Kinder Surprise egg for Despicable Me - Gru variant

Three-packs of Kinder Surprise are now £2.10 in Sainsbury’s

Some Kinder SKUs are now more expensive in Sainsbury’s than in any other major high street supermarket, after the retailer this week hiked shelf prices of the children’s confectionery by as much as a third.

The rises across eight SKUs included the Kinder Bueno 4x43g pack, which is now pricier than any other mult. Sainsbury’s is now charging £2 – up this week from £1.50, and 33% more year on year [Brand View w/e 21 June 2017]. The same product is £1.80 at Waitrose, which currently has Kinder Surprise 3x20g on promotion at £1.68. Waitrose’s regular price for Kinder Surprise 3x20g of £2.10 was alone in being the highest across the mults – until Sainsbury’s this week matched it, adding 10p (5%) to its own shelf price.

The Kinder Chocolate Mini Treats 16x12.5g pack is now £2.20 in Sainsbury’s (from £2), putting it above Waitrose’s £2.10. Kinder Chocolate Snack Bars 6x21g is also more expensive in Sainsbury’s than any other mult, at £1.35 from £1.25. It’s a similar story for Kinder Maxi Snack Bar 21g – now 40p compared with Waitrose’s 35p.

Kinder Bueno White Chocolate 4x39g went up this week in Sainsbury’s from £1.50 to £2, 11.5% more than in Tesco, the only other high street supermarket stockist.

Other SKUs affected by the Sainsbury’s increases were Kinder Chocolate with Cereals 23.5g (40p from 35p) and Kinder Chocolate Bars with Cereals 4x23.5g (up 10p to £1.35).

“The cost of individual products is determined by a number of factors and prices can fluctuate, both up and down, as a consequence,” said a Sainsbury’s spokeswoman. “We remain committed to providing our customers with great quality and value every time they shop with us.”

Kinder is the UK’s fastest-growing confectionery brand in percentage terms, up 23.3% to £128.4m [Nielsen 52 w/e 31 December 2016]. Owner Ferrero declined to comment on the Sainsbury’s price rises.