Maker of Tide, Charmin, Crest raising prices in August due to tariffs
As soon as this weekend, Lexington and Central Kentucky shoppers could see a bump in prices of some of America’s most prominent household goods made by Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble.
The consumer goods giant announced Tuesday it will raise prices on about 25% of its products in August after it estimated tariffs would cost the company $1 billion. P&G is the company behind such iconic brands like Pampers, Tide, Bounty, Charmin, Tampax, Gillette, Old Spice, Dawn and numerous others.
P&G’s Chief Financial Officer Andre Schulten said price increases will be “mid-single-digit” ones.
Company officials announced the forthcoming hike in prices when it reported its quarterly and fiscal year earnings earlier this week. It has not yet released an itemized list of which products will be affected by the price increase. .
The company’s outgoing Chairman and CEO Jon Moeller told Yahoo Finance this week tariffs are “inherently inflationary.”
“It increases the cost of importation, and that’s part of the policy design,” Moeller said. “In some places, that makes a lot of sense. But it inherently increases costs. Then, manufacturers need to work through how much of that they can absorb and deal with and how much they need to pass on.”
P&G joins Adidas, Nike and Mattel, the maker of Barbies, in raising prices for American consumers as a result of tariffs. Some companies, the BBC reports, are importing fewer foreign goods and others, like GE Appliances, are moving or opening manufacturing operations stateside to avoid hurdling over and through changing trade and tariff policy.
P&G earnings call
P&G reported its poorest sales increase in seven years during its earnings call this week and didn’t elaborate on plans it has in the works to restructure parts of its business.
Last month, the company said it was making changes to a plan to cut 7,000 jobs as it struggles, like many other businesses, to keep growing and making a profit as consumers tackle economic uncertainty brought on by President Donald Trump’s tariff and trade policies.
P&G reported it made $16 billion on sales of $84.3 billion during the last fiscal year. Sales were unchanged compared to the previous year, according to the earnings report.
In its fourth quarter, or the months of April, May and June, the company reported its profit on $20.9 billion in sales was $3.6 billion, which surpassed forecasts, but organic sales during that time were the worst they’ve been since 2018.
Organic sales refer to revenue generated from a company’s existing business operations and core products or services, without relying on such external factors as acquisitions or mergers.
As far as tariffs go, the president announced a sweeping plan in April but quickly paused them so his administration could negotiate new trade deals with other countries. Trump has been pushing the world’s leaders to come to terms before midnight Thursday, according to the BBC and other reports.
Grocery prices are changing in Lexington
Since Trump took office on Jan. 20, the Herald-Leader has been tracking the prices of the same 26 items sold at Kroger, Meijer and Publix in Lexington.
In the first five months of the year, analysis show grocery prices have increased slightly since the start of the president’s second term.
On inauguration weekend in January, the average price of the 26 groceries purchased — which includes such household staples as milk, eggs, bread, peanut butter, bananas, pasta, chicken and some baby products — was $180.81.
In May, the same shopping cart of items had increased by $1.08 to $181.89, according to the analysis.
One of those items is a 105-ounce container of Tide laundry detergent, which is a signature brand of P&G.
In January, the average price of the jug was $16.49. When the Herald-Leader checked prices again July 25, the average price of the same jug was $17.32, which was the same average price we noted in June.
Another P&G item the Herald-Leader has been tracking is a 50-count box of size 6 Pampers. In January, the average price of the diapers was $28.74. Last month, the average price was slightly less at $28.49, which was the same average price noted in June.
.JPG)