Brexit blues hit the stores last week as supermarket giant Tesco faced off against Unilever, the UK's largest food manufacturer, in a battle over wholesale prices over some of its products. News came on Tuesday that products including Marmite, PG Tips tea and Pot Noodles were among dozens of brands unavailable on the supermarket’s online site
Unilever had wanted a 10% price rise to compensate for the drop in the pound’s value. Retailers and their suppliers have regular negotiations over price, but those discussions have rarely lead to a public argument and product de-listing. The question has always remained, who should swallow an increase in costs due to a weaker pound? This is the question retailers have been consistently asking post-Brexit, as import prices start to rise.
The week ended with Marmite supplies re-shelved as Unilever backed down amid a strong consumer and political backlash. Unilever announced its was in agreement with Tesco following a day of negotiations. Though neither company would say how much Tesco agreed to pay for Unilever products or how much of it would be passed to the customer.
While this saga might over, experts at the British Retail Consortium said virtually every brand had plans to increase prices by at least 10% over the coming weeks as part of the rise in the price of imports.
