LONDON, Jan 24 Reuters Unilever, the maker of Dove soap and Ben Jerry39;s ice cream, struggled to defend fourthquarter grocery store market share across most of its categories in Europe and the United States, data shows, as it ceded some of its turf to private labels and cut products.

The food and consumer products industry has increased prices sharply on basic goods in recent years to make up for soaring input costs that began with the pandemic and were exacerbated by Russia39;s invasion of Ukraine.

These hikes prompted a cost of living crisis in Europe and the United States, and eventually pushed shoppers towards cheaper private label brands owned by retailers like Carrefour, Tesco and Walmart.

Unilever39;s underlying price growth was 13.3 at its height in the fourth quarter of 2022, with prices at its home care business up nearly 17 and prices at its ice cream business about 14 higher in that period.

Price hikes are easing, however, and Unilever, which owns the Magnum and Persil brands, increased prices by only 5.8 in the third quarter of 2023, Nielsen data showed.

PG, Unilever39;s biggest rival in the household and personal care category, on Tuesday cut its annual profit forecast on slowing price hikes. Unilever reports fullyear earnings on Feb. 8.

Investors and analysts, who warned that the prolonged hikes could alienate shoppers in the long term, have called out Unilever39;s shrinking market share for several quarters, raising concerns over growing private…