Toilet paper, baby care products, soft drinks and many other everyday products are about to get more expensive.
The potential hit to consumers’ wallets comes as the economy returns to some semblance of normalcy. Vaccine distribution continues at a steady pace, promising to put the worst of the pandemic and business shutdowns in the past. States have been loosening restrictions and businesses are reopening to a lot of pent up demand from people who have been staying cautiously close to home during the pandemic.
But that improving economy and pent-up demand is straining distribution channels for raw materials and other goods.
Prices for many consumer goods, such as toilet paper, ticked up modestly over the last few months, according to data from NielsenIQ. Pressure is building, though, as costs increase for companies and many have signalled that the price increases are coming later this year and likely into 2022 to offset the impact.
Cheerios maker General Mills is considering raising prices on its products as things like grain, sugar and other ingredients become more expensive.
Soda giant Coca-Cola has said it expects to raise prices to fight higher costs, while
“Rates are in a holding period and everybody’s curious to see if this holding period is going to last,” said
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