Instant coffee SKUs are shrinking in the mults.
Research by The Grocer using Assosia data reveals a raft of instant coffee SKUs across leading brands – including the likes of Nescafé, Kenco and L’Or – have been replaced with smaller pack sizes.
Nescafé Gold Toffee Nut Latte Coffee Sachets 156g (£1.60), for instance, have been replaced with a smaller 149g pack size in Asda, priced at £1.50.
Kenco Duo Latte Instant Coffee Sachets 6x23.4g, meanwhile, have been replaced with smaller 6x17.3g sachets in Morrisons – at the same price of £3.75.
In Tesco, Kenco Cappuccino Coffee sachets 8x18.7g have also been replaced with smaller 14.8g sachets – but at a lower price. The previous versions were listed at £1.75 and the new ones are priced at £1.60.
L’Or Classique Instant Coffee 165g, meanwhile, has been replaced with a 150g version in the retailer at the same price of £6.
A spokeswoman for Nescafé confirmed it had reduced the size of Gold Toffee Nut Latte sachets, so they were “not considered high in fat, salt or sugar according to government guidelines”.
As this “did not provide a significant cost saving and, with increases in the cost of raw materials, energy, packaging and transportation, making it more expensive to manufacture our products”, the recommended retail price had “remained the same”.
Final pricing was “always at the discretion of individual retailers”, she added.
A spokeswoman for L’Or and Kenco owner Jacobs Douwe Egberts, meanwhile, told The Grocer its L’Or freeze-dried instant coffee range had “recently gone through a packaging change to make it fully recyclable”.
The brand offered “both 150g and 100g jars” that offered shoppers “a more sustainable option, without compromising on the great-tasting coffee we are known for”, she said.
Its Kenco Cappuccino sachets and Duo coffees, meanwhile, had “recently been refreshed to allow consumers to enjoy the same Kenco coffee experience and drink size as before… whilst benefiting from reductions in calories, sugar and fat.”
“Supporting our sustainability commitments, we have developed a more concentrated recipe, which enables a reduction in packaging weight of our Kenco Specialty boxes by 27%, compared to our previous format.”
The Grocer has approached the retailers for comment.
No comments yet