Consumers have again fallen victim to the ‘grocery shrink ray’, this time losing a whole row of one of their favourite brands of chocolate.

Cadbury has shrunk its family blocks without dropping the price, blaming shrinking profits.

“We’ve reached a point where we can no longer absorb these increasing costs into the price of our chocolate blocks,” said Cadbury in a statement.

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“So we had to make a tough decision.”

This is despite its parent company, Mondelez Australia Holdings, posting a pre-tax profit of $127 million in the year ending December 2013.

Facebook users were not impressed.

The announcement has sparked anger on social media. More than three thousand comments have so far been posted on Cadbury’s Facebook page, most of them negative.

The company’s family blocks have been on a yo-yo diet in recent years, losing 50 grams in 2009 before gaining back 20 grams in 2013. The latest decision brings the family block back down to 200 grams.

Consumers are being “taken for a ride” by many trusted brands, says CHOICE spokesman Tom Godfrey.

“Big food companies, once they’ve built a loyal following, will often reduce the size of their products as a way to increase their profits,” he says.

As its ad suggests, Cadbury is good at subtraction.

“It’s a pretty common retailer tactic, and consumers need to be mindful of that.”

But the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) says shrinking pack size is normal business practice.

“This is part of the normal operation of the market and pack sizes can vary up or down,” says AFGC spokesman James Mathews.

Charging the same for a smaller package is a matter for retailers, not the big producers like Cadbury, says Mr Mathews.

“Retailers set retail prices, not manufacturers or suppliers,” he says.

This may be true, but Cadbury has not changed the recommended retail price despite the smaller serve.

Other companies charging more for less are Smith’s chips, Red Rock Deli, Coca Cola with its new slim cans, Uncle Toby’s oat crisp honey cereal, and the entire range of Mars confectionary.

Sure, this might be good for our waistline, but what about our bank balance?

@CadburyAU You must think your loyal customers are stupid too? Decrease quantity and keep price the same? Get back to me on new unit price!

— Martin Silvestre (@Martin_Sanna) February 3, 2015