CINCINNATI — Households reeling from gasoline near $4 also face bigger bills for everything from changing their babies’ diapers to wiping their noses to treating themselves to ice cream.
Major makers of everyday consumer products and groceries say they have to raise prices to offset soaring costs for fuel and the materials and ingredients that go into their products. Retailers are trying to pass that along at the cash register, adding pressure on a sluggish U.S. economic recovery.
The list of companies saying this week that they are raising prices is long: Kimberly-Clark Corp. (Huggies diapers, Kleenex facial tissue); Procter & Gamble Co. (Pampers diapers, Gillette shavers); Unilever PLC (Dove soap, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream); Colgate-Palmolive (toothpaste, soap); and PepsiCo Inc. (soft drinks, Frito-Lay snacks).
While companies have seen better results in the past year after battling for frugal shoppers with price cuts and discounts, it might be tough to find much slack in many homes’ budgets.
“You’ve got to be real sensitive to consumers and their ability to afford higher-priced products,” said Jack Russo, an Edward Jones analyst.
