Britain's biggest potato chips maker Walkers hikes prices after Brexit

[LONDON] A bag of Britain's favourite potato chips is set to rise by 10 per cent after maker Walkers said the slump in the value of the pound after the vote to leave the European Union had pushed up its manufacturing costs.

A standard bag of salt and vinegar or cheese and onion flavour crisps as they are known in Britain will typically increase to 55 pence (S$0.86) from 50 pence as Walkers follows in the footsteps of Unilever in hiking prices after the vote for Brexit.

"Like most businesses, we are facing factors which impact the cost of some of our ingredients and materials including fluctuating foreign exchange rates," said a spokeswoman for the company, which is owned by US group PepsiCo.

"In light of this we are taking steps to cover some of these additional costs through selective cost price changes across our portfolio."

The potatoes used to make crisps from Walkers, which is Britain's third biggest grocery brand according to trade publication The Grocer, are grown in Britain, but other ingredients and packaging were imported, Walkers said.

Unilever, the maker of Marmite savoury spread, Pot Noodle and Magnum ice cream, pushed for a 10 per cent rise in the prices of its top-selling products last month, leading to a public spat with Britain's biggest supermarket chain Tesco.

Walkers said that since it did not set the retail price of its products, it would be up to individual retailers to determine the price on the shelf.

REUTERS