»Deceptive pack of the year«: Consumers vote for Homann's »paprika sauce«

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Homann's "Paprika Sauce": This is where consumers see the most sophisticated price increase

Photo: Hamburg Consumer Center

The Hamburg consumer advice center has made five products available for selection, and consumers have now decided in an online vote.

Accordingly, most of them see Homann's "paprika sauce" as the most ingenious price increase.

In the election for the "deceptive package of the year 2021", more than half (8476) of the votes cast went to the ready-made sauce, the consumer advocates said.

They criticize that the manufacturer has deceived the buyers with a smaller glass with less content at the same or even much higher price.

Consumer advocates had complained about the product that after a design and name change there were only 400 instead of 500 milliliters in a glass.

In addition, retailers have even increased the price in some cases.

At a supermarket in Hamburg, a glass cost 1.49 euros instead of the previous 99 cents - that corresponds to an increase of 88 percent.

Second place went to a KitKat collectible pack that reduced the number of bars from five to four.

In third to fifth place are Bahlsen wafers, a Knorr sauce product and Wurzener wafers.

The consumer advocates selected the products from a total of around 2,000 complaints that they received in 2021.

The Hamburg consumer center criticized that deceptive packaging could be prevented by legal requirements.

"Politicians have repeatedly promised more clarity in this regard, but have done nothing to combat the tricks." Hidden price increases are equally attractive for manufacturers and retailers.

The practice also produces additional packaging waste.

Homann needs about 25 percent more disposable glasses to fill the same amount of paprika sauce, according to the consumer advice center.

For the "Perpetum" waffle biscuits, Bahlsen needs 2,600 more pieces of outer packaging, plastic trays and films because of the reduced filling quantity per ton of biscuits.

The Griesson - de Beukelaer company now offers virtually the same number of biscuits in a pack that is almost twice as large as the "Wurzenerwaffelzettel".

"Sustainability seems to play hardly any role in product management, despite the manufacturers' assertions to the contrary," criticizes the consumer advice center.

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