Nestle to hike prices on festive favourites to combat inflation

Another blow for Christmas budgets! Nestle is hiking prices of festive favourites like Quality Street and After Eight mints due to spiralling costs

• Nestle is set to hike its prices in the run up to Christmas to combat inflation
• The food conglomerate owns popular festive treats including Quality Street
• Earlier this week it was revealed the size of a Quality Street tub would decrease 
• Nestle also owns popular chocolate brands including KitKat, Aero and Smarties

Chocolate lovers face forking out more for festive favourites after Nestle said it would by hiking prices in the run-up to Christmas.

It came as the global food and drinks giant announced sales have soared by more than 9 per cent to almost £60billion after ratcheting up its prices by 7.5 per cent for the first nine months of 2022.

The firm, which makes popular chocolates including Quality Street and After Eight, blamed its latest round of price increases on spiralling costs.

Chief executive, Mark Schneider, said: ‘Pricing will need to continue when it comes to the remainder of this year and next year as we’re still in catch-up mode towards repairing and restoring our gross margin.’ 

Nestle has announced it will be raising the prices of popular festive chocolates, such as Quality Streets (pictured), to help combat rising inflation rates

He added: ‘We maintained our responsible approach to pricing but further pricing steps were clearly needed to react to significant levels of global inflation hitting us.’

Other Nestle chocolates likely to go up at the tills include Aero, Smarties, Toffee Crisp, Yorkie and Munchies.

The food conglomerate also owns Kit Kat and San Pellegrino water.

It comes days after it was revealed that the size of a Quality Street tub this winter could shrink by three sweets on average.

The 2022 edition of the much-loved Christmas treat will contain 62 chocolates compared with 65 in the previous year.

It comes as Nestle announced its sales have soared by more than 9 per cent to almost £60billion after ratcheting up its prices by 7.5 per cent for the first nine months of 2022

The average tub will weigh just 620g for this festive season compared with 1,100g in 2009.

Since 2013 when tubs were introduced instead of heavier tins, the weight of the tubs has reduced by a fifth, according to The Sun.

This is a reduction of around 16 chocolates in the average box. Among the chocolates to lose out this year are caramel swirls, milk chocolate blocks, fudge and toffee pennies.

Although the number of chocolates in each tub of Quality Street has reduced, the price has remained steady at around £5 in most supermarkets.

Other Nestle chocolates likely to go up at the tills include After Eights (pictured), Aero, Smarties, Toffee Crisp, Yorkie and Munchies

It comes as the ongoing cost-of-living crisis continues to take a toll on people across the UK.

Earlier this month it was revealed that everyday groceries were rising dramatically, with the cost of milk rising by 42 per cent and the cost of eggs by 22.3 per cent, as the inflation soared to hit 10.1 per cent.

Two thirds of Britons have said they are worried they will not be able to spend as much at Christmas as they usually do.   

According to a Redfield & Wilton Strategies survey for MailOnline, 65 per cent said they were concerned about having to scale down spending on presents and celebrations.

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