Nestle CEO Mark Schneider claimed his company will continue to raise prices amid inflation with just over a week to Halloween.
“This is a situation no one wished for,” Schneider said in an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday. “We are seeing huge upward pressure on energy, some of the agricultural commodities, and also transportation costs.”
CANDY PRICES REACH RECORD LEVELS AS ‘BIDENFLATION’ HITS HALLOWEEN SEASON
Sugar and sweets alone have seen a price increase of 14.4%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, and the cost of snacks soared by 14.7%. Nestle raised prices by 9.5% in the third quarter and subsequently saw a diminished increase in the volume of goods sold by 0.2%.
Schneider cited increased energy prices in Europe and increased wages, set to be enacted in the first quarter of next year, as the reasons behind additional price increases. Its stock remains relatively stable despite the pressures brought on by inflation.
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Still, the National Retail Federation predicted that families will spend over $10.6 billion on Halloween candy, cards, and decorations. The $10.6 billion mark would set a new record, and the Halloween of 2022 comes some four months after the Centers for Disease Control and Protection allowed children younger than 5 years old to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Over 14.8 million children reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 nationwide since the onset of the pandemic. Nearly 163,000 of these cases came in the past four weeks, with 28,000 child COVID-19 cases reported in the second week of October.
Overall prices for candy competitor Hershey, the makers of Reese’s, Kisses, Kit Kats, and Twizzlers, similarly rose 14% this summer.
