Consumers will have to get used to higher prices in the food sector due to “pervasive” inflation in several countries. Who said that this is the CEO of Kraft Heinz, Portuguese Miguel Patricio.
In an interview with the BBC, the official said the international food giant, which makes various sauces such as ketchup, is increasing the prices of its products in several countries.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the rise in the cost of ingredients such as cereals and oils has pushed up world food prices.
In this particular case for Kraft Heinz, this increased the prices of more than half of its products in the United States, and Patricio admitted that this is happening elsewhere as well. “We raise prices when needed, all over the world,” he told the BBC.
During the pandemic, the production of raw materials decreased in many countries, from crops to vegetable oils. Measures to combat the virus as well as to combat disease and limited production and distribution.
With the economic recovery, the supply of these products could not keep up with the renewed demand, which led to higher food prices.
This is happening “especially in the United Kingdom, where there is a shortage of truck drivers,” according to the Heinz CEO, but also in the United States, where “logistics costs have risen substantially and there is a shortage of labor in certain economic areas”. …
In such a scenario, according to Patricio, consumers will have to get used to higher food prices as the world’s population grows, as opposed to what happens with the amount of agricultural land.
But not all cost increases need to be supported by consumers, the official stressed, adding that companies will have to cover some of that growth. “I think we, the industry and companies, should try to minimize these price increases,” he repeated.
