The increases range from 6.6% on 12oz Velveeta Fresh Packs to 30% on a three-pack of Oscar Mayer turkey bacon. Most cold cuts and beef hot dogs will go up around 10% and coffee around 5%. Some Kool-Aid and Capri Sun drink packs will increase by about 20%.
“As we enter 2022, inflation continues to dramatically impact the economy,” Kraft Heinz said in a letter dated January 24 to at least one of its wholesale customers that was viewed by CNN Business. The wholesaler shared the letter on the condition of anonymity to protect the company’s relationship with its suppliers.
Kraft Heinz has already raised prices on some of these same foods in recent months.
In October, the company said it would increase prices on Oscar Mayer cold cuts and hot dogs. In November, it said prices on Oscar Mayer beef, lean beef and Angus hot dogs, cheese dogs and other products would go up by around 9%.
But since those November hikes, Kraft Heinz said in the letter, it has faced “constrained supply, logistic bottlenecks and weather-driven crop losses.” The company’s costs have increased, including on raw ingredients and freight, leading it to bump prices yet again.
A Kraft Heinz spokesperson said the company was raising prices on the products experiencing the greatest cost pressures, adding that “pricing is not the only thing we’re doing to combat inflation.”
The company is adding larger package sizes and more affordable price points on some items, the spokeperson said.
Some shoppers are responding by trimming the number of products they’re buying and trading down to less-expensive, private-label brands, according to businesses, market data, public surveys and interviews with customers. Others are switching to cheaper stores.
