232 Smaller and Smaller

Cheesy and Fondue learn about foods that are getting smaller. We talk about Mac and cheese, and other cheeses. We discuss things like Doritos and the Filet-o-fish. We find out about a new cheese trail. And of course, we tell a very cheesy joke!

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Why is cheddar the most dangerous of all the cheeses? Because it is very sharp!

Show Notes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrinkflation

https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/shrinkflation-words-were-watching

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau

https://dailydot.com/mac-and-cheese-conspiracy-theory

https://dailydot.com/babybel-costco-cheese-discrepancy

https://www.buzzfeed.com/meganeliscomb/shrinkflation-feb-2026

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/kraft-dinner-canadian-shoppers-lament-latest-target-of-shrinkflation--boxes-of-kd-are-now-smaller-220924829.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2014/04/09/shrinkflation-the-consumer-goods-that-have-down-sized.html

https://www.the-sun.com/money/16273919/higher-grocery-bills-shrinkflation-packaging-change-walmart-target/

https://www.mashed.com/2138014/mcdonalds-filet-o-fish-sandwich-gotten-smaller/

This Week in Cheese

https://parade.com/travel/route-66-best-cheese-spots

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Just Cheesy the podcast,presented by Just Cheesy Productions.
Hi there. I'm your host, Fondue.
I'm Cheesy.
In this week's episode, we'regoing to learn all about foods that
are getting smaller. We'regoing to talk about Mac and cheese
and other cheese products.We're going to discuss things like

(00:23):
McDonald's filet o fish. We'regoing to learn about a new cheese
trail.
And of course, we're going to tell.
Our very cheesy joke. Staytuned for episodes episode smaller
and smaller on Just Cheesy thepodcast. Have you noticed, Cheesy,
that some of our favoritefoods at the store are getting a
little bit smaller? Yeah, Somepeople call it shrinkflation.

(00:44):
Shrinkflation?
Yep. Shrinkflation is aportmanteau of.
Portman What?
It's a portmanteau of shrinkand inflation.
What's a portmanteau?
What, you don't know what aportmanteau is?
No.
Yeah, me neither. Well,according to Wikipedia, portmanteau
is a linguistics term.
It is.
It means to blend you. You'recombining the meanings and parts
of two different words. Sosomething like smog is a blend of

(01:06):
smoke and fog. And one Ididn't know until today, which is
so cool. Motel is thecombination between motorist and
hotel.
No way.
Oh. Oh, yeah. There's more.There's breakfast and lunch is brunch.
A chuckle and a snort is a chortle.
A chortle.
Dumb and confound isdumbfound. And listen, according
to this thing, you canactually replace parts of another

(01:27):
word and make something likeadorable and dork would be adorkable.
Adorkable.
I digress. So shrinkflation isa portmanteau of shrink and inflation.
It was actually coined by aneconomist named Pippa Malmgren, and
it's meant to describe whathappens when a product gets smaller
and lighter while the pricestays exactly the same. Sometimes

(01:50):
the box looks the same,sometimes the price tag looks the
same. But somewhere in betweenthe factory and your kitchen, a few
ounces went missing. Webster'sDictionary has been looking at the
word since around 2020, butthe concept itself is much older.
It Economists say thatcompanies use it as a way to quietly
pass on rising productioncosts without triggering the sticker

(02:11):
shock of an outright priceincrease. Orbach, an academic economist,
put it this way. Incompetitive markets, direct price
increases are risky, socompanies raise prices indirectly
by downsizing the product.Instead, they shrink it and hope
you don't notice. And a lot oftimes it works because most people
are tracking the price on theshelf, not the weight on the label.

(02:32):
Oh, yeah, there's even arelated term for when they keep the
size the same but quietly makethe product product worse. And this
is called skimpflation. Andthere are some real examples.
Oh, no.
In Canada, a viral Reddit Postin early 2024 caught something that
a lot of shoppers had beenfeeling but couldn't prove. Two boxes
of Kraft Dinner, same size,same price.

(02:53):
Okay.
One had 225 grams. Okay. Theother 225 grams were gone. No announcement.
Oh, no.
No fanfare. Of course itcaused outrage. And it blew up. On
a subreddit, one commenteralleged that when they were a kid,
one bo them and threesiblings. And now a single box barely
fills one adult nostalgia. Andthat shrinkflation's not just happening

(03:15):
in Canada.
It's not.
Recently, another woman onsocial media measured the contents
of a box of Mac and cheeseagainst what the label claimed, and
the numbers didn't add up.
Oh, no.
The package said three cupsand she got allegedly less.
Oh, no.
Her video also went viral withthe caption, I'm so tired of being
ripped off. Apparently it'sgetting pretty prevalent. Buzzfeed

(03:35):
published a roundup in early2026 documenting 63 real life examp
shrinkflation across everydayproducts. Toilet paper, potato chips,
orange juice.
Oh, no.

(04:37):
The examples ranged from aquarter ounce here to several ounces
there. And the pattern wasconsistent across brands and categories.
Kraft Mac and Cheese is nownever going to be a sponsor, but
if they were, their ad wouldgo right here. The Daily Dot.com
also talks a little bit aboutBaby Bell and Costco. A shopper at

(04:57):
Costco recently weighed theirBabybel cheese and noticed something
interesting. The Frenchversion and the American version
were not the same weight.They're both sold in what appeared
to be identical packaging. Butthe American Baby Bell was lighter.
And that reaction is actuallydocumented in consumer research.
Shrinkflation works in partbecause it makes people doubt themselves

(05:18):
before they suspect the manufacturer.
Really?
Reduction is usually smallenough that your memory of the old
size seems unreliable.
Oh, no.
And we know that shrinkflationis not a recent invention. Back in
2014, CNBC documented consumergoods that had been quietly downsized,
including toilet paper rolls,cere cereal boxes and canned goods.
The sun also reported ongrocery items at Walmart and Target.

(05:41):
The packaging changes weredesigned specifically to obscure
the size reduction, usingcurved containers or thicker plastic
bottoms or reshaped bags. Andapparently there's another one that's
pretty near and dear to a lotof people's hearts. The McDonald's
Filet O Fish, which accordingto the reporting from Mashed has
gotten noticeably smaller overthe years. The fish patty, the bun,

(06:04):
the tartar sauce ratio, Iguess people have been tracking same
way birdwatchers trackmigrations. And just so you know,
the half a slice of cheese wason purpose and has been that way
for the whole time.
Really.
According to this article,that half piece of cheese was meant
to be half. So it didn'toverpower the sandwich. There's definitely
no chance of that.

(06:24):
Nope.
You know, that buzzfeedarticle is really amazing because
consumers took their productsand they took pictures of them side
by side. So I think you'llfind it pretty interesting. It is
one of the reasons why it'sreally obvious in the cheese world
is usually cheese is sold byweight and most consumers are aware
of that. If you get a block ofcheese at the store, it's generally
8 ounces.

(06:44):
Right.
So when it becomes 7 ounces inthe same package, it's easy to tell
the difference. Yeah, mostmanufacturers claim the same thing.
Rising milk prices, supplychain costs and labor. And those
things are very real.
Yeah, they are.
I think what most consumersreally want, though, is transparency.
When it changes.
Yep.
It's time for my favoritesegment this week. The iconic Route

(07:06):
66 is turning 100 years old in2026. April 30th marks a special
day when in Springfield,Missouri, they sent a telegram to
federal highway officialsproposing the name that stuck. And
to celebrate, the New MexicoCheese Guild has launched something
Wonderful. The Route 66 CheeseTrail. The mother road.

(07:29):
Yeah.
In collaboration with theawesome creators of the California
Cheese Trail, the Guild isdeveloping a curated map of artisanal
producers, family farms andcultural landmarks. And this is across
the eight states that Route 66passes through. The idea is to offer
travelers an alternative tothe mega gas station snack landscape

(07:50):
that dominates most of thatdrive. Here are some of the stops.
The Smet Raw Milk Dairy inBosque Farms, New Mexico, where the
cows are grass fed and freegrazing. Mouse Hole Cheese Shop in
Albuquerque, home to Hann, whowon the 2025 International Young
Cheesemonger of the Year award.
Way to go.
These are just a couple of thecheese places on the 2,400 mile drive.

(08:13):
I'm ready for a joke fondue.
Okay. Why did cheese feelsmaller at the store?
I don't know why?
It got cut into pieces.
Oh. Oh, my goodness.
It got cut into pieces.
That was not good.
Oh, I know. I'm running out ofideas. Yeah. And it was a little
bit cheesy. Thank you forlistening to Just Cheesy, the podcast

(08:37):
episode. Smaller and Smaller.Thank you if you enjoyed this episode.
Find us wherever you get yourpodcast and leave us a review.
Yes, please.
We would love to hear from you.
And stay cheesy, everybody.