General Mills forecasts food price increases

Food & Drink Weekly, May 24, 2004

General Mills forecasts food price increases: Stephen Sanger, chief executive of General Mills, has said most food manufacturers in the United States are likely to have to raise prices on some products in order to offset rising commodity costs. Sanger did not, however, comment on whether prices would increase on any of General Mills' products, saying it was against company policy to comment on prospective price hikes, reported Reuters. Hain Celestial and Birds Eye Foods are among several food manufacturers to have recently announced planned price increases due to higher commodity costs.

"The food industry is facing significant inflation in its input costs and all of us will have the challenge of doing things to maintain our margins," Sanger said in a speech at Goldman Sachs' Global Consumer Products Conference in New York. "That is likely going to be addressed through a combination of pricing and productivity," he was quoted by Reuters as saying.