World's biggest food company has hiked prices by 5%London (CNN Business)Nestlé (NSRGY), the world's biggest food and drinks company, raised prices by more than 5% in the first three months of this year as it passed on rising costs to shoppers.
Consumers in North America took the hardest hit, with an 8.5% rise in prices, the company said in its first-quarter earnings report Thursday. Latin America saw the second-biggest increase, with the price of Nestlé products rising 7.7%.
CEO Mark Schneider signaled that more increases are on the horizon.
"We [have] stepped up pricing in a responsible manner and saw sustained consumer demand," he said in a statement. "Cost inflation continues to increase sharply, which will require further pricing and mitigating actions over the course of the year."
Global inflation is soaring.
Consumer price inflation in the United States hit 8.5% in March, a 40-year high. In Europe it stands at 7.5%, its highest level since the European Union started collecting data about 25 years ago. The prices of goods leaving Germany's factories — which feed into retail prices — rose by 30% in March over the same month last year. That's the biggest increase in 73 years.[/u]
Energy has been the biggest driver behind inflation, but global food prices are also rocketing.
Nestlé reported a 5.4% increase in total sales over the quarter, and expects sales to grow by 5% for the full year. Brands such as Purina PetCare, Nescafé and KitKat were some of the biggest contributors to its first quarter growth...
https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/21/investing/nestle-price-rises-earnings/index.html
