Heinz is raising its prices for the second time in less than a year, following its public dispute with Tesco over passing increased production costs onto customers, despite the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
According to The Telegraph, the FMCG giant attributes soaring energy costs and food inflation impacting ingredients to the price rise.
“Like the rest of the food industry, we continue to face significantly increased production costs – whether it’s ingredients, energy, or packaging – and rising inflation,” A Kraft Heinz spokesman told The Telegraph.
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“We’re trying to absorb costs wherever we can, however we’ve unfortunately had to increase our recommended retail prices.”
The news follows Heinz’s public spat with Big 4 grocer Tesco last summer, where its baked beans and ketchup products were stripped off the shelves for weeks, after Heinz stopped making deliveries.
However, a settlement was eventually reached by the two parties, announcing they agreed a “an agreement that will see the full range of Heinz products return to Tesco shelves and online”.
In a joint statement, the pair added: “With British summertime finally here, Tesco shoppers will be able to get all the essentials they need for their perfect summer salad or barbecue, including the Heinz varieties they know and love. It’s great to be back together.”
The news comes as just last week, the supermarket giant reported a sales boost over the Christmas period, maintaining its position as the UK’s leading grocer as shoppers continued to spend during the festive season despite ‘challenging conditions’.
The supermarket reported a 6.1% increase in like-for-like sales for the 19-week period to 7 January (to £19.7bn), with revenues increasing to 7.8% growth for the three-week Christmas trading period.
