Company behind breakfast cereal says increases, if they take place, would probably be in ‘low single digits’

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Weetabix has warned that it may become the latest consumer brand to raise prices this year as a result of the pound’s slump since the Brexit vote.

The breakfast cereal manufacturer said if prices were to go up, the increases would probably be in the “low single digits”.

During a BBC interview, Giles Turrell, the Weetabix chief executive, said price rises would be a “last resort”.

Although the company harvests wheat in Northamptonshire, it is sold in US dollars on global markets, meaning the cost in pounds to buy wheat in the UK has gone up.

The Marmite row is the first sign of the true cost of Brexit for food producers Read more

Like other packaged food makers, it has been squeezed by the plunging value of sterling since last June, which has raised the cost of imported goods or globally traded commodities priced in US dollars.

On Monday, Weetabix said it was in discussions with retailers about price increases. “We would always look to mitigate cost pressure, but unfortunately we are unable to cover all of the cost impacts we’ve been faced with recently,” it said in a statement.

Several food companies, including Unilever, which owns Marmite and Magnum ice cream, the Mr Kipling maker Premier Foods, and Mondelez International, the owner of Cadbury, have increased prices in the UK or warned they will do so to offset the weakness of the pound.

Unilever’s decision to raise the price of Marmite by 10% last October led to a dispute with Tesco and predictions of further price increases this year.

Weetabix, an 85-year-old brand that includes cereals and breakfast drinks, was taken over by Bright Food in 2012, when the Chinese state-owned company bought a controlling stake from private equity firm Lion Capital. The business is reported to be up for sale.



The company announced a £30m capital investment programme up to 2018 across its UK manufacturing sites in Burton Latimer and Corby.

Food and drink is by far the UK’s largest manufacturing sector, accounting for 16% of total manufacturing by turnover (£83.7bn a year) and directly employing about 400,000 people across 6,620 businesses.