Boston, September 4, 2008 — FoodPriceTruth.org has examined Nestlé's rising profits, and found the company giving three different excuses why their prices are going up. First, Nestlé blames rising food costs on the surging price of commodities, which they say is largely caused by biofuels. But in their earnings statements, Nestlé publicly admits raising their prices to pump up their corporate profits. Now, Nestlé says they are raising prices as a result of "adding value" to their products such as nutrients and vitamins. Some well known Nestlé brands are: Butterfinger, Powerbar, Toll House, Carnation Instant Milk, 1000 Grand, Pixy Stix, Nestea and even Alpo, Mighty Dog and Tidy Cats for your pets.

• Blaming Biofuels — Nestlé is also a member of the Grocery Manufacturers of America, a trade association behind a smear campaign blaming ethanol for higher food prices. Nestlé SA chief executive Peter Braback has echoed the GMA's misleading claims about biofuels, calling recent biofuel laws irresponsible.
• To Increase Profits — An August 7th press release touts: "The timely implementation of price increases in categories most impacted by higher input costs and the strong innovation pipeline contributed to the 40 basis points EBIT margin improvement."
• "Added Value" — An article, quotes a Nestlé company representative: "Our strategy is to increase prices for our products by adding value and not because of commodity costs."

"This is more smoke and mirrors from big food companies like Nestlé," said Brooke Coleman, a FoodPriceTruth.org spokesperson. "Now that grain and energy prices have come down, food companies need a new reason to keep prices artificially high so they are adding nutrients and vitamins to their products. The real reason Nestlé is raising prices is simple: to bolster corporate profits. Nestlé can raise their prices as much as they want, they just shouldn't try and confuse American consumers by inventing reasons to do so and continuing to blame biofuels. If higher grain prices (from biofuels) were driving food prices up, then recently falling grain prices should drive food prices down. But of course, that was never the cause of food price spikes in the first place."

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