Lunchables shrinkflation frustrates father of autistic son
Kraft says ‘cracker shortage’ forces cutting from six to five
Dan Zielinski’s autistic son eats three “Lunchables Ham & Cheddar Cheese Cracker Stackers” every day -- one for breakfast and two for lunch. The boy used to enjoy putting together the six crackers, cheese and ham into a perfectly even sandwich.
That changed in recent weeks. “He asks for an extra cracker at breakfast because he says one is missing,” said Dan. The family buys 21 boxes a week for their son, and all contained just five crackers.
Dan is frustrated that the manufacturer, Kraft Heinz, “shrunk” what is included in the packaging without a warning on the box. The company told me the change is due to a “national shortage on the crackers.”
“Given my son's autism, flexibility is not his strong suit. So when a change like this happens, his mother and I have a mini-anxiety attack, then see how we can address it,” Dan said.
KRAFT RESPONDS TO MISSING CRACKER
A spokesman for Kraft foods asked me in a private message on Twitter to get the UPC code from Dan. Then I got this response from the company about the change:
We have seen unprecedented demand for Lunchables over the last two years, and as a result, have had challenges procuring select ingredients.
Currently, there is a national shortage on the crackers we use…