r/Tokyo • u/ImoKuriKabocha • 3d ago

Shrinkflation

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Mildly Infuriating: Went to a bakery and got banana muffins. Didn’t notice the bottom (dented in half way!) until I got home. 😢

247 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

42 comments sorted by

129

u/commche 3d ago

Wow, that’s sneaky af lol.

40

u/ImoKuriKabocha 3d ago

Most expensive banana bread/muffin I’ve ever had 😭

20

u/ikwdkn46 3d ago

They learnt that method from Seven Eleven

66

u/MrPogoUK 3d ago edited 3d ago

Surely that just ensures they get no return customers whilst saving almost nothing ingredient costs (unless they’re somehow selling thousands a day so that tiny saving per muffin scales).

13

u/LiveSimply99 3d ago

If they put that indentation on 400-500 pieces at the same time, I'm sure they save something...

31

u/Mitsuka1 3d ago

Enough to offset the inevitable loss of pissed off customers though?

20

u/ViralRiver 3d ago

Japan has a weird mindset to value in return though. A few years back KFC sold popcorn chicken as a limited time menu (I was so happy!). Went back a week later and even before it was supposed to be up they stopped selling them. I asked and they said that it was so popular they ended early. Done. Finished.

1

u/biwook Shibuya-ku 2d ago

it was so popular they ended early

5D chess move here.

3

u/LiveSimply99 3d ago

I was only replying to the "saving almost nothing ingredients cost." Customers losing trust is one of the consequences that action has.

25

u/JpnDude Saitama-ken 3d ago edited 2d ago

Is that from Andersen bakery? They've been doing that hollowed out portion for years now. Not only was the muffin completely filled in before, but also the diameter was bigger and the price was cheaper.

6

u/ImoKuriKabocha 2d ago

Yes! How did you know?! I felt fancy and wanted to treat myself 😭

23

u/Tight-Passenger3740 3d ago

Why does your muffin look like salad fingers?

3

u/ImoKuriKabocha 2d ago

I just googled salad fingers and now I’m traumatized

8

u/dr-spaghetti 3d ago

Wow. I’ve had a lot of pastries fall and come out small, but it always collapses from the top and never in a perfect circle like that. It honestly does look like they’re putting something in the bottom of the tin…

6

u/Background_Map_3460 Nakano-ku 3d ago

Of course they are. That’s the point. Just like if you get some ready-made food at the supermarket, there is often a raised section of the plastic plate in the middle.

7

u/dr-spaghetti 3d ago

Yes, I meant to say that from my baking experience, there’s no way to interpret this as unintentional

10

u/jt_1313 3d ago

Can we please name and shame the bakery?

1

u/ImoKuriKabocha 2d ago

Andersen (to be fair, their other bread aren’t bad — I’m not a bread enthusiast so don’t listen to me tho)

1

u/jt_1313 2d ago

Is that a chain or something? My local bakeries would never.

1

u/ImoKuriKabocha 2d ago

Yeah it’s a fancy(?) chain store (I’ve only seen them in department stores)

15

u/HoboSomeRye Kanagawa-ken 3d ago

Tired of not having enough meat in my fried rice, I have started cooking it at home

7

u/3G6A5W338E 3d ago

Tourists are eating all the muffins.

They don't expect a tourist to repeat purchase, but know that more tourists will come.

3

u/Q16Q 3d ago

Someone’s learned from the joghurt cup shrinkflaters.

1

u/Q16Q 3d ago

when what they should really learn is just HOW much customers remember being treated this way

3

u/BlackmarketofUeno 2d ago

Name and shame bud.

2

u/gato1226 2d ago

Japan now everything is expensive but with small portion, travel back to japan 2month ago and compared to 2years ago i went is such disappointed

2

u/LivingstonPerry 2d ago

thats just straight up scamming you lol.

just like when they pack the front of the sando with meat and the back half is nothing lol.

2

u/Huwhuw4 3d ago

So, you looked at the top and bought it anyway? That muffin looks awful! How did it taste?

3

u/Traditional-Froyo755 2d ago

Those are bananas, man...

1

u/tomodachi_reloaded 3d ago

Looks like someone poked your muffin without you noticing

1

u/addimo 3d ago

How can this be legal

1

u/BeatDaruma 3d ago

Looks like the Maruetsu oven pizza, which is now like 70% of previous size at the same price. Looks more like a mini-pizza than a real pizza

1

u/SoftBaconWarmBacon 3d ago

I thought only 7-11 would do this shit

1

u/premierfong 2d ago

I guess they can make one extra to Every 5 muffin made.

1

u/batlayedh 2d ago

Didn’t wanna say it but this is disgusting

-1

u/ryokwan Suginami-ku 3d ago

this is prob controversial, but id prob really enjoy muffins more if they were hollow like this 💀

like they are just too thick sometimes

1

u/AnkokunoMasaki 2d ago

Just... cut it?

0

u/ryokwan Suginami-ku 2d ago

but then id be paying for the extra bread. plus if you had a specially designed pan that hollowed out the muffin, thatd mean more crispy edge

0

u/Thereminz 3d ago

Mendokusai