Brexit has had an impact on a lot of elements of our day-to-day life already, even if the UK hasn’t yet taken the plunge and left the European Union quite yet.
You know the kind of thing: your wardrobe, the reputation of an entire country, the mere concept of portmanteau words and so on and so forth.
But now they’ve come for digestives.
Yes, digestive biscuits. That solid office tea round favourite.
We’re about to wind up with fewer biccies per packet, and it might be the fault of the votes of 52% of the country about 18 months ago.
Read more: Every office biscuit, definitively ranked
According to iNews, McVitie’s are poised to make packs of Digestives 20% smaller – that means 7 fewer biscuits in the new 400g size than in the previous half-kilo offering.
Seven! This is an outrage.
Pladis, the parent company of the biscuit giants, has put the change down to rising ingredient costs and the wish not to compromise on quality. That, at least, we endorse. The new pack will be 10p cheaper, but you’ll need to rush out to restock for your cuppa accompaniment more often than before.
“The rising cost of ingredients and changes in the exchange rates means it has become more expensive to bake our products,” said Nick Bunker, the Pladis UK & Ireland managing director. “We work hard to drive efficiencies throughout our business to absorb cost increases, but occasionally, like many other businesses in these challenging times, we do need to make some adjustments.”
As the Evening Standard notes, those rising costs of ingredients could be even more significant when coupled with the fluctuation in the value of the pound post-Brexit.
The changes are “not in response to any one event”, a spokesperson for Pladis is quoted as saying, though McVitie’s wouldn’t be the first to make tweaks since the vote to leave the EU.
Last year, Cadbury admitted it might have to look into shrinking some of its products in order to preserve quality post-Brexit, though the company pledged to remain in the UK.
Some 10% of McVitie’s products could come down in size, though it’s worth keeping in mind they’re choosing this option rather than the alternative of buying cheaper ingredients.
(Images:McVities/Rex Features)
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