Price Of Marmite Up By 25 Per Cent At Supermarkets

Mon, 09 Aug 2010

 
Get the latest prices, codes, vouchers & deals fortnightly.
A pot of Marmite is now being sold for more than the price of a rump steak or a gallon of petrol, according to a report in the Mail on Sunday.

The newspaper revealed that the price of a 500g jar of Marmite has soared by 25 per cent over the last five years and is currently sold at £5.03 at Sainsburys and £5.38 at Waitrose, making it more expensive than a gallon of petrol in most parts of the UK.

But despite the price hikes, sales of the famous love or hate yeast spread increased by two per cent last year, and around 60 million jars are produced for sale each year.

Unilever, the company which owns the Marmite name, refused to offer an explanation for the steep price rise.

Adam Leyland, editor of The Grocer magazine, said: "Compared with bread, which has gone up by around 40 per cent in price over the past five years, this is a relatively modest rise."

"But Marmite does not appear to contain any ingredients that have been subject to sharp price hikes. This could be a case of Unilever trying to increase its profit margins."

According to the Mail on Sunday report, Marmite was given away for free by the NHS until the Sixties due to its nutritional content.