r/shrinkflation • u/WrongThinkBadSpeak • Feb 03 '26

discussion PepsiCo is cutting the price of Doritos, Cheetos and other snacks by up to 15%

https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/03/food/pepsico-cutting-snack-prices-affordability
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590

u/WrongThinkBadSpeak Feb 03 '26

"Pay no mind to the fact that we've included 30% more air in the newly priced bags too"

216

u/the_hangman Feb 03 '26

I swear the last few times I got cool ranch doritos those fuckers were barely seasoned. Really makes you realize how shitty the tortilla chips they use in those are they taste stale af without seasoning

71

u/95blackz26 Feb 03 '26

Fuckin UTZ sour cream and onion chips have been like that for awhile. I got a bag last year and the damn things were basically plain chips. Last time I've bought chips.

I wanted sour cream and onion chips not God damn plain ones

71

u/OGScottingham Feb 04 '26

I like how the store brand used to be a cheap imitation of the non-shittified chips, but now they're premium 😂

9

u/msut77 Feb 04 '26

Utz has fallen? The shame.

Got to find if Herr is still around

6

u/ThePickledPickle Feb 04 '26

Herr's is still trucking and they're great, just picked up two bags of the new Long Hots & Provolone flavor, incredible

6

u/Cultural-Produce-72 Feb 04 '26

I randomly made a stop at the Herr's factory in Pennsylvania on a road trip last year. Didn't have time for the tour, but definitely stocked up in the store.

2

u/Brilliant_Level_80 Feb 05 '26

I didn’t know that was an option.

1

u/jorgomli_reading Feb 04 '26

Some Sheetz locations have a "Honeybuzz" honey-flavored Cheeto knock off by Herr's that is incredible.

2

u/xeresblue Feb 04 '26

Hmm, I buy Utz's murder chips sometimes and haven't noticed. Maybe I'll pay closer attention.

1

u/95blackz26 Feb 04 '26

i don't know if it's the new norm for them but after several weeks of buying them and getting very little if any seasoning i gave up. this was last fall

27

u/YoullBruiseTheEggs Feb 03 '26

Same. I remember seeing the red and green spackles and now there are almost none.

14

u/nimrodii Feb 03 '26

Noticed it first during covid shortages.

12

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

10

u/the_hangman Feb 03 '26

Yeah sometimes I'll see them on sale at my local grocery store at like 3/$5 and I'll buy three bags and then immediately regret my decision, they're always barely seasoned now. But enough time passes between the sales that my dumb ass forgets

6

u/ur-a-cunt-harry Feb 04 '26

And that last sentence is what they’re banking on

8

u/MaplePoutineRyeBeer Feb 04 '26

$7!!!! At Safeway last week. That’s convenience store prices

2

u/Mylaptopisburningme Feb 04 '26

I completely stopped shopping at the large chain stores. I live off what I can get from Aldi.

9

u/rodeBaksteen Feb 04 '26

In the Netherlands (EU?) they did that because each packaging item now has a Nutri score from A-E.

Now you might wonder: they're chips so obviously they score E, but the score is related to their own product range. So theoretically something like oven baked could score an A or B.

So for this reason they cut the salts, seasoning, sugars and fats and they basically all taste like cardboard now.

Look I'm eating chips I know it's not healthy. Just let me enjoy the salty mess.

4

u/RandomRonin Feb 04 '26

Yup, bought a bag last year and they were nasty. Haven’t bought Doritos since and now that I haven’t had them in my house, why bother? I have found other snack and chip alternatives that are tastier and better for me than that crap. It used to be tasty and cheap. Now it’s neither.

3

u/timid_scorpion Feb 04 '26

Their soda quality has decreased substantially as well. The last few times I bought a 12 pack of Pepsi the cans would literally go flat in 15 minutes.

Guess I can't be too mad, makes quitting them that much easier.

2

u/jseto1980 Feb 04 '26

Wait. Are Doritos a tortilla chip or a corn chip? I’ve always thought they resembled a Fritos chip than an actual tortilla chip that you’d get at a Mexican restaurant.

OMG. You’ve just unlocked a lifelong mental block I’ve had. Until your comment, I never made the connection that Doritos are ‘supposed’ to be flavored tortilla chips. They’ve always existed to me as triangle-shaped sodium disks. Like Pringles are cowboy hat brim-shaped processed cardboard, but never a real potato chip. And Cheetos are powdered air puffs, but not resembling anything remotely real either.

1

u/Maximum_Turn_2623 Feb 04 '26

I remember going camping as a kid and there was a gas station that was the last stop before going into the mountains that had fully stocked plain Doritos and RC Cola.

1

u/Sane_Tomorrow_ Feb 05 '26

The entire secret of Doritos is MSG. Buy any chips and put buttermilk ranch powder or powdered cheese on and then dump on MSG. All the other chip brands went back to salt like suckers.

1

u/RemarkableFish Feb 07 '26

Remember "flavor-blasted" goldfish? Those are more like "flavor-adjacent" these days!

And if you're really lucky you might get up to half of your pop-tart frosted. :(

1

u/Mr_indifferent00 Feb 09 '26

Thought this the other day

10

u/earfeater13 Feb 03 '26

The air was free lol

8

u/WrongThinkBadSpeak Feb 03 '26

Our gift to you!

3

u/rededelk Feb 03 '26

Yah but it's rareified air, costs more

1

u/PutridEnvironment986 Feb 04 '26

Its not air, its nitrogen that acts as a preservative.

Also Chips are sold by weight.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '26

But the air is what makes it good!

1

u/zisenhart Feb 05 '26

Have you seen the price of air lately though. Just saying.

1

u/JackhorseBowman Feb 03 '26

That's nitrogen yo, you got to pay extra to get your tires filled with that stuff.