Starting this month, many popular brands like Hindustan Unilever, Godrej, and Nestle will raise prices on everyday items like snacks, soaps, and cooking oils. This is happening because the costs of ingredients and materials have gone up. Prices for products like tea, edible oil, and skin creams will increase by 5-20%, making this the largest price jump we’ve seen in the past year.
The rise in prices is mainly because the import tax on edible oils went up by 22% this September, with more increases expected in 2024. Other essential ingredients, such as sugar and wheat, have also gotten more expensive this year.
Mayank Shah from Parle Products, which makes well-known biscuits like Hide & Seek, said they are raising prices but are hopeful people will still buy their products. However, recent sales figures show a different story. In October, India’s grocery market grew by 4.3% thanks to rural demand, but sales dropped by 4.8% in November, affecting both city and country shoppers.
Companies hope these price increases won’t cut too deeply into what people buy. However, experts are cautious about the outlook for the next few months due to higher prices and weak demand from customers. Antique Broking, a company that studies markets, warned that inflation could slow down the recovery of the grocery sector. A tough winter season is also affecting sales of seasonal products.
To tackle these costs, companies are using strategies like buying products more efficiently and adjusting recipes before raising prices. Nestle, for example, has already upped their prices for coffee by about 20% due to the rising cost of green coffee, one of their main ingredients.
Overall, shoppers should expect to see rising prices across many products, but companies are trying to introduce these changes gradually to lessen the impact on customers
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