Post-Pandemic Prices on Many Household and Grocery Goods to Rise

 Consumer good shortages may be over, as the pandemic ends, however, in September, Procter & Gamble will be raising the prices of many of their commonly-used household brands, such as Tide, Pampers, Charmin, Scope, and Oral-B, said the company, 

   Procter & Gamble blamed the price hikes on the rising cost of raw materials, like wood pulp, resin, and polymer resins, as well as surging transportation and shipping costs, due to the pandemic, the New York Post reported.

   The last time paper products’ prices went up significantly was in 2018 when there was a similar run on pulp, experts said. 

   P & G’s announcement comes just weeks after rival Kimberly-Clark, which makes Scott toilet paper and Huggies diapers, said it is planning price hikes in the mid-to-high-single digits by June.

   General Mills, which makes Cheerios, also is planning mark-ups up prices on major brands, as is Hormel Foods Corp. which makes Skippy peanut butter. J.M. Smucker Co. has already boosted the price of Jif peanut butter and is considering other hikes.

   Post is planning to raise the price of Grape-Nuts cereal, which for some reason went into high demand, and therefore, short supply over the pandemic, and was sold for as much as $100 a box, on the black market.

   The maker of the crunchy, high-fiber cereal said in March that it had some production glitches related to the unexpectedly high demand for Grape-Nuts.

    When the consumer price index, which measures what consumers pay for most goods, jumped to 2.6% in March, the index saw the biggest 12-month increase since August 2018, according to government data.

   Another interesting change in the consumer goods market is that while sales are cooling for some products, the demand is recovering for others, such as beauty products and supplies sold directly to businesses that are reopening after widespread shutdowns, P & G CEO Jon Moeller told Fox News.

   "It's a different situation, as everywhere in the world countries are in very different places as far as coming out of the pandemic," Moeller said. "There is very strong consumption across the board."