The Unilever company has notified retailers that it is raising the price of its chocolate and ice cream products, “due to the rise in cocoa and sugar prices” while reducing the package size on items such as Klik, Nishnushim and Kariot.
Israelis will pay up to 15 percent more on Magnum, Carambo and Kalil ice creams; however, the average price hike will be 9.7 percent, with retailers expected to pass the cost on to their customers.
Additional price increases took effect Wednesday (Jan. 31) for other food and consumer products companies as well, including Strauss, Osem and Stavitz.
Osem has informed retailers it is raising the price of approximately 14 percent of its products — including ketchup, cookies, chocolate-based items and Sabra salads — by up to nine percent.
“I hereby notify you that starting in November 2019, our packages will be reduced in sized for a number of Unilever products, including Kariot, Klik, and Nishnushim. The effective price per 100 grams of these products will be increased,” the company said in a letter sent to retailers quoted by Globes.
“Reducing the package sizes and increasing the prices follows an increase in production inputs in recent years, including a substantial rise in wages.
“The company has absorbed the increase in input prices in recent years, and has taken streamlining measures in order to avoid additional price increases. The price was raised following the thorough examination of a limited number of products as a last resort, and does not reflect the full increase in input prices.”
