Australian customers unhappy with smaller Pringles Packing from new Malaysian Plant

The Daily Mail Australia reports that Pringles chips - sold in cardboard cylinders - have shrunk in size in Australia and are being sold in a deceptively similar package of the same height but with a smaller diameter.

The new shrunken cylinders, which are being stacked on supermarket shelves among the older, larger tubes,are being sold in some shops for just ten cents less than their predecessors.

The shrinkage means that Pringles are now more expensive by stealth, the cost blowing out from $2.70 per 100g to $2.98.

Consumers took to the Pringles Down Under Facebook page to criticise the new smaller Pringles, which were made in Kellogg's Malasyian factory, saying 'we much prefer the larger USA chips'.

A response from Pringles on the Facebook page said, 'due to the incredibly high demand of Pringles worldwide, we've expanded out production to a brand new factory in Malaysia ... it made sense to standardise production which has brought minor changes to packaging and size for Australia'.

Along with the chip size reduction and packet shrinkage, the Pringles logo has also shrunk.

A spokesperson for Pringles told Daily Mail Australia, the Malaysian plant had eventuated after the main Pringles manufacturing plant in Jackson, Tennessee ran out of capacity.

Pringles spokesperson:

'The equipment in our Malaysia plant is different to Tennessee, which means the way we make Pringles and the size of the packaging is also different.'

'We don’t like to make price changes, however since 2012 the input costs of making Pringles has gone up, so you’ll notice that price per kg has increased.'

'The capacity of the new plant means we can launch new products and flavours. A preview of what you can expect is our new Pringles Tortilla range, which people are telling us they absolutely love.'

Pringles, which are manufactured by the Kellogg company and sold in more than 140 countries, were introduced in 1967 and sold internationally from 1991.