Costly summer: You'll have to shell out more for snacks, ice-creams, soaps

Rising input costs cited as the reason by major household names like Britannia and Amul

Get ready to pay more for biscuits, snacks and ice-creams as fast-moving consumer good (FMCG) companies are hiking the prices due to rising input costs. 

Household names like Britannia, Amul, Dabur and Parle are either raising the prices of their products or providing lower quantities at the same price-point, The Economic Times reported on Monday.

Input costs for these companies have gone up. Ingredients like skimmed milk powder prices have moved from Rs 140 a kg last year around the same time to over Rs 240 a kg now. Besides, prices of sugar, too, have risen by around 30-40 per cent, and milk fat prices have grown by around 35 per cent, say companies. Palm oil, another key input, has also seen its prices go up. According to the ET report, the culprits are fluctuations in global commodity prices and lower production cycles. 

This comes at a time when such companies have already been hit by demonetisation. As reported earlier, data shared by Kantar Worldpanel, part of the WPP Group, show that FMCG sales growth by value declined to 5.3 per cent in the December quarter after cruising comfortably in the first three quarters of calendar year 2016. Sales growth by value for the quarters ending March, June and September 2016 was 6.2 per cent, six per cent and 8.3 per cent, respectively.  (Read more) 

Here are the everyday products that will get dearer

Biscuits and soaps

According to the financial daily, prices of Britannia biscuits will go up by up to seven per cent, while prices of Wipro Consumer Care's Santoor soap will rise about five per cent. 

Parle Products, on the other hand, has decided to hike prices in an indirect manner by reducing the weight of its confectionery and snacks category. BK Rao, marketing manager at Parle Products, told ET, "The price hike is all indirect in the form of weight reduction and translates to anywhere between 8-12 per cent of price hikes."

Ice-creams

As reported earlier, ice-creams will be costlier this summer. 

The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which sells Amul ice creams, has increased prices by 5-8 per cent this month. Confirming the development, R S Sodhi, managing director of GCMMF, said that input costs have risen and hence they have raised prices by 5-8 per cent. Another leading player Gujarat-based, Vadilal Industries, has raised prices by 6-8 per cent as well. This is higher compared to the price rise last year that was in the range of 2-3 per cent. Mother Dairy, too, has increased its ice cream prices in the range of five per cent. (Read more)