Latest Nielsen Data Shows CSD Pricing Gains Persist.

Niagara, the country’s largest private label bottled water producer and a co-packer for companies including Coca-Cola, informed retailers this week that rising input costs will force a wholesale price increase on March 1. Niagara is battling higher supplier costs for resin, freight, shrink film, labels, caps, raw material transportation, water, pallets, labor, utilities, and equipment, according to the company. The increase for an equivalized 24-pack of half-liter bottles will be between 32 cents and 62 cents, and higher in some cases, an executive told BD.

MITIGATING COSTS. A Niagara executive also told BD that other cost increases could still be necessary. Some of the higher pricing could be “transitory,” according to the company, as various commodity costs recede. Other increases are expected to last as higher costs for items such as labor persist. “We are looking at all solutions to mitigate cost impacts,” Niagara President and CEO Andy Peykoff told BD in a statement. “And we are committed to working collaboratively with all of our customer partners to manage the challenging environment we’re facing.”

CONTEXT. In November, Niagara VP of Procurement Anup Pillay told BD that 2021 input costs would be up by about +22% and that 2022 costs were likely to rise another +10%.

PEPSI CONCENTRATE PRICING HIKE. Meanwhile, PepsiCo has raised soft drink concentrate pricing for 2022 by +7.5%, according to a memo obtained by BD. Bubly concentrate is up +3.0% and concentrate for PepsiCo’s energy brands is up +3.5%.

CSD PRICING GAINS PERSIST. Retail carbonated soft drink pricing jumped +13% in the four-week period ending Jan. 29, according to Nielsen data cited by Goldman Sachs. That was higher than the +9.3% gain recorded for the 52-week period.