Nescafe slashes coffee jar size while keeping price exactly the same

Furious coffee drinkers are accusing Nescafé of quietly brewing up a “shrinkflation scandal” after discovering their jars now contain less coffee for the same eye-watering price.

Thejars of Nescafé Original and Nescafé Decaf, which once held 200g of granules, have been reduced to 190g. Despite that 5 percent drop, they’re still retailing for up to £7 a jar - and shoppers are fuming.

That 10g loss means fans of the brand are missing out on six cups of coffee, with each jar now making 105 servings instead of 111, all while paying exactly the same. The smaller jars are already being advertised on Tesco’s website as “new products”, a move that hasn’t gone unnoticed by eagle-eyed customers.

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“I’m sure they think we’re stupid,” said Rosie Cumbers, who spotted the switch. Same price, less coffee. How is that ok?”

Others didn’t hold back either. Shopper Lee Fretstone raged: “Charged extortionate prices for less product. They’re really taking the p**s.”

But not everyone is outraged. Coffee lover Jess Leeman said that while the shrink felt sneaky, she still saw the value: “Nearly spat out my £4.50 Costa! It’s still 105 cups of coffee for £7, regardless of if they’ve removed 10g.

“Yet the same people who moan about this are probably then spending three quid a cup at Starbucks.”

The move is the latest example of shrinkflation, where brands cut product sizes rather than raise prices outright. And Nescafé, owned by Swiss giant Nestlé, has faced similar criticism before.

In 2022, the company quietly cut the size of its premium Azera tins from 100g to 95g, but held the price firm at £5.49 - a stealthy 11 percent increase in cost per gram.

And it's not just the coffee aisle being trimmed. Nestlé also reduced the size of its iconic Purple One in Quality Street tubs last Christmas - down from 9.6g to 8.4g, a 12 percent drop in chocolatey goodness.

Retail analytics firm Trolley found that Nescafé’s 200g jars were being sold for £4.50 as recently as July 2023. That means shoppers are now paying around 55 percent more in just one year for less coffee.

“Shrinkflation is becoming endemic across UK supermarkets,” said a consumer rights analyst.

“It’s a way of raising prices without most people noticing. Unfortunately, coffee is just the latest casualty.”

Nestlé defended the changes, blaming rising costs in global coffee production. In a statement, the company said: “Like every manufacturer, we have seen significant increases in the cost of coffee, making it much more expensive to manufacture our products.

“To maintain the same high quality and delicious taste that consumers know and love, it has sometimes been necessary to make adjustments to the weight or size of some.”

The firm also added that retailers - not the brand itself - ultimately set the price at checkout.

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