Arnott's Tim Tams has hit back at claims they are putting fewer biscuits in their packets. Photo / arnotts.com
Arnott's Tim Tams has hit back at claims they are putting fewer biscuits in their packets. Photo / arnotts.com
Arnotts has hit back at claims their fan favourite biscuit, Tim Tams, has become the latest victim of “shrinkflation”.
Australian woman Amanda Catalano accused the much-loved biscuit group of producing packets of the chocolate treat with eight biscuits in them compared to their 11 biscuit packets from the early 2000s.
“Worst shrinkflation I’ve seen,” she declared on TikTok as she held up a packet of Tim Tam Deluxe Cafe Latte. She added: “I haven’t actually opened a packet since the days of – remember the Tim Tam commercials of the 90s and early 2000s?”
Playing a snippet of the infamous Cate Blanchett Tim Tam commercial in which the pack of biscuits never ran out, Catalano confessed, ”This is what I’ve always remembered. Stacked side-by-side, no gaps in the middle. There is 11 biscuits.”
The woman then showed viewers her recently purchased packet of the chocolate treat pointing out that there were only eight in the entire packet.
“Look at that, there are eight! Three biscuits missing,” she stated. “Like what is that space in between? That’s ridiculous.”
Viewers were quick to reply to the video, mostly in defence of the brand, with one consumer stating “the fancy varieties always have less biscuits in them” and “it’s only the deluxe ones that are eight, the normal ones are 11”.
Now, Arnott’s - who also manufactures Shapes and Farmbake Cookies - has hit back at the claims, telling news.com.au the woman didn’t exactly have her facts right.
The woman compared a photo of a pack of Arnott's Tim Tams in 1994 to now, declaring it's the 'worst' shrinkflation she's seen. Photo / TikTok, @amanda.catalano
Stating “Tim Tam has not changed the size” of their products in recent years, they said: “Tim Tam Original, with its undeniable flavours of smooth chocolate, tasty biscuit crunch and a luscious velvety centre, continues to have 11 biscuits in a pack.”
The spokesperson continued to explain that much like the 1994 advertisement featuring Blanchett, a packet of the original flavoured biscuit still contains 11 items.
What has changed, however, is the addition of new and more indulgent flavours into their range.
“Our most indulgent range, Tim Tam Deluxe, launched in 2022 and contains eight biscuits. Each Tim Tam Deluxe biscuit weighs 20 per cent more than a Tim Tam Original biscuit, containing not only more chocolate per biscuit but also an extra gooey centre,” they said.
“To avoid any confusion, the gram size and biscuit amount are clearly displayed on the front of all packs.”
Tim Tam Original and Double-coated are sold at a net weight of 200 grams per pack in New Zealand and Australia. Biscuits in the Deluxe range are sold at a net weight of 175 grams.
Watch the video to find out how Tim Tams became the snack of choice on Chatham Air. Photo / By Bilby - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0.
It comes after Arnott’s announced last year, almost three decades after closing their Ōtāhuhu factory, in South Auckland, they are returning to the country to open a multimillion-dollar facility in West Auckland.
