Woolworths selling downsized’ Brut deodorant for more than double unit cost of old product
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Consumer advocates call for more transparency around ‘shrinkflation’ as supermarkets continue to defend against price-gouging allegations. Australia’s biggest supermarket chain, Woolworths, is selling a significantly smaller stick of Brut deodorant for more than double the unit price of the old product, in an extreme example of “shrinkflation” that leaves shoppers paying more for common household products.
![[Coles and Woolworths are fighting claims of fake discounts and a lack of competition - video]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d74da067b43b4e9f878a6e876b253adc2d0bdf76/0_58_1790_1007/1790.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
While not unlawful, the pricing decision rubs against heightened public criticism of strategies employed by supermarkets, which have consistently defended themselves against price gouging allegations during a cost-of-living crisis. Coles and Woolworths are also defending court claims that they have deceived customers with fake discounts.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email. PharmaCare-owned Brut recently shrank the size of its deodorant stick by one-third from 75g to 50g, as the item’s retail price at Woolworths increased from $7 to $10. The new version now costs $20 per 100g – more than twice the cost of the old product.
Newcastle resident Rachel King, a long-term buyer of the product, said she only noticed the changed size after she returned home from the supermarket. “It has the same colour and style of packaging, and even though I buy it all the time, I just picked it up and went, ‘Oh yeah, it’s back in stock’.
