After HUL,Marico to up prices by 3-4%

Close on the heels of HUL increasing prices of some of its products...

Close on the heels of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) increasing prices of some of its products another FMCG major Marico today said it plans to increase rates of select products by 3-4 per cent.

Another dominant player in the highly competitive space,Godrej,however,said it has no immediate plans to hike prices.

Marico is looking at increasing the prices of its flagship hair and edible oil brand ‘Parachute’ and ‘Saffola’,respectively,in the next couple of weeks on the back of high input costs,the company’s CEO Saugata Gupta said.

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“Input costs have increased substantially over the last few months and in order to maintain margins,we plan to hike prices of our Parachute and Saffola brands. We are looking at a 3-4 per cent hike,” Gupta said.

Currently,Marico sells Parachute oil in the price range of Rs 10 and Rs 90 based upon grammage while Saffola is sold between Rs 68 and Rs 700.

Besides,Marico also sells other hair oil brands including ‘Shanti Badam Amla’,’Hair & Care’ and edible oil brand ‘Sweekar’ among others.

Recently,HUL raised the prices of its major soap brands Lux and Lifebuoy by Re 1 besides slashing the grammage.

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Last month,the FMCG giant had said prices of select products would be increased in the coming quarters with a view to maintain its profit margins.

However,Godrej Consumer Products Ltd Managing Director A Mahendran said,”We are not looking at any price hike at this moment. We will take a decision on this as and when required”.

When asked if there are any particular categories or products in which the company is considering a hike,Mahendran said,”if we do hike prices,we will do it across categories.”