The prices of rich tea biscuits are rising by 160 percent due to rising costs of energy and ingredients

The rich tea biscuit could soon live up to its name and become the domain of the wealthy – as prices have risen by 160 percent.

Due to the rising cost of ingredients, manpower and energy, the price of the cookie package is popular prince william has skyrocketed from 69p in 2016 to £1.80 now.

Research for The Mail on Sunday shows that the price of digestives rose by 65 per cent from £1.09 to £1.80 over the same period.

Custard creams and bourbons are up 62 and 22 percent, respectively, while hobnobs are twice as expensive as they were seven years ago.

Karen Betts, chief executive of the Food & Drink Federation, said: ‘All food suppliers have seen a huge increase in their input costs in recent years.

“These increases are rooted in disruption caused by Covid, the war in Ukraine and the cost of Brexit, as well as significant increases in the cost of ingredients, energy, transport, packaging and labour.”

Pladis, owner of McVitie’s, says the skyrocketing cost of ingredients is “unprecedented.”

Basic supplies such as flour, sugar, leavening agents and vegetable oil have increased in price by amounts not seen in 40 years.

Pladis has Europe’s largest biscuit factory in Harlesden, North London, making 27 million rich tea biscuits every day.

The rich tea was developed in 1891 but is based on a recipe that is already 400 years old.

In his book Notes from a Small Island, American travel writer Bill Bryson noted that they taste “like something you would give a parakeet to strengthen its beak.”

In 2011, Prince William ordered a “groom cake” for his wedding reception, made from 1,700 McVitie’s rich tea cakes and 37 pounds of chocolate. It is believed that he loved rich tea as a child and chewed it along with the queen.

A spokesperson for Pladis said: ‘We know these are challenging times. But it remains important that we do not compromise on quality and taste that our consumers love.’