The latest marketing news reports food giant Kraft, after taking over Cadbury, has announced plans to shrink the size of the much-loved Dairy Milk bar whilst increasing the price.

The Daily Mail reports that whilst the bar is set to decrease in size by 14 per cent, the price will increase by seven per cent, meaning the cost of a Dairy Milk bar will be 30 per cent higher than 2007. The news has been met with criticism by an already alienated British audience, who believe Kraft is not committed to preserving the iconic Cadbury brand.

A spokesperson for the company claims: “We have taken the decision to increase prices because of economic factors such as ingredient costs.”

Kraft are not the only culprits reducing sizes whilst hiking prices. Nestlé has admitted to shrinking its Aero and Yorkie bars, whilst Mars has reduced the size of the average Maltesers box. A representative for Nestlé confirmed: “Occasionally we make small changes to the size of our products, driven by a number of factors – including anything from a product reformulation, to a change in packaging, through to increases in cost bases.”

Independent retailers such as Poundland are trying to keep costs down themselves, by taking a fall in profits. The boss of Poundland, Jim McCarthy, said “We are prepared to trade at lower profit margins because of the volume we sell,” reports The Mirror.

The Government is trying hard to bridge the gap between the British public and Kraft, by inviting the chief executive, Irene Rosenfeld, to a meeting with the chairman of the Business, Innovation and Skills committee, Adrian Bailey. Kraft claim they have not yet received the letter, and would not say whether they are anticipating accepting the invite or not.

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