Costco Shoppers Claim Häagen-Dazs Bars Are The Latest Victim Of Shrinkflation

Is it that your hands have grown since childhood, or have Häagen-Dazs ice cream bars gotten smaller over the years? According to a number of Costco shoppers, the chocolate-dipped ice cream treats have shrunk. A post on the popular r/Costco subreddit compared a Kirkland brand version of the treat with the brand-name version, demonstrating a noticeable difference in size and shape. The Kirkland bar appears round and full, while the Häagen-Dazs seems lacking in comparison.

Many agreed, blaming shrinkflation — a trend consumers find quite frustrating. As the cost of production rises over time, brands butt up against how much customers will pay for their goods. One way to maintain prices is to make the products smaller so the customer winds up getting less for the same price. One Redditor claims this is nothing new, writing, "I have been eating these suckers for over 30 years! The shrinking has been going on for a long time, but I bet it accelerated with the current shrinkflation."

Citing nutritional information to back up their claim, they pointed out that the current version has 270 calories while alleging that previous iterations had more, which could account for the reduction in size over time. While there could be any number of contributing factors — a change in the recipe or the overrun of the ice cream, for instance (all speculative, of course) — the perception is the same across the thread: Yes, the ice cream bars have shrunk.

A 2014 article from CNBC featured the ice cream brand in an article about shrinkflation, reporting that Häagen-Dazs ice cream cartons started shrinking in 2009. Without a price change, the 16-ounce cartons became 14-ounce cartons, and the 32-ounce cartons became 28-ounce cartons.

According to a spokesperson who spoke to CNBC, the move is intentional and not one the company has historically hidden. At the time, the price of energy, dairy, and other ingredients rose, and the 2008 recession was still heavily affecting people. "Because of the economic downturn, we chose to downsize rather than increase the price or compromise on quality. We were sensitive to the fact that increasing the price would have made Häagen-Dazs unaffordable for many in that economic climate." Häagen-Dazs is a high-quality ice cream brand, so rather than take shortcuts, it gives customers less for the same price.

If the Reddit posts are to be believed, the calculation by Häagen-Dazs may need to change. Multiple commenters touted the Kirkland ice cream bars over the Häagen-Dazs bars due to their size. However, a Reddit post from 2022 comparing the two stated that the Kirkland bars are only marginally heavier than the Häagen-Dazs bars. Kirkland's are thinner with more chocolate coating, making the weight comparison more complicated. Still, the changes are enough to make them perceived differently — and enough for customers to grow cold on the seemingly shrinking Häagen-Dazs bars.