P&G CEO on Navigating Tariffs, Pricing and Brand Loyalty
Procter & Gamble's new chief Shailesh Jejurikar explains how the company weighs cost increases, consumer pricing, and AI's competitive role.
Procter & Gamble's newly installed chief executive, Shailesh Jejurikar, is confronting a familiar but intensifying dilemma facing consumer-goods giants: how much of rising costs can be passed along to shoppers before brand loyalty starts to erode. In a wide-ranging interview, Jejurikar addressed the pressures shaping P&G's near-term strategy, from supply-chain expenses to the tariff environment rattling global trade.
Jejurikar acknowledged that the company must make deliberate choices about which cost increases reach store shelves and which are absorbed internally or offset through operational efficiency. The calculus is complicated by a consumer base that has grown increasingly price-sensitive after years of post-pandemic inflation, making it harder for even dominant household brands to sustain premium positioning without pushback.
Read more AI Agent Orchestration Emerges as Wall Street's Most Sought Skill →
Artificial intelligence figures prominently in how P&G aims to hold the line. Jejurikar indicated the company is deploying AI tools to sharpen its competitiveness — whether in supply-chain management, product formulation or targeted marketing — as a way to manage costs without sacrificing quality that consumers associate with brands like Tide, Pampers and Gillette.
The conversation underscores a broader tension across the consumer-staples sector: blue-chip brands built decades of loyalty on consistent quality, but sustained price hikes test the limits of that relationship. Analysts have noted that private-label alternatives have gained shelf space as shoppers hunt for value, putting additional pressure on companies like P&G to justify premium price points.
Continue reading at NYT > Business.
