Morrisons raises price of Marmite by 12.5%

The price boost meant Morrisons was the first supermarket to raise the price of Marmite since Tesco’s row with the Marmite manufacturer, Unilever.

The retailer increased the price of Marmite by 12.5% to £2.64 for a 250g jar, and Colman’s English Mustard by 10% to £1.56 for 170g.

‘Increase prices as a result of costs rising’​

A Morrisons spokesman said: “Sometimes, we have to increase prices as a result of costs rising – though we do our best to avoid this. More often than not, we have been reducing prices. More than 3,000 products are currently cheaper in Morrisons than they were last year.”​

Morrisons currently stocks 228 Unilever food products – 92 of which had increased in price since October 19. During that time, the retailer reduced prices on 19 of the manufacturer’s products, with average prices rising by 9p (5.4%) to £1.77, according to Brand View data.

Since the Brexit vote, Morrisons has raised prices on 62% of its Unilever food items.

Prices up on 155 of Unilever products​

The 12.5% price rise on Marmite was 2.5% more than Tesco had refused just six days previously. Tesco and Asda had put prices up on 155 of their Unilever food and home products. Tesco and Asda reduced the prices of 145 and 215 Unilever products, respectively.

Unilever raised wholesale prices on many of its products as the pound’s falling value meant the cost of products made outside the UK increased. Sterling’s value has dropped almost 20% since June’s Brexit vote – the biggest currency value drop on the global money market this year.

News of the Marmite price hike followed an investigated by our sister title The Grocer​.

Meanwhile, Unilever reported 3.2% growth in underlying sales on October 13, in its third-quarter trading update. Since January, the manufacturer said its sales had increased by 4.2%.