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| Artwork by Tarek Chemaly |
You know shrinkflation? If you don't now is the time to explore the concept here.
For some odd reason, lately Gandour 555 biscuits were not being stocked in the shops near me in the village where I am. I am not sure why though they were for a long time. Mind you Gandour 555 biscuits are a staple (or were) in the Lebanese diet. You can fill them with loukoum, put them next to coffee or tea, have them on their own, insert them at the bottom or top of custard bowls - the possibilities are limitless.
Long story short, I found a box just a few days ago and it said "15% free". Well, even with the 15% free I am having my doubts. Why? Because, when I opened the box the biscuits were... minuscule. As in almost Oreo small, brittle, and... not very filling.
Long time ago, Patrick Chemali - my digital consultant and no, no relation apart from friendship - came up with the joke that "Daher foods" (which owns Master potato chips) has bought Gandour because both products shrunk in content and offer much less "inside" despite keeping the same packaging.
So the 15% increase could - barely - recup the losses when compared to the original product which was known to the Lebanese for such a long period of time (very oddly the box I currently have does not list the weight per packet on the outside). And if you do not believe me? The current (or at least newer) box of 555 is 82 grams x 8 packets (here)... versus 107 grams x 8 packets long ago (here). So the newer box has 76% weight per packet of the old one - so no, I am not imagining it.