Is it just me, or does this chocolate bar seem a whole lot smaller than it used to be? I asked my wife as I indulged in some of the delightful treats I’d brought back from the UK during our New Year’s holiday. Her response? “You were smaller then, so they probably just look smaller now.” Oh, how love can be so brutally honest.

Yet, this snarky remark got me thinking – if anything, the chocolate bars are shrinking faster than my waistline after the festive indulgence.

Now, I’m sure many of you are actively getting involved with the ongoing supermarket boycotts across the county, where supermarket prices are as astronomical as the moon. Shocking, isn’t it?

People are boycotting these price-gouging establishments, although whether this will actually make a difference is anyone’s guess. I’m not an economist (far from it), but I couldn’t help but compare prices during my recent shopping excursions in the UK.

We bought some biscuits from a popular German supermarket, yes you know which one. Not 10%, not 20%, but a whopping 50% cheaper than the same biscuits back in Dubrovnik. At that point, I thought someone must have tampered with the price tag. I turned to my wife, in a mix of confusion and disbelief, “This can’t be right, surely?”

And when you throw into the mix the difference in salaries between the two countries then the price difference gets even wider.

When we finally came to the cash register with our trolley full of shopping the difference was even more pronounced. Again maths isn’t my strong subject but I would guess that a weekly shop is 30 percent cheaper than in Dubrovnik. Forget going to Bosnia for cheap shopping, take a flight to London!

Now, let's talk about something else, something that doesn’t get enough attention amid the “rip-off” outrage. Yes, prices are up, there's no denying that. But have you noticed that products themselves seem to be, well... disappearing? Not poof into thin air, of course, but slowly and cleverly reduced in size. This sneaky phenomenon is called “shrinkflation,” and let me tell you, it’s more deceptive than a magician’s sleight of hand.

You pick up a product, it looks the same as last year, feels the same in your hand – but when you get home, you realize it’s not quite as satisfying.

Welcome to the world of packaging wizardry, where manufacturers cleverly shrink your beloved goods without altering the price. Their mantra? "The price may stay the same, but the quantity is no longer your friend."

Take the UK for example. In just five years, over 2,500 products were quietly reduced in size, with the prices stubbornly staying as high as ever. Let that sink in. And over that same time period inflation rose by 20 percent whilst cooperate profits rose by 90 percent. What happened to fair trade, or at the very least, fair product size?

Meanwhile, we the unsuspecting consumer are told by manufacturers: "No, no, you’re not being ripped off – you’re just getting less for the same price!" It’s like telling a child they’re not losing any toys, they’re just “gaining more space.”

But we all know how that works out.

And it is happening everywhere, from toilet rolls, to butter and ice-cream.

So, as I munched on my suspiciously smaller chocolate bar and grumbled about how it seemed much larger when I was a kid, I had an epiphany: It wasn’t my childhood imagination at fault – it was the sheer culpability of shrinkflation. In fact, that same chocolate bar was significantly bigger 40 years ago.

So, what’s the moral of the story?

You’re not going mad when you notice things have gotten smaller; the world is just a little more deceitful than it used to be. The next time you’re eyeing a product and wondering if it's worth the price, take a second to think – is it actually smaller than before? Chances are, you’ll find that shrinkflation is the true culprit.

And next time you hear someone say the prices are just getting ridiculous, remember – it’s not just the cost that’s inflated, it’s the deception of shrinking products. Stay vigilant, or you may find yourself holding a chocolate bar that's more air than cocoa.

Read more Englishman in Dubrovnik…well, if you really want to

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About the author

Mark Thomas (aka Englez u Dubrovniku) is the editor of The Dubrovnik Times. He was born and educated in the UK and moved to live in Dubrovnik in 1998. He works across a whole range of media, from a daily radio show to TV and in print. Thomas is fluent in Croatian and this column is available in Croatia on the website – Dubrovnik Vjesnik