Customers noticed Whole Foods skimped out on its Berry Chantilly Cake. It quickly changed course

Fans of Whole Foods’ iconic Berry Chantilly Cake have been up in arms on social media over the past few weeks. One TikTok user showed a single slice stuffed with compote and with fruit on the side. In the past, the user said, the layers had been filled with fresh fruit and cream.

Fans of Whole Foods’ iconic Berry Chantilly Cake have been up in arms on social media over the past few weeks. One TikTok user showed a single slice stuffed with compote and with fruit on the side. In the past, the user said, the layers had been filled with fresh fruit and cream. “It’s now just a little English tea cake,” they said on September 20. “It tastes like raspberry jam-flavored cleaning product.” In late September, Whole Foods told various media outlets in a statement that it had “aligned the flavor profile, size, packaging and price” of the cake slices to standardize the slight variations sold across its more than 500 stores. Berry Chantilly fans say they were victims of skimpflation, a member of the shrinkflation and inflation family. But while the latter two might appear more obvious, skimpflation might be harder to spot. It can take the form of more subtle tweaks to ingredients and quality to cut on costs. It might look like reduced services, resulting in customers getting less for their money. Though food price inflation has moderated substantially over the past year, social media makes it easier for customers to document and notice when they’re getting different products or experiences. “In the wake of a really severe inflationary period, people are extra sensitive about value for money,” Joseph Balagtas, professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University, told CNN.