WITH RISING LABOR RATES IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME: MAJOR CONSUMER BRANDS HAVE BEGUN RAISING PRICES

A PUBLIC SOURCED ARTICLE FOR MATASII (SUBSCRIBERS & PUBLIC ACCESS) READERS REFERENCE

MATASII SYNTHESIS:

The WSJ and others are reporting on rising prices from Diapers & Clorox to Cat Litter. The key reported findings are:

After finding they could largely get away with raising prices last year, makers of household staples are planning another round of inflationary price hikes in order to offset higher commodity costs and boost profits, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Makers of household staples from diapers to toilet paper are set to raise prices again this year after already hiking prices in 2018, hoping to offset higher commodity costs and boost profits.
Church & Dwight Co. (CHD -0.38%) recently increased prices for about one-third of its products, including Arm & Hammer cat litter and baking soda, and some OxiClean cleaning products.
Church & Dwight is one of several consumer-goods companies, including Procter & GambleCo. , Colgate-Palmolive Co. and Clorox Co. , that have raised prices—or pledged to do so—in response to
- Higher costs of raw materials and transportation, as well as
- Unfavorable foreign-currency swings.
Consumers are being asked to pay more for Pampers and Huggies diapers, Bounty and Viva paper towels, Charmin and Scott toilet papers and Arm & Hammer baking soda, among other products.

For much of the past decade, price cuts have been far more common than price increases as U.S. companies were mostly reluctant to test consumers’ spending power and brand loyalty in a fragile economic recovery.