How the Cookie Crumbles: Price of UK Biscuit Favorites Set to Jump 5 Per Cent

Biscuits from an opened 400g packet of McVitie's Digestives are pictured, in London on Jan
DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images
Peter Caddle

Some of Britain’s favourite biscuit brands are set to jump in price by up to 5 per cent as inflation soars in the UK.

Some of the UK’s favourite brands of biscuits, such as Hobnobs, Jaffa Cakes, Penguin Bars and Chocolate Digestives, are set to see price rises of up to 5 per cent, according to manufacturer McVitie’s.

The price hike comes as Brits — and nations across Europe — face the worst inflation in over a decade, with November seeing a 5.1 per cent rise over the previous 12 months, according to the National Office of Statistics.

According to a report by The Mail, McVitie’s owner Pladis is blaming the sudden hike on a significant rise in costs faced by the manufacturer, along with a host of other factors.

“Omicron disruption, absenteeism, and the rising cost of business going forward present a big challenge for us,” Pladis Managing Director David Murray said. “At the end of the day, like in many other categories, it will flow through to higher prices. I’ve never seen a combination of challenges like this at the same time.”

Murray went on to say that the company is currently facing an unprecedented challenge due to the current combination of crises, and had entered into talks with retailers regarding the upcoming price rise.

“We’ve dealt with substantial challenges in the past in the food industry – whether it’s natural disasters, inflation in the economic crisis. It’s the compression of the challenge, combined with the scale of some of them,” Murray continued. “We’re kind of getting some sleepless nights. It’s really just testing our resilience.”

While the exact percentage increase has yet to be confirmed, Murray admitted that some products could see a price rise of around 5.1 per cent, in line with the UK’s inflation.

However, the Pladis director also emphasised that Chocolate Digestives, which The Mail reports as being Britain’s favourite snack, will remain “very affordable”.

Pladis is currently facing a “double-digit” percentage increase in the costs of raw ingredients, such as cocoa beans, according to Murray.

This is in line with costs increases faced by other food producers in the UK.

Wheat-based products have been hit particularly hard with rising costs, with the price of bread having risen by over 25 per cent on the previous year in November.

This increase has largely been blamed on a jump in the price of wheat, which has only been exasperated by other geopolitical issues, such as tensions between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine has traditionally been known as the ‘breadbasket of Europe’, given it is one of the world’s largest grain exporters.

Britons have also seen massive increases in the cost of energy, jumping 28.1 per cent over the previous year. This has translated to an increase of around 25p per litre at the petrol pump, and a nearly 19% increase in electricity prices.

Inflation in many Europe has also seen a sharp rise, with the Eurozone seeing the highest level of inflation ever recorded since the implementation of the currency.

However, both the UK and EU have been beaten out in terms of inflation by the United States, seeing an on-year increase of 6.8 per cent in November.

This has translated into a massive spike in prices for the American consumer, with the price of this year’s Thanksgiving turkey up 24 per cent compared to the previous.

US petrol prices have been the star of the Bidenflation show, however, seeing an annual gain of 49.6 per cent in October.

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