Who shrank all the pies? Bakery giant Greggs slims down pasties and bacon rolls while pushing up prices
High Street bakery Greggs has been slimming down its food - while still pushing up the prices.
Several of the store's best-selling savouries, including steak bakes, bacon rolls and pizzas have shrunk in size.
But the bakery giant has defended the shrinking size of its food, saying it is better on the waistline.
The worst hit is the breakfast bacon roll, which has shrunk by 18 per cent, from 152g to 124g since last May.
Pasties and pizzas have gone down by five per cent, while chicken subs sandwiches have become six per cent smaller and cheese and bacon wraps have shrunk by seven per cent.
Even Greggs' famous steak bake, relaunched in March with 'even more delicious prime steak', has shrunk its protein content by 15 per cent.
In addition, Yum-Yum doughnuts and triple chocolate muffins have slimmed down by seven per cent and lemon drizzle doughnuts are eight per cent smaller.
An investigation by trade magazine The Grocer found Greggs, which has 1,671 stores around the UK, has shrunk the treats at the same time as pushing up its prices.
The bakery giant had admitted to 'reluctantly' putting up the prices but said that where there have been changes, it is the result of improvements, such as the reduction in fat, salt and or sugar.
A spokeswoman for Greggs refused to confirm exactly which products had gone up in price but on its website Greggs admitted that it had 'reluctantly changed the price of some of our food with very minor increases.'
She said: 'A small number of product recipes have changed driven by customer feedback and nutritional guidelines, which has reduced these product weights.
'These changes have been made over a long period of time, and our prices always remain at the great value our customers expect from us.'
She added: 'Greggs leads the bakery industry by being transparent about our food and providing detailed nutritional information about our products.
'We are constantly reviewing our products and making changes and improvements to them, and we update the product information and nutritional content for our customers on our website and our in-shop information leaflet.
'Where
changes in weight do occur, this is normally the result of improvements
to specification such as reducing fat, salt and/or sugar.'
Former Greggs chief executive Ken McMeikan warned in January that 'significant' price hikes on commodities including flour, pork, poultry and beef could mean price increases in 2013.
'Food inflation will have an impact, along with other cost rises like energy', he said.
'We will try and protect our customers but sadly there will be rises in commodities we have to pass on.'
The move comes after the bakery giant forced Chancellor George Osbourne to back down in the controversial 'Pasty Tax' storm last year.
And it follows criticism from consumer watchdog Which? that the size reductions can be an underhand way of hiking prices.
Which? Magazine executive director Richard Lloyd told The Grocer that reducing the size of products was not fair on consumers.
He said: 'Shrinking products can be a way of raising prices, because pack sizes shrink but prices don't.'
The hidden price hike strategy started with popular chocolate bars and sweets but quickly spread to a wide range of foods and everyday household products.
James Hutchings, a commodity specialist at analysts Mintec told the magazine that shrinking products had become a 'common tool' used by a 'range of food sectors, from confectionery and snack foods to soft drinks to mitigate the volatility of commodity prices.'
He also predicted that the trend would continue for the foreseeable future.
Only last month Which? reported that big name brands are shrinking products by up to a quarter, but the prices aren't dropping. And in some cases, they've even increased.
The consumer magazine says it had uncovered a selection of everyday products that now offer poorer value for money than before
The magazine said: 'We found a pack of Birds Eye beef burgers had four fewer burgers in it - now 12 instead of 16.
'We also discovered Pledge furniture polish had shrunk by 17 per cent. But the prices had stayed the same or risen.
'In fact, anything from bags of crisps to packs of dishwasher tablets are getting smaller.
'We asked the makers of these products why they had shrunk them, and were generally told that, in the face of rising costs they chose to shrink products rather than increase prices.'
A survey of Which? members found that 58 per cent say they would rather prices rose than packs got smaller.
A further 37 per cent would rather the pack shrank, but only if you were told. Only three per cent said it was fine for the pack size to shrink and not be told about it.
'We think that this can be an underhand way of raising prices,' said Which?
Several of the store's best-selling savouries, including steak bakes, bacon rolls and pizzas have shrunk in size.
But the bakery giant has defended the shrinking size of its food, saying it is better on the waistline.
Greggs have shrank a number of their popular
products, including pasties and breakfast bacon roll, while still
pushing its prices up (file picture)
Pasties and pizzas have gone down by five per cent, while chicken subs sandwiches have become six per cent smaller and cheese and bacon wraps have shrunk by seven per cent.
Even Greggs' famous steak bake, relaunched in March with 'even more delicious prime steak', has shrunk its protein content by 15 per cent.
In addition, Yum-Yum doughnuts and triple chocolate muffins have slimmed down by seven per cent and lemon drizzle doughnuts are eight per cent smaller.
Greggs' breakfast bacon roll has shrunk by 18 per cent, from 152g to 124g since last May
The popular steak bake (left) has shrunk by 15 per cent, while ham and cheese wraps (right) have slimmed down by seven per cent
The bakery giant had admitted to 'reluctantly' putting up the prices but said that where there have been changes, it is the result of improvements, such as the reduction in fat, salt and or sugar.
A spokeswoman for Greggs refused to confirm exactly which products had gone up in price but on its website Greggs admitted that it had 'reluctantly changed the price of some of our food with very minor increases.'
She said: 'A small number of product recipes have changed driven by customer feedback and nutritional guidelines, which has reduced these product weights.
'These changes have been made over a long period of time, and our prices always remain at the great value our customers expect from us.'
She added: 'Greggs leads the bakery industry by being transparent about our food and providing detailed nutritional information about our products.
'We are constantly reviewing our products and making changes and improvements to them, and we update the product information and nutritional content for our customers on our website and our in-shop information leaflet.
Yum-Yum doughnuts (pictured) and triple chocolate muffins have reduced by seven per cent
Pizzas are now five per cent smaller at Greggs and lemon drizzle doughnuts have shrunk by eight per cent
Former Greggs chief executive Ken McMeikan warned in January that 'significant' price hikes on commodities including flour, pork, poultry and beef could mean price increases in 2013.
'Food inflation will have an impact, along with other cost rises like energy', he said.
'We will try and protect our customers but sadly there will be rises in commodities we have to pass on.'
The move comes after the bakery giant forced Chancellor George Osbourne to back down in the controversial 'Pasty Tax' storm last year.
And it follows criticism from consumer watchdog Which? that the size reductions can be an underhand way of hiking prices.
Which? Magazine executive director Richard Lloyd told The Grocer that reducing the size of products was not fair on consumers.
He said: 'Shrinking products can be a way of raising prices, because pack sizes shrink but prices don't.'
Greggs has defended the shrinking size of its pasties, saying they are
better on the waistline
The worst hit is the breakfast bacon roll, which
has shrunk by 18 per cent. Pasties and pizzas have gone down by five
per cent, while chicken subs sandwiches have become six per cent smaller
The hidden price hike strategy started with popular chocolate bars and sweets but quickly spread to a wide range of foods and everyday household products.
James Hutchings, a commodity specialist at analysts Mintec told the magazine that shrinking products had become a 'common tool' used by a 'range of food sectors, from confectionery and snack foods to soft drinks to mitigate the volatility of commodity prices.'
He also predicted that the trend would continue for the foreseeable future.
Only last month Which? reported that big name brands are shrinking products by up to a quarter, but the prices aren't dropping. And in some cases, they've even increased.
The consumer magazine says it had uncovered a selection of everyday products that now offer poorer value for money than before
The magazine said: 'We found a pack of Birds Eye beef burgers had four fewer burgers in it - now 12 instead of 16.
'We also discovered Pledge furniture polish had shrunk by 17 per cent. But the prices had stayed the same or risen.
'In fact, anything from bags of crisps to packs of dishwasher tablets are getting smaller.
'We asked the makers of these products why they had shrunk them, and were generally told that, in the face of rising costs they chose to shrink products rather than increase prices.'
A survey of Which? members found that 58 per cent say they would rather prices rose than packs got smaller.
A further 37 per cent would rather the pack shrank, but only if you were told. Only three per cent said it was fine for the pack size to shrink and not be told about it.
'We think that this can be an underhand way of raising prices,' said Which?