Nestle will raise prices for baby food due to the weakening of the ruble

From September 4, the Nestle company will raise the prices of baby food by 9%, including breast milk substitutes, ready-made breakfasts, and instant cocoa drinks. This is reported by “Kommersant” with reference to the company’s letters to retailers. Nestle declined to comment.

The company explained the increase in the price of baby food by the drop in the ruble exchange rate by more than 30% since the beginning of the year. In the case of cocoa drinks, the price increase is also connected with the increase in world prices for raw materials and sugar.

The experts interviewed by the publication do not rule out that other baby food manufacturers, such as Danone and InfaPrim, may announce price increases after Nestle. In 2021, these three companies produced about 32 thousand tons of production with a domestic consumption of 40 thousand, Kommersant writes.

The Ministry of Agriculture of Russia suspected Nestle of unfriendly actions due to the increase in holiday prices for children’s products. This was reported by the “Prime” agency with reference to the press service of the department. The Ministry of Agriculture stated that “the cost of basic raw materials for baby food and ready-made breakfasts is stable” in Russia as a whole.

• Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, several hundreds of corporations, companies and brands have announced the closure of business, the cessation of production and sales of their products on the territory of Russia. Among them are many companies that produce product products – in particular, Danone, Nestle, Dr. Oetker, Mars, Lavazza, and many others.
• At the same time, Nestle then declared that they would continue to provide Russians with the necessary food (such as children’s or medical food) in accordance with the principle of the “basic right to food”.