Kenya’s competition authority permits shrinkflation but mandates consumer disclosure - Trendtype Africa and Middle East
The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has said it will allow manufacturers to resize or reformulate products to manage cost pressures, but they must clearly label and disclose changes to consumers.
The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has said it will allow manufacturers to resize or reformulate products to manage cost pressures, but they must clearly label and disclose changes to consumers. CAK says the issue is not resizing itself, but that consumers are misled into believing they are receiving the same value as before. The statement follows complaints across Kenya over shrinkflation, where pack sizes are reduced while retail prices stay the same, and skimpflation, where product quality is lowered without a corresponding price cut. Shrinkflation is effectively invisible inflation. It does not show up in headline prices and is difficult for consumers to track unless they compare unit prices, which most Kenyan shoppers do not. The Cost of food in Kenya increased 8. 6% in June 2026 over the same month in 2025, down from 9. 4% in May 2026. In May 2026, inflation reached its highest rate since June 2023, and has been rising steadily since October 2024. Food Inflation in Kenya has averaged 9. 26% from 2010 until 2026. The Consumers Federation of Kenya (Cofek) says complaints have increased significantly, particularly on bread, cooking fat, tissue paper and LPG. Consumers have also flagged milk, cooking oil, margarine, wheat flour, maize flour, sugar, rice, tea, coffee, juice, soft drinks, toothpaste, detergents and soap. Cofek Secretary General Stephen Mutoro cited a specific example: a 400g bread loaf becoming 350g in the same wrapper at the same price with no notice. He said this constitutes misrepresentation of quantity under Section 13 of the Consumer Protection Act 2012. For their part, manufacturers cite rising electricity tariffs, fuel costs, taxes, expensive imported raw materials, labour costs, packaging and borrowing rates. The choice, as they characterise it, is to raise prices and lose customers, or reduce sizes and keep prices within reach. Kenya is not the only market in Africa where this is happening. Notably, in Nigeria, naira volatility has forced manufacturers to shrink pack sizes to maintain price points that consumers can afford. Outside Africa, regulators are also cracking down on shrinkflation:France has required retailers to flag downsized products since July 2024, mandating that supermarkets display notices for two months when a product shrinks, and its unit price risesAustria’s Anti-Deceptive Packaging Act came into force in April 2026, mandating clearer consumer information when pack sizes shrink and unit prices rise by more than 3%. In May 2026, a German court ruled against Mondelēz after Milka chocolate bars were reduced from 100g to 90g, finding that weight labelling alone was not enough to prevent consumer confusion. In the US, senators introduced a Shrinkflation Prevention Act in February 2024 to empower the Federal Trade Commission to regulate the practice.