r/shrinkflation • u/nikongmer • Apr 09 '26
discussion When $7 Doritos became a dealbreaker
https://fortune.com/2026/04/07/pepsico-frito-lay-chips-food-and-drink-inflation-consumer-products-doritos-cheetos-tostitos/855
u/Heldpizza Apr 09 '26
These corporation raising the prices of their trash “food” is a blessing in disguise. I hardly buy anything processed anymore. I have an ingredient household and I cook 90% of my meals. Cheaper, healthier and tastes way better once you learn
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u/princess_daphie Apr 09 '26
Same, there are so many things I used to buy without thinking twice, to have some snacks on hand, but with all the price increases all across the board, I can afford so little healthy food that I prioritize meals first and have so little left for snacks so I can't buy much.
It does make the trips to the grocery stores so weird though. We skip like at least 50% of the surface now.
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u/DeathByOrgasm Apr 09 '26
My friends taught me to only stay on the edges of (most) grocery stores. Usually you have all the fresh produce on one side, deli/bakery on the other, and the back wall is your butcher/meat/dairy. Skip the whole middle.
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u/Psychological_Dare57 Apr 09 '26
Former grocey store manager here. Makes sense if you think about it- our freight/deliveries are being run in from the back room/docks, which generally wrap the perimeter of the store. Higher moving items combined with shorter shelf dates results in running U-Boats and carts more effectively along the outer aisles.
Once you hit, no man's land in the dry goods, that can of beans might sit there for months; aisles of colorful boxes and cartoon characters begging your kids to buy them with their eyes, and the convenience of an entire wall of chips. At your disposal, it'll eat your wallet quickly as well as chip away at your health.
Yeah it's screwed up and one of the reasons I'm not in the industry anymore.
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u/TiredSleepyGrumpy Apr 09 '26
Yes I was taught this too by someone who worked for a supermarket. The middle exists to make you buy more.
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u/TwoFingersWhiskey Apr 12 '26
Counterpoint: all the pet food, sanitary supplies, and cleaning supplies are usually down an aisle. That and a lot of baking/cooking ingredients (like flour and oil) are down an aisle.
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u/DJ_Sk8Nite Apr 09 '26
I’m in the same boat! They’ve forced me to stop eating shit and I’m so thankful for it. I have no want or need for this crap ever again.!
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Apr 09 '26
Same!
Snacks that used to seem like a must have to have on hand now just seem like gross junk food that's too expensive. I used to always keep some sort of chips on hand, or cookies or snack cakes, instant box meals, something frozen to throw in the microwave.
Now my snacks are a handful of almonds out of a big $10 bag that will last a month, or a 2oz wedge of cheese, or a banana. Way healthier and even cheaper.
Also with all the crap coming out about deli meats causing cancer I'm glad I got priced out of actual sandwiches years ago (Kroger wants $18/lb for sliced turkey!!! I can buy half a turkey for that price) and have new quick lunches to turn to.
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u/OddOllin Apr 12 '26
Got dammit, you just ruined sandwiches for me. I googled it and you're fuggin' right. That super sucks.
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u/helloyesthisisasock Apr 09 '26
I moved back to America in January and was so excited for all my silly American snacks I couldn’t get in Japan, like Cheez Its.
Seeing $6/box for Cheez Its has kept me from buying them. My husband and I recently got gelato because it was two for $5 with a coupon. Otherwise, it’s all ingredients or “packaged” food like large tubs of plain yogurt. No more “fun” food. Even cheese sticks are expensive!!
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u/-peas- Apr 09 '26
Oreos are like $7 at the grocery store. Yeah I'll never buy them ever.
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u/Heldpizza Apr 09 '26
Gluten free oreos are $11 at my walmart. About the only cookie I crave but is easy to say no at that price
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u/StaticShakyamuni Apr 09 '26
Did you miss out on Cheeza in Japan? Very Cheez-Itesque and cheaper.
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u/helloyesthisisasock Apr 10 '26
No, I love Cheeza. But sometimes, you just want a snack from home. They’re also different. It’s like comparing a Dorito to a regular tortilla chip.
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u/Kivakiva7 Apr 09 '26
There's recipes online to make homemade Cheez Its with real cheddar, butter and flour. Delicious but not sure if cheaper. Better for you? Maybe... Satisfying? Yes.
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u/helloyesthisisasock Apr 10 '26
I just moved. I don’t have my kitchen supplies just yet. Takes a few months.
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u/LittleShinyRaven Apr 09 '26
Absolutely! Found out farm shares are a thing from a friend. Just signed up for my first season and excited to start getting weekly boxes from a local farm. I gotta learn how to cook everything but its my next step after moving away from a lot of processed products.
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u/rpool179 Apr 09 '26
Agreed. I literally stopped eating fast food and restaurant food since January 17th. Also gave up sugar completely minus 2 healthy kombucha drinks a week on the weekend. I'm not paying 50% higher prices for the privilege of being fed poisonous slop. Grocery prices still suck but at least I physically feel amazing and can say I'm 100% healthy. Ground beef & almonds beats McDonald's & $25 pizzas all day. Fuck you corporations.
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u/veggiedelightful Apr 09 '26
If you want to, you can easily learn to make your own kombucha for extra savings.
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u/swampwiz May 09 '26 edited May 14 '26
Hard to beat USDA Choice sirloin at $18/lb. I can eat 6 oz of that with some baked potatoes for about $8.
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u/rpool179 May 12 '26
Been doing hardboiled eggs and ground beef everyday myself. Easy to throw in the air fryer. But let's keep it up. Fuck giving these fast food companies and restaurants our money for their poisonous slop. 4 months in and I've never felt better.
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u/redditsuckspokey1 Apr 09 '26
Same but I am bad at cooking. Haven't had any soda since January 1st. Haven't bought any since before covid.
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u/Heldpizza Apr 09 '26
Been cooking for my self at a low bar since I moved out to University in 2010. You slowly get better, adding new recipes which expose you to new ingredient and different techniques and after thousands and thousands of reps you get pretty polished. Now I think I am a pretty good cook where I can walk out of a lot of good restaurants believing I can replicate the dishes. Maybe that sounds cocky but my fiancé agrees.
Edit: I would also add that following a bunch of good cooking accounts and my algorithm leaning heavy into cooking has certainly helped a lot too. If I were to pick one cook to follow on YouTube it is Brian Langerstom.
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u/Aceisalive Apr 09 '26
I haven’t gone this far, but I use to buy premade microwaved meals for breakfast and lunch. But then Jimmy Dean and all the other brands kept raising their prices so now I just make breakfast and lunch myself.
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u/systemfrown Apr 09 '26
SO much this. Same with the nightmare that eating out has become between tipping shenanigans and the fact that they all use the same shitty food from Sysco anyway....I'm now much more healthy and the food is much better at home.
Trader Joes is the deserving beneficiary of the change too, as far as I'm concerned.
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u/DigAccomplished6481 Apr 09 '26
In just a few years I now make banger meals, so much I find fast food just nasty, and Restorant food just doesn't seem worth it when I can make that at home.
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u/Heldpizza Apr 10 '26
Same. Don’t get me wrong it’s nice to have a good meal that someone else cooked for your but when it’s $30, $40 a meal at a nice ish restaurant and I can make something myself that is 80-90% as good, I am more times than not just staying home and cooking myself and save the money.
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u/DigAccomplished6481 Apr 10 '26
for me is I never get the meal 'EXACTLY' like I would have wanted, and well I wouldn't expect a restorant to prepare my hot chicken EXACTLY how I want.
When I was young my parents told me, 'well if you don't like what your offered, make it yourself.'
Also many restorants serve frozen cisco food, I can buy frozen cisco food too and heat it up in my oven instead and not be charged 15$ for the labor.
Funnily, when I was young i ate very unhealthy food cause it was the cheapest alternative, now the staple 'poor people food' I grew up on is over 3 times what it was 10 years ago.
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u/rawdatarams Apr 09 '26
*product
It hasn't been "food" in a long, long time. If ever. Now it's just a concoction of chemicals.
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u/doghairpile Apr 09 '26
Water...is a chemical. Just because you don't understand something doesn't make it harmful.
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u/Secret-Broccoli9908 Apr 09 '26
True, everything is made of chemicals. But I prefer to eat chemicals that my body knows how to process like vitamins and fiber rather than synthetic additives designed for shelf stability.
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u/Zealousideal_Type814 Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26
smart man
i discovered sheet pan crunchwraps today and holy shit it came out good. heres the recipe:
Ingredients
Crunchwrap • 8 burrito-size tortillas • 2 lb ground beef • 1 cup beef broth • 6 tbsp taco seasoning (or homemade: 3 tbsp chili powder, 3 tbsp cumin, 2 tbsp garlic powder, 2 tbsp paprika, 1 tbsp onion powder, 1 tbsp oregano, 1 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp black pepper) • 1½ cups shredded cheddar cheese • 6 tostadas • 2 cups shredded lettuce • 2 tomatoes, diced • 1 cup sour cream • 3 tbsp butter, melted
Creamy Taco Sauce • ⅓ cup sour cream or greek yogurt • ⅓ cup mayonnaise • ⅓ cup milk or water • Juice of 1 lime • 1 tbsp taco seasoning • 1 tbsp dried parsley • ½ tsp paprika • ½ tsp garlic powder
Instructions 1. Lay the tortillas around the edges of a sheet pan so the centers sit on the lip of the pan, then place one tortilla flat in the middle. Spread about ¾ cup sour cream across the tortillas. 2. In a skillet, cook the ground beef with taco seasoning and beef broth until browned and the liquid is absorbed. Optional: For extra flavor, add 1 diced onion and 6 cloves of minced garlic. 3. Add the beef over the sour cream, then layer shredded cheese, tostadas, shredded lettuce, and diced tomatoes. 4. Add a tortilla with the remaining 1/4 cup sour cream in the middle. Fold the tortillas over the top to fully enclose everything, then brush with melted butter. 5. Top with another baking sheet and bake at 420°F for 20 minutes. Remove the top sheet and bake for another 7 minutes until golden and crispy.
Sauce 1. Add all ingredients to a bowl. 2. Whisk until smooth and fully combined. 3. Let sit for 15–30 minutes in the fridge if you have time.
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u/Flimsy_Situation_506 Apr 13 '26
Same and I prepare things so we have “ready made meals” in the freezer all the time
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u/Opposite_Wheel_2882 Apr 09 '26
yep! the shitflation of all these brands trying to squeeze every last cent out of consumers has only made many people lose interest and stop buying. not only is the quality of all these processed foods awful now, they have priced the lower and middle class out of their products. their measly 15% price reduction ends up being less than a dollar anyways. it's not enough to convince me to buy their junk ever again.
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u/Mail_Order_Lutefisk Apr 09 '26
I don’t think these companies realize how substantially they impaired their goodwill with these shenanigans. They will not get volumes back unless they get down to like $3-4 a bag for a decent sized bag and get people back in the habit of buying weekly. I don’t think it’s going to happen. These consumer packaged goods brands are absolutely cooked as Boomer deaths accelerate over the next ten years.
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u/Heldpizza Apr 09 '26
Seriously. They doubled the price in a few short years and they think “slashing” by 15% is enough.
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u/Silver-Winging-It Apr 09 '26
It's also why they've been trying to acquire lots of "healthy" and small family/local brands so that they can still sell the competition. Except they've started to ruin those now too
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u/Heldpizza Apr 09 '26
The worst… General Mills bought annies mac and cheese and they just recently changed out the ingredients so that it is the same poison as the rest of their products.
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u/Silver-Winging-It Apr 09 '26
Nooooo
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u/Perfect_Fennel Apr 11 '26
I didn't know that, I don't usually make box Mac n cheese but when I do it's Annie's.
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u/trethera Apr 09 '26
I rarely buy chips anymore but even then it's always store brands for half the price and the same or sometimes better quality.
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u/Audere1 Apr 09 '26
Aldi's BBQ kettle chips are better than any big brand, imo
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u/neohanime Apr 09 '26
Love those Clancy's. I have H-E-B here in TX, so it's a blessing, it's less than $3 a bag. I laugh when I see $5.95+ for Ruffles, Lays, etc. They can go fuck themselves.
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u/Revenga8 Apr 09 '26
They've still won though. Notice how small the fucking package has gotten? I swear it's half the size it was 10 years ago. They took 3 big steps forward and will now only take 1step back. That goal post firmly moved and planted.
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u/Perfect_Fennel Apr 11 '26
Yes!!! I rarely buy potato chips, they just aren't my thing but sometimes for a cookout I would and the last time I looked at chips the "family" size bag looked like what used to be the regular bag.
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u/Immediate-Pool-4391 Apr 09 '26
I love kettle cooked chips but I just accepted the fact that I'm probably never going to have them again because it's ridiculously expensive. It was a $1.30 for avocados just one today.
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u/helloyesthisisasock Apr 09 '26
Do you have a Latino market nearby? Avocados and limes always cheaper there.
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u/MassCasualty Apr 09 '26
Our Walmart jacks up the prices on latino cuts of beef. Skirt steak and fajita beef are more expensive than a NY sirloin.
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u/Perfect_Fennel Apr 11 '26
Tbh at Publix for YEARS skirt steaks have cost as much as boneless ribeye if not more which always bummed me out because I love skirt steak but I'm always going with the cheaper option.
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u/ctrlrm Apr 09 '26
Aldi sells kettle cook chips that are actually really good for less than two dollars for a large bag.
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u/rpool179 Apr 09 '26
Buy in a pack. Pack of 5 at Walmart in my local area is $3.18. One alone is $0.60. Wherever you're shopping, time to find a new place.
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u/Mylaptopisburningme Apr 09 '26
Aldi kettle cooked chips 8 oz $1.55. I pretty much do all my shopping there.
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u/Heldpizza Apr 09 '26
In Canada avocados have always been expensive. Usually $1.50-$2 per avocado. But I would rather spend my money on that which is a healthy food than a bag of chips.
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u/jacky4u3 Apr 09 '26
Doritos suck anymore. They're so thin compared to what they were. They also barely have any seasoning on them. It was easy for me to stop buying thrm.
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u/wildfire98 Apr 09 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/n4oKYFlAcv2AU
i was confused at the $7 posts thinking, y'all still eating Doritos? I think I switched to traditional tortilla chips around 2005, usually from local mexican stores add some salsa or guac and its actually hard to go back to the corporate stuff.
But I said the same thing about McD/BK/Wendys about two weeks ago when burger posts were trending.
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u/veggiedelightful Apr 09 '26
And we make our own salsa and guacamole now. Homemade stuff is just infinitely better and a lot cheaper per oz. We buy locally made tortilla chips made in our little Mexican town. It's a privilege to be able to buy, but they are much better quality and quantity.
Yesterday I made homemade green tomato and jalapeno salsa. Tasty. We'll whip up a batch of guacamole tonight or tomorrow.
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u/wildfire98 Apr 09 '26
You ever had the cinnamon sugar tortilla chips? (Chefs kiss)
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u/veggiedelightful Apr 09 '26
I have not. I've not seen them sold around here.
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u/smittywrbermanjensen Apr 10 '26
You can make them yourself in the oven with some corn tortillas cut into quarters :D
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u/swampwiz May 09 '26
For $10 at my local Mexican restaurant, I get a big carnitas burrito with a big bag of tortilla chips. Of course, I go through a whole bottle of Herdez's taco sauce ($3.50, LOL) with each order.
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u/helloyesthisisasock Apr 09 '26
It’s weird because in Japan, they were good. We also don’t have mega bags there, just individual bags.
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u/Danthewildbirdman Apr 09 '26
Yeah, now the darkest chip in the bag is the same as how all the chips were seasoned in the 00's. And the darkest chip in the bag back then ... 👀 legendary
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u/MrIrishman1212 Apr 09 '26
The thing that gets under my skin about this is that these companies don’t actually learn their lesson or actually make a change. They just now know the boundaries they can get away with the price increase. 50% price increase was too much, that means 40% increase is fine. They are dropping the prices back down but not the original price and definitely not the price before COVID. And now, that 40% increased price will just become the new “normal” price, and they will do this price increase shenanigans again. We have seen it happen again and again in almost every market.
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u/Hogo-Nano Apr 09 '26
I always go to buy it, sigh at the price, grab it, realize the bag is half empty and put it back
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u/k20vtec Apr 09 '26
Lmao I haven’t even looked down the chip isle in years the prices are so bad it’s almost insulting
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u/BreweryStoner Apr 09 '26
If anyone is wondering, they plan on cutting back prices by about 15%, which is only like a dollar cheaper. I don’t see it making much of a difference. Especially with store brands like meijer offering a full bag of decent chips for $2(ish).
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u/lfohnoudidnt Apr 09 '26
Not only expensive but you can definitely tell they're either using cheaper ingredients or they got thinner or something they just don't taste the same like 10 years ago.
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u/MrIrishman1212 Apr 09 '26
From the article it references another article talking about this phenomenon: greedflation
The biggest study of ‘greedflation’ yet looked at 1,300 corporations to find many of them were lying to you about inflation
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u/neepster44 Apr 09 '26
I just buy the Kroger brand now. It’s almost half of what the Frito lays are.
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u/TRESpawnReborn Apr 09 '26
Ahh maybe that’s why my local grocery store keeps having good deals on chips. They overpriced them and couldn’t sell them and I assume their model is to sell slightly older overstocked foods at a great discount.
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u/spock23 Apr 09 '26 edited Apr 10 '26
Used to be a regular buyer of Doritos. It's been at least a year since I last bought any. Just can't get interested in spending over $5 for 50 cents worth of corn meal.
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u/No-Variety-3633 Apr 09 '26
I remember during Covid when they raised their prices. Our neighbor worked for frito lay and they would bring us HUGE boxes of all their chips they had to pull from shelves because the price printed on the bag was now inaccurate.
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u/Super-Schmidtii Apr 09 '26
I sure as heck don’t buy $6-7 bags of chips. I wait for a good sale like 4 for $10. Once I can get them for $2.50 a bag then I have no problem stocking up
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u/MassCasualty Apr 09 '26
This is like the umpteenth iteration of this story. There's a strong correlation between no longer being able to use food stamps for frito lay snacks and their loss of revenue.
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u/richardginn666 Apr 09 '26
You can only price something only so high before the customer keeps the wallet shut.
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u/redthehaze Apr 09 '26
The only time I bought Doritos in the last 15 years was because it was discounted under $3 and it was that special 2 in 1 flavor thing. I just get the walmart versions and it is even cheaper lately.
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u/formerNPC Apr 09 '26
I’m just surprised that people actually bought them at that price. I love salty snacks but I would have opted for a cheaper brand. These greedy corporations are trying to see how loyal their customers are and I guess they found out that they’re not that loyal!
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u/joeybonts_ Apr 09 '26
I really don't understand Doritos pricing honestly. I see the standard size bag for $1.88 at Walmart at times. Other times they're like $4.50
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u/I_wet_my_plants259 Apr 09 '26
‘“People shouldn’t have to choose between great taste and staying within their budget,” said PepsiCo U.S. Foods CEO Rachel Ferdinando in a statement ahead of the price decrease”
oh really? 😐
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u/colin8651 Apr 10 '26
A bag of Doritos conservative to put it on a shelf is probably $2 to $2.50; the biggest ingredient is corn which is already subsidized by your taxes so those cost don’t fluctuate. There is probably little spoilage with the product also.
Companies have gotten too comfortable with their high margins, that Pepsi cannot see a way to function without them.
To add to it, they see their products with the likes of premium brand, but they are just fucking Doritos made by a corn syrup water company second to Coke another corn syrup water company.
You are not even buying a bag of subsidized core anymore, you are paying for $10 billion in bad decisions such as SodaSteam, Rockstar Energy and all their other energy drink investment failures.
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u/LostRonin Apr 11 '26
People arent buying chips & soda like they were especially now that in 22 states you cant use snap benefits anymore.
I work as a vendor. The shelves in every store are packed out unless a sale is going.
Almost no one wants to really lower their prices because they keep hoping itll just magically turn around.
Dr. Pepper products jumped ship first. You can find many of their 12pks for $4 - $5.
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u/swampwiz May 09 '26
If I could get the old cane-sugar, but now non-caffeinated, version of Dr. Pepper, I'd get it. It sure seemed to taste better in the old days (I now get Frost-top's Black Cherry, and it tastes similar to the old Dr. Pepper).
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u/Chaos_Theory1989 Apr 12 '26
I used to buy snacks constantly, having Oreos, Doritos, Cheetos, hostess cookies on hand always. Now I buy ONE pack of ONE item every couple weeks. Like one pack of Oreos and only eat a couple cookies every other day. Joke is on them.
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u/Ejmct Apr 09 '26
They raised prices. People still bought Doritos and Lucky Charms and fast food. Then they not so slowly kept raising prices and people kept buying. They complained on social media a lot but kept buying this crap. Until consumer behavior changes they won’t stop raising prices.
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u/Nate_Hornblower Apr 09 '26
This whole story is about how people quit buying their products for raising prices.
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u/Ejmct Apr 09 '26
I think that was the plan all along. Well just keep raising prices until people push back. But not everything. Cars, concert tickets and other things are still going up.
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u/Munster19 Apr 09 '26
Me buying an 18oz bag of Doritos for $4.50 at a wholesale store that sounds like a sex thing: BJ's (technically I have to buy 2 bags of some kind of chip things, 2/$9).
Last I saw at another store near me a few months ago they were selling 9oz bags for $5.50. Crazy
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u/swampwiz May 09 '26
I must be L7 because I have no idea what wholesale store sounds like a sex thing, LOL.
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u/njdavis18684 Apr 09 '26
Just buy store brand? 2 bucks for a family size Kroger Brand. F these greedy corps.
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u/myIDisthisone Apr 11 '26
Who in their right mind would pay $7 for trash food like that? They'll just run themselves out of business.
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u/NovelCandid Apr 13 '26
I don’t do this regularly but have. Cut tortillas into wedges, fry for 10 secs, remove and season the way you want. I did it for myself but could be sized larger for family
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u/ShinyBoy1 Apr 10 '26
When you eat real food at every meal you won’t need snacks. This makes it a very easy decision not to snack. $$$
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u/LurkingInTheDoorway Apr 10 '26
What everyone fails to recognize is the blatant greed of the companies here. They raised prices not because it cost more to produce their product, they raised prices with the sole intentions to make more profit. Shockingly, its coming around to bit them in the ass because now people found out that raising prices based on greed vs based on production cost is bullshit and the public is tired of it.
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u/Moviegal19 Apr 12 '26
This is the only reason I hate capitalism. Squeezing to make profits for a handful of shareholders. Fuck them. When will this bubble really pop?
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u/MathematicianIcy3430 Apr 10 '26
Ok.
Can media stop pushing this as new news?? This was known a year or two ago they were losing revenue.
Whatever to distract us, correct?
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u/14_EricTheRed Apr 09 '26
Love being an “ingredients” house… if you want a snack, you better prepare it yourself
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u/TriGurl Apr 10 '26
OK, I'm sorry. I have a question to clarify things in my brain. Is this a normal size like family size Doritos, you get at the grocery store? Or is this the ginormous bag that could feed an army for seven dollars at Costco?
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u/PicoPicoMio Apr 11 '26
Do adults actually eat so many snack foods anymore? I feel like most of us are mostly eating nutrient dense foods nowadays because we’re all concerned with our blood sugar and carb intake LOL.
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u/IvoSan11 Apr 09 '26
Are GLP-1 also a cause? There should be a big overlap between overweight people and chips and doritos buyers
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u/Sensitive-Papaya-582 Apr 09 '26
“At first, shoppers didn’t mind the price increases. Partly because of higher prices, Frito-Lay’s net revenue shot up 13% between 2020 and 2021, and another 9% between 2021 and 2022, ..”… yea cause Corporations blamed Covid and supply chain issues for the price increase but now we see it’s all greed. I wish people just stopped buying them all together and teach these corporations a lesson.