As groceries get more expensive, Americans are becoming more and more aware of "shrinkflation": the business practice of putting a smaller amount of product in packages and charging more for less. One Redditor shared an example on r/mildlyinfuriating.

What's happening?

The original poster shared a photo of their purchase, calling attention to a deliberately deceptive packaging choice in the product they had just bought. "This empty gap in the middle of the plastic," they said.

The product in the photo is Pran Potata potato-flavored biscuits. Inside the opaque plastic sleeve, they come stacked in a rigid plastic tray — and there is a deliberate gap built into the middle of the tray without any biscuits in it. 

Why is this packaging design important?

When manufacturers make plastic packages unnecessarily large and put less food in them than they could hold, they are tricking consumers into thinking they are getting more food than they really are. This means you spend more and have less to eat. 

At the same time, it increases the total amount of plastic being wasted per the amount of product being sold, which is bad for the environment — and even slightly drives up costs for the food itself, since that's extra packaging for each item that the manufacturer and eventually the buyer has to pay for.

Is Pran doing anything about this?

According to Pran, it is making efforts to reduce its plastic pollution and has recently joined the Bangladesh Sustainability Alliance to support those efforts and other environmental concerns. In its sustainability report, it expresses a commitment to reducing its use of plastic over time and says it will investigate opportunities to incorporate recycled materials — hopefully 20% by 2030, a modest goal. 

However, this says nothing about the use of excessive plastic in its packaging designs, which is possibly a more impactful issue.

What can I do about excessive plastic packaging?

The more that buyers vote with their dollars, the more companies will get the message that this kind of packaging practice is unacceptable and not good for business. When you shop, choose brands that use less packaging, eco-friendly packaging options such as paper instead of plastic, and transparent packaging instead of deceptive practices.

You can also grow your own food at home to cut back on your total impact on the environment, since food that comes from your own garden won't use any packaging at all and won't cause pollution by being shipped to your local store.

Which of these factors would most effectively motivate you to buy a refillable product? Saving money 💰 Reducing plastic waste 🗑️ Using less shelf space at home 💁‍♀️ Getting easy refill deliveries 😎 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

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