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all the big supermarkets need to stand up to Unilever and refuse to put up their prices. If they all did it they would have to back down.
It's ridiculous using brexit as an excuse, half of the products mentioned are made here and aren't imported so it's a con.
I work in Hospital Pharmacy procurement and one of the big Pharma companies have put the price up on one of their drugs, when i asked the rep why, they blamed it on brexit 

Good to see, and hopefully it will put a brake on those companies looking on Brexit as another way of increasing profits for no reason other than opportunism. I believe Tesco will have to give to at least halfway, but good on them. Best bit of advertising for them for a long time 

How long before we get a new 'I'm Backing Britain' campaign. ?

Who gives a shite about Marmite and Pot Noodles.

However, if they stop stocking Pepsi and Twirls there's going to be a riot at Leyland Tesco.

I actually think it's good to see a manufacturer standing up to the supermarkets, the supermarkets cripple lots of suppliers by tempting them in with big orders which mean the suppliers have to expand their operations, once they have expanded they then drive the prices down and slash their margins or else have to cut back operations again meaning shedding jobs they have just created.
Supermarket buyers are ruthless and while that leads to good prices for shoppers it causes lot's of problems for suppliers.

Is that why Warburton's Super Toastie has been a quid at Asda for the last two years, because Asda are bullerying them?

When can the middle class stop shopping at Aldi?

Natasha Whittam wrote:Is that why Warburton's Super Toastie has been a quid at Asda for the last two years, because Asda are bullerying them?

Yes, Brett has tried gurning at them like a not right but they hold firm.

Norpig wrote:
It's ridiculous using brexit as an excuse, half of the products mentioned are made here and aren't imported so it's a con.

They aren't Norpig. They are saying it's because of the massive devaluation of the pound. That may be one of the consequences of the referendum result but the pound has also been badly affected by the poor way that the Government are acting in response to EU leaders telling them they won't get a decent deal and the proposed exit from the ESM which they are bundling up with Brexit and claiming that's what people voted for.

I don't know what percentage of the ingredients that go into Unilever's products are imported (and therefore face massive price increases) but I do know that if they pass the costs on to retailers, shoppers will face a double whammy because they will add their margin to the increased element.

I expect other manufacturers will follow Unilever's lead over the next couple of years because nationally we import the majority of our raw materials and that will fuel inflation rendering everybody a lot poorer in real terms - but that's only what we expected anyway isn't it? 

It's not all bad news. At least we won't have Johnny Foreigner coming over here and stealing our jobs any more - if there are any left to steal in 5 years time.

whatsgoingon wrote:I actually think it's good to see a manufacturer standing up to the supermarkets, the supermarkets cripple lots of suppliers by tempting them in with big orders which mean the suppliers have to expand their operations, once they have expanded they then drive the prices down and slash their margins or else have to cut back operations again meaning shedding jobs they have just created.
Supermarket buyers are ruthless and while that leads to good prices for shoppers it causes lot's of problems for suppliers.

Small suppliers yes, but this is Unilever so it's really not a valid point in this context.

The logic behind Unilever's request is sound, £1 = 0.88 EURO yesterday (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jul/21/unilever-shoppers-rising-prices-brexit-vote-sterling), so to offset for that loss of value they want to put prices up that's just business. 

Fair play to Tesco for telling them no, interesting to see how consumers react to big brands disappearing off shelves.

The size of the business is irrelevant, in selling in vast quantities to the supermarkets unit prices are going to be at low margins, which leaves little wiggle room. So if the prices of raw materials goes up then prices are affected, that is business why produce vast quantities of produce and sell them to the supermarkets for a loss so the supermarkets can sell them on at a profit? That makes no sense.
If oil prices go up petrol/diesel prices go up that is accepted
So if ingredient prices go up (for whatever reason) then food prices go up to expect anything else is naive.
Tesco are getting away with it here too, why aren't they in a position to absorb the extra cost like they are expecting Unilever to do.
I'm backing Bolton born and bred Unilever here.

The size of business is relevant because the vast quantities Tesco sell at still doesn't compare to the volume of products Unilever produces, so whilst Tesco may pay a low unit price Unilever won't be making a loss as smaller manufacturers (who rely on Tesco's business) may be forced to.

Read my post above, I'm not blaming Unilever for putting their prices up, the crash of the £ has made us all poorer and doing business in the UK more expensive for multi nationals. All I'm saying is your original post about margins and supermarkets muscling suppliers is nonsense when it comes to a company like Unilever.

I don't know about you lot, but when I go to the supermarket, I quite like the variety of vegetables, products, etc. 
However, I really don't think I will suffer that much to see one or two of them disappear, especially as there is usually 3 or more of each to choose from. In days of yore, we used to survive on seasonal products in this country. This changed when we could get stuff from any, and every, part of the world.

There are many ways producers/sellers can save money, including not introducing unnecessary processes and ingredients to our food, such as chemicals, sugar, fat, and salt, and of course, the very expensive packaging they insist on. 
Surely, if we are panicking about what we import, then we should reconsider, and actually reduce the amount, and variety, of just what is brought in. An example of this approach can be seen when the more successful restaurants reduce the number of dishes available, preferring to concentrate on the most suitable for both them and their customers ? Its a known fact that most households throw away quite a lot of food each week. The current situation may well help to focus families on just what they need in comparison to what they are buying.

it would be interesting to see what percentage of Unilever's sales are done through leading supermarket brands, just because they are a huge business it doesn't mean they are less dependant on the supermarkets.
The fact that they offer a wider range of products through the people responsible for the vast majority of grocery sales means they depend more on them for their volume sales.
So how is the fact margins and suppliers being muscled nonsense, in my opinion it's nice to see a supplier being big enough to stand up to the supermarkets and it will be interesting to see where this goes, because Unilever supply many leading brands and would be a huge loss off the Tesco shelves.

Apparently more supermarkets are in in talks with Unilever, so the 10% price hike seems to have bee applied to everyone. One 'expert' has said that Unilever are profiteering.

whatsgoingon wrote: just because they are a huge business it doesn't mean they are less dependant on the supermarkets.

Actually, in this case, that's exactly what it means.

A small supplier might only be in one or two supermarkets, Unilever is in every major supermarket in this country - and I'd guess the majority in Europe and the US too, it's a huge company.

So Tesco to Unilever represent a small percentage of their global sales and hence is not being muscled about by little Tesco who need Unilever products to be competitive against Sainsburys, Asda etc (or at least they did). The majority of consumers want brands and will shop where they can get them at the lowest cost, that's why advertising is full of offers on big name brands to draw shoppers in, often as a loss leader for the shop.

i think you are underestimating the size of Tesco 74, they have stores in other countries as well and are a massive player in all this. I'm sure both sides can see there is no winner if they both stick to their guns, i bet a compromise deal is already on the cards as they both need each other

Norpig wrote:i think you are underestimating the size of Tesco 74, they have stores in other countries as well and are a massive player in all this. I'm sure both sides can see there is no winner if they both stick to their guns, i bet a compromise deal is already on the cards as they both need each other

I agree mate, and I'm not suggesting that Tesco have no options here, all I'm saying is that Unilever will not be making a loss on each unit cost and won't be getting bullied by Tesco.