MARMITE fans are among the shoppers who are likely to see more wounding price hikes lie ahead.

Ben & Jerry's owner Unilever warned yesterday that it had not yet passed on the full impact of input cost rises to consumers.

It had lifted prices 11 per cent in the second quarter compared to a year prior.

Underlying sales growth of 8.1 per cent was "driven by strong pricing to mitigate input cost inflation, which, as expected, had some impact on volume," Alan Jope, chief executive officer said yesterday.

The consumer goods giant boosted its guidance for sales growth, "driven by price with some further pressure on volume".

Chief financial officer Graeme Pitkethly told journalists on an in- vestors call that the company was currently battling with a "truly unprecedented cost landscape".

Further price increases in the second half of the year were likely on the horizon, according to Alex Smith, global sector lead for consumer at global primary research firm Third Bridge.

"Inflation will continue to erode Unilever's margins for the next 12-18 months although margin pressure has been partly mitigated by price increases in the first half," he said.

Retail chiefs have warned more price increases could be on the way, with the British Retail Consortium's (BRC) Helen Dickinson admitting households and firms "must prepare for a difficult period as inflationary pressures hit home".

Shop price annual inflation surged to 4.4 per cent this month, the highest pace since the BRC and Nielsen IQ's shop price index started in 2005.

(c) 2022 City A.M., source Newspaper