes, offering consumers less product at the same price and masking the true rate of inflation in the country.
This “shrinkflation” costs consumers 1 trillion rubles annually, or 3% of all food expenditures, according to the Russian Union of Consumers (RUC). “The product is ‘slimming down,’ but costs the same,” the RUC describes the phenomenon, which emerged in the early 2010s and is rapidly spreading across supermarket shelves. “Most Russians simply don’t notice that they’re paying the same price—but for less product,” the union notes.
Shrinkflation has affected all product categories—grocery, dairy products, and confectionery, confirms Stanislav Bogdanov, head of the Association of Retail Companies (AKORT). Manufacturers are reducing packaging sizes to optimize inflation costs and offer consumers a familiar product at the same price.
Shrinkflation is most noticeable in the beverage segment, says Ilya Mosyagin, a senior lecturer at the Institute of International Economic Relations: the standard bottle size has shrunk from 0.5 to 0.45 liters. Manufacturers of tea, coffee, vegetable oil, and pasta have reduced weight by 10-20% without changing prices, Mosyagin notes.
According to NTech estimates , the average food package size has decreased by 3% this year, compared to 1% last year. The growth of shrinkflation is driven by a “trend toward changing consumer habits,” notes Bogdanov of AKORT.
In 2025, for the first time in a long time, food sales began to decline in physical terms (in units, kilograms, and liters) due to consumers’ mass adoption of savings. According to Romir surveys, 68% of consumers are now trying to find discounts and promotions, and 58% are consciously giving up certain products they previously purchased. According to Gallup , 31% of Russian citizens complain that they don’t have enough money for food.
Shrinkflation is becoming systemic and will continue into 2026, Mosyagin believes: producers’ costs are rising, and they will seek ways to stealthily raise prices. “Shrinkflation is becoming an additional factor in social tension. This is especially acute for Russians with fixed incomes and low-income families, who are forced to spend more on basic foodstuffs,” Mosyagin adds.
The SPFR proposes limiting shrinkflation at the state level by mandating that price tags for packaged goods be displayed per kilogram or liter, based on a standardized unit of measurement. Furthermore, the SPFR believes that a requirement for uniform presentation of all prices for a single product, including promotional ones, should be established. This applies to the font, size, and color of the price tag.
These measures will ensure “transparency in pricing and protection of buyers from hidden manipulation,” the union believes.
And, correlative to shrinkflation is swapflation, in which vodka is swapped with antifreeze, or cow milk cheese is swapped with palm oil cheese. And so on.
Right! “Shrinkflation is most noticeable in the beverage segment, “, isnt wadka a beverage?
It sure is.