Lower McVitie's biscuits rsp is "fully aligned" with pack size reductions, says UBUK

United Biscuits UK is cutting the size and price of some of its most popular McVitie’s lines.

The company said it had shown shoppers a wide range of pack sizes and price points in order to develop the “optimum in-store price”.

As a result, from this month it will be cutting the size of 400g packs of Chocolate Digestives to 332g and the rsp from £1.75 to £1.46 and 300g Chocolate Hobnobs to 262g, with the rsp dropping from £1.75 to £1.50.

It is also cutting the size of multipacks of Chocolate Digestives and Hobnobs, and is introducing a 200g pack of Chocolate Digestives - its smallest pack yet - priced 89p.

UB said the rsps would ensure shoppers did not pay more for their biscuits by weight.

However, the average selling price of the current packs was lower than the rsp of the incoming smaller ones. A 400g pack of Chocolate Digestives at the big four - after promotions - has averaged £1.31 over the past three months while 300g Chocolate Hobnobs have sold for £1.37 on average [BrandView].

UB said it would back the new packs with promotions, making the average retail price lower than that of the current range. “These fully-aligned price and weight reductions should be seen as a positive step, encouraging category growth,” said a spokesman.

“Prices have been brought down in line with weight reductions. We have given customers a strong rationale on this initiative. However, it is up to them to determine the price set in store,” he added.