Unilever: “more price concessions are impossible”

Unilever was able to increase its sales by 7 % in the last quarter, as prices increased by more than 10 %. Only Europe saw a decline in sales, while beauty and personal care products performed best.

Better than last year

Total sales climbed to 14.8 billion euros, with prices rising by an average of 10.7 % and despite volumes decreasing by 0.2 %. In the food and cleaning category, prices even increased by 13.4 %.

CEO Alan Jope says that the increase in raw material costs and inflation is passed on to consumers for maximum 75 %. He is aware that customers are affected by the price increases, but says the company cannot afford any more concessions and stressed that prices are already rising less than last year. Jope believes that the situation will improve in the course of the year, he revealed at a press conference.

The company is working to achieve substantial internal savings to reduce costs, carrying out a reorganisation that is expected to save 600 million euros over two years. At this time, the company is not disclosing profit figures.