The Price is Right? Consumer Preferences for Food Manufacturer Responses to Increased Input Costs

When input prices for food products go up, food manufacturers can respond in several ways, including increasing prices, reducing the size of the product (now sometimes called ‘shrinkflation’), reducing the quality of the product (now sometimes called ‘skimpflation’), or accepting slimmer margins. None of these responses are new. However, media reports have shown that consumers feel strongly about these response mechanisms, especially as they pay closer attention to their food budgets, and that they may find certain reasons for food price increases more or less acceptable (Eastlake, 2024; Holger, 2024; Smialek, 2024; Selyukh, 2024).