Walk through a South African supermarket and you see the same scam. The size or weight reduces, the “new improved” recipe uses cheaper and lower quality ingredients and the price stays where it was.

Fake sugar drinks

The Health Promotion Levy arrived in 2018 and the drinks aisle changed with it. Brands cut sugar to dodge the tax and topped up the sweetness with artificial sweeteners: Aspartame, Acesulfame K and sucralose. You will taste the difference and your body will not get the energy – since these sweeteners do not give you energy like sugar they are made in a laboratory.

Fake peanut butter

Black Cat sells a Cremia spread that is a watered down version of the original. The back of the jar explains why: compare the peanut percentage and the oil in each. Creamia spreads carry more soya and less peanuts.

Beer

Stella Artois now appears in a 410 ml bottle and Quartz in a 660 ml one. At R20 you think it is a bargain but a local beer brand costs the same with 90 ml more content.

Both are smaller than the formats they replaced at prices the old bottles used to command. Work out the price per litre before you decide which is the better buy.