How Skimpflation Changed Whole Foods' Berry Chantilly Cake

If you're not familiar, the once-beloved single-slice berry Chantilly cake from Whole Foods has been in the midst of a media storm. The original Whole Foods recipe was developed by baker Chaya Conrad in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, cultivating a loyal fanbase for the cake ever since. True Chantilly cake requires three key ingredients: fresh fruit, vanilla cake, and Chantilly cream frosting. Recently, it seems that Whole Foods broke the golden rules by trying to replace the fresh berries with a thin layer of jam.

In short, Whole Foods' Chantilly cake slices have been the subject of "skimpflation." Do you ever feel like food you once loved now tastes a little worse — like they're using lower-quality ingredients than before? Skimpflation may be the culprit. It's a practice companies use to cut the costs, materials, or time it takes to make something, sacrificing overall product quality without lowering the retail price — most often without letting customers know at all. Skimpflation allows businesses to keep the price of a product the same (or raise it) without spending as much money to create said product. Higher quality ingredients may mean higher prices, and this way, you can get roughly the same item without facing those higher costs. It's the same reason Costco's food court chicken bakes fell off. So, how did Whole Foods get caught skimping on its individual Chantilly cake slices?

To put it mildly, people think Whole Foods tried to pull a fast one on its customers. Chantilly cake enjoyers have taken to the internet to express their disappointment with the change, alleging that the new recipe uses cheaper, less tasty ingredients. TikTok creators have visited Whole Foods stores to record the single-slice cake shelves, showing some sad slices with only a measly portion of cream and jam in the middle. What the company did next only fanned the flames.

Whole Foods shared with USA Today that it intended to align the "profile, size, packaging, and price so customers will have the same high-quality experience in each of our stores." The company's cake-by-the-slice program had differed from store to store in the past, so the goal was to make a more streamlined recipe. Whole Foods confirmed a change but claimed that the flavor remained the same. Customers still weren't happy, but as of October 7, 2024, the company told CNN that it plans to reverse the changes — so the fan-favorite cake may be back in stores soon. For some very berry desserts you can make at home without worrying about skimpflation, try baking a mixed-berry scone or raspberry and cream tiramisu cake.