McVitie’s meltdown as boxes of Jaffa Cakes get smaller… but the company says it’s not “shrinkflation”

It may be Pudding Week on tonight’s Great British Bake Off, but the public is today up in arms over cake… or is it a biscuit?

McVitie’s has reduced the number of Jaffa Cakes in a packet from 12 to 10, leading to fears that the beloved snack is the latest victim of so-called Shrinkflation, after last year’s outrage over Toblerone changing the shape of its chocolate.

But McVitie’s insists that it has reduced the recommended retail price accordingly.

City A.M. received the following statement from a McVitie’s spokesperson (bold text added by the spokesperson):

“We have taken the decision to adjust the pack size of our McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes products and where we’ve reduced cake count, the recommended retail price has also been reduced proportionately; this applies to all the core grocery channels.

Our single packs (changing from 12 to 10 cakes) have reduced from an RRP of £1.15 to an RRP of 99p, and our twin packs (changing from 24 to 20 cakes) have reduced from an RRP of £2.19 to an RRP of £1.89. These changes represent the same price per cake, however, pricing ultimately remains at the sole discretion of retailers.

There is no change in the size, shape or weight of individual cakes in the McVitie’s Jaffa Cake range.