Cost of a KitKat rises 10% (From York Press)
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Cost of a KitKat rises 10%
9:10am Monday 14th February 2011 in News
THE cost of a KitKat has risen more than 10 per cent in a year in wake of soaring cocoa prices and a rise in VAT.
York confectioners Nestlé said its recommended retail price for the popular standard four-finger chocolate bar was now 50p, compared with 45p last February.
However, pricing is at the retailers’ discretion and some shops – for example WH Smith in Coney Street – are now charging a startling 75p for a KitKat.
A Nestlé spokesman said the company had always said 2011 would be a very tough year for all businesses and the confectionery industry was no exception, as it continued to face record commodity prices.
“Thanks to the continued hard work and commitment from the business to identify better and more efficient ways of working, we continue to absorb these cost pressures as much as possible, although small prices rises have been inevitable as we won’t compromise on quality of our products,” he said.
The price of cocoa was hovering around £2,000 a tonne at the moment, having reached more than £2,300 last year after doubling in two years.
Much of the cocoa is grown in Ivory Coast, which has been affected recently by political turmoil in the wake of disputed elections.
Its internationally recognised leader Alassane Ouattara called last month for a one-month ban on exports of the commodity to choke off funding for the incumbent Ivory Coast president, Laurent Gbagbo, who refused to concede defeat.
Comments(13)
Saywhat
says...
11:02am Mon 14 Feb 11
Mr Tee
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11:45am Mon 14 Feb 11
jaycee wrote:Unusual for me to defend Nestle but I have to react to such rubbish.
So,taking the matter further,now that the price per tonne has dropped more than 10% (£2300 to £2000) are we likely to see a drop in the price per bar ? No, robbing retailers and robbing producers and records profits for Nestle in 2011 despite the 'tough year' prediction .
You conveniently ignore the "after doubling in two years" comment. Increased costs can't be absorbed forever. Of course, the price being paid for this commodity isn't necessarily the current market price.
Huge increases to the price of flour, palm oil, which I understand are in a Kit Kat, and many other ingredients and materials is also a factor.
Cocoa is only a small part of a Kit Kat but, before checking such details, the journalist's research clearly stopped after buying one from WH Smith (not the typical place to buy one) at a "startling 75p". What a mug!
One thing for sure is that there won't be a big increase in the cost of paying their staff to make the Kit Kat!
Dirt Mcgirt
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12:16pm Mon 14 Feb 11
jaycee
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12:27pm Mon 14 Feb 11
NoMorePlease
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12:32pm Mon 14 Feb 11
Kiff
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12:56pm Mon 14 Feb 11
Markiet
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12:57pm Mon 14 Feb 11
Markiet
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12:58pm Mon 14 Feb 11
york_chap
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1:47pm Mon 14 Feb 11
alfie
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1:51pm Mon 14 Feb 11
Lady Muck of NP
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5:18pm Mon 14 Feb 11
york_chap wrote:With a captive audience prices are always inflated. I recall once ordering 2 gin and tonics without asking the price and was staggered at paying £16.00 each plus 12.5% service charge had been added for "my convenience".
WHSmith charges ridiculous prices for everything it sells (apart from newspapers which it can't really inflate). It always puzzles me why anyone buys anything in there. Although railway stations have their own micro-economies, I saw a 500ml bottle of coke in a railway station branch of WHSmith the other day for £1.75! That's over double the price of petrol.
Mentos
says...
10:37pm Mon 14 Feb 11
Dirt Mcgirt wrote:I would not tell anyone that I know what crusty underpants taste like. Who uses the wod underpants these days
Kit Kats are rubbish nowadays. They taste of crustry underpants.
jaycee says...
10:08am Mon 14 Feb 11