A bill has been developed to place information on the volume of goods on price tags

According to the document, price tags for food products must contain the name of the product, the price per unit of product or per unit of measurement of the product (volume), as well as an indication of the quantity of food in the package (weight, volume or number of pieces). The explanatory note to the bill notes that under current legislation, the obligation to provide consumers with information about the price of goods and their weight or volume applies only to labels or markings. To date, the law does not contain requirements for the availability of information about the volume/weight of products on price tags, which, according to Slutsky, leads to insufficient transparency for consumers.

“Due to the marketing moves of manufacturers, it often happens that a person, buying a product at a price per liter, actually receives 900, 800 ml of MILK, not 1 kg, but 900 or even 730 grams of SUGAR or buckwheat. Our citizens must understand how much this or that product actually costs. The price tag should indicate the cost per unit of measurement, kilograms or liters, this will allow customers to more easily compare prices for products and choose the best options among the offered assortment,” noted Slutsky, as quoted by TASS . The authors of the bill clarify that sometimes a buyer can be deceived by purchasing a cheaper product without realizing that its volume has been reduced.

The beverage industry believes that changing the volume of a product or packaging is a multifactorial process, says Maxim Novikov, president of the Soyuzdapiti association. He noted that this is an important marketing tool that ensures variety on the shelf and maintains demand. “Assortment diversity in packaging volume is also necessary for the development of self-regulation practices in the beverage industry. In particular, one of the important elements of this work is the reduction of packaging volumes of sugary soft drinks to reduce portions and develop a culture of rational consumption,” he said.

It is also important to understand that today the beverage industry is in difficult conditions: over the past few years, the economic and administrative burden on business has increased , problems remain with the supply of raw materials and equipment, and currency fluctuations have a negative impact, Novikov recalled. In these conditions, manufacturers are trying to provide consumers with familiar products and are taking measures to smooth out the objective increase in selling prices. 

He emphasized that all necessary information about the weight and volume of products must be included on the packaging, and key information (volume, expiration dates and production date) in accordance with TR CU 022/2011 is highlighted in larger font. These requirements apply throughout the EAEU . “These measures make it possible to provide the consumer with all the necessary information, and each buyer can make a purchasing decision after reading the information on the product packaging,” Novikov concluded.

General DIRECTOR of the National Union of Milk Producers (Soyuzmoloko) Artem Belov said that displaying the price per liter or kilogram on price tags will allow maintaining a variety of formats without additional costs for factories and replacement of lines and packaging.

In August last year, the Prosecutor General's Office proposed amending GOST standards for food products in order to exclude the possibility of reducing the volume of goods in packaging without changing the price. To achieve this, it was proposed to establish uniform packaging requirements. It was noted that the Ministry of Industry and Trade is also working to unify packaging standards, proposing to round container sizes to whole numbers. Reducing the volume of packaging without changing the price is called shrinkflation. 

The HEAD of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (IRPE), Natalya Nazarova, then noted that new waves of this phenomenon arise after financial and economic turmoil. According to Gfk Rus, manufacturers of consumer goods from 2012 to 2018 reduced package sizes by 7-20%, depending on the category. Nazarova believes that the unification of packaging could lead to higher prices for products, which manufacturers tried to avoid through price inflation. She warned of the risk that some manufacturers may begin to skimp on production technology and therefore product quality in order to remain competitive.