Grocery shoppers are not only noticing a steady rise in the cost of groceries, but they’re also seeing that the items they buy are getting smaller.

It’s known as “shrinkflation.” Sylvain Charlebois, a researcher with Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab, says it’s a strategy used by food manufacturers to reduce quantities while maintaining the sticker price.

Charlebois says many people may have noticed this trend as of late.

But he says the strategy is nothing new—it’s been employed for decades, but it does seem to go in cycles whenever manufacturing costs go up.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine sparked a new cycle of shrinkflation due to a rise in grain prices.

Charlebois says they his team saw a significant number of shrinkflation cases across the country, including Newfoundland and Labrador