Consumers may have to shell out more money for their daily use products as FMCG firms, which are facing inflationary pressure on their key raw material inputs, are considering marginal hike on their products price to offset it.
Some FMCG companies like Marico and others have already gone for price hike, while some which include Dabur, Parle and Patanjali are closely monitoring the situation.
FMCG players have been trying to absorb the price increase of raw material inputs such as coconut oil, edible oil and palm oil, but they are unlikely to hold the prices of their commodities for a long time as that will impact their gross margins.
“We have seen a significant rise in input cost and especially edible oil in the last three to four months and that is putting pressures on our margins and costs. As of now, we have not taken any price hike but we are closely monitoring it and if it goes like this then probably, we may go for a price hike,” Parle Products Senior Category Head Mayank Shah told PTI.
According to him, these commodities are cyclic in nature.
When asked about the price hike, Shah said: “It will be across products as edible oil is being used in all products. It would be at least 4 to 5 per cent.”
Dabur India CFO Lalit Malik said the recent months have seen inflation inching up for some key raw materials like amla and gold.
“Going forward too, we expect some inflationary pressure in key commodities. Our efforts will be to absorb the raw material price increase through our synergies and cost efficiencies, and undertake only selective and judicious price hikes, which will also depend on the competitive scenario in the market,” Malik told PTI.
While for Haridwar-based Patanjali Ayurveda, it’s still a ‘wait and watch’ situation and yet to take a final call on this but hinted that it is also moving in that directions.
“We always try to absorb the market oscillation but if compelled by the market factors, we would take a final decision on that,” Patanjali spokesperson S K Tijarawala was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.
