Anger brewing as cost of living nightmare surges price of teabags by a third

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Research covering major brands and own label products on the shelves of the Big Four supermarket chains found around 159 lines across all pack sizes and types have seen prices jump. A 100g pack of Everyday teabags from Twinings soared from £5.25 to £6 in Tesco and from £5.30 to £5.99 in Morrisons.

Others to show steep increases include a Twinings 20-pack of Camomile Tea – up from £1.70 to £2.25 in Sainsbury’s.

That’s a rise of 32 percent, said analysts Assosia, who conducted the research for The Grocer magazine covering the eight weeks to July 26.

And that news is going down like a cup of cold tea with a nation that sinks around 100 million cups a day – which is almost 36 billion per year, according to the UK Tea & Infusions Association.

Prices in the Pukka range have gone up from £3 to £3.30 across many of its packs of 40 teabags in both Sainsbury’s and Morrisons.

Assosia said the price stayed the same in Asda and Tesco over the same period.

Producers blame the price hikes on rising costs – from raw materials to shipping.

Fiachra Moloney, of Pukka owner Ekatera, told The Grocer: “Our Pukka brand uses the highest quality organic herbs, pays a premium for independently certified ‘fair’ ingredients and is sold in 100 percent recyclable envelopes to enclose our plant-based teabags.”

“As a result of global supply and demand changes and the premium paid for sourcing and packaging our teas sustainably, the cost to produce Pukka teas has unfortunately risen significantly.”

“However, in-store pricing is at the sole discretion of retailers and we would not comment on the pricing decisions of specific retailers.”

Tetley saw price rises of between 10p and 20p across the board.

A spokeswoman said: “Like every manufacturer, we’re dealing with rising costs across the board, from raw materials to shipping and packing.”

“While we do what we can to manage these costs, unprecedented inflation across much of our cost base means that some of these costs have to be passed on.”

“Doing so means we can maintain our standards of product quality, and continue to invest in our brand and our robust supply chain.”

Some own-label teas have risen but by less and promotions have kept the price of other brands down – for instance a 160-pack of PG Tips at Sainsbury’s remained at £3.30 due to a Price Lock promotion.

Get the kettle on…

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