Miguel Patricio said the company had increased prices on more than half its products in its home market of the US, as well as in other countries.

He told the BBC: “We are raising prices, where necessary, around the world.”

He said a range of factors were contributing to higher food costs, including Britain’s lack of truck drivers.

“In [the] US logistic costs also increased substantially, and there’s a shortage of labour in certain areas of the economy,” he said.

He also said inflation was “across the board”, unlike in previous years.

The cost of ingredients such as cereals and oils has pushed global food prices to a 10-year high, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.

However, Patricio argued longer-term factors meant consumers should get used to higher food prices, particularly the fact the global population is growing but the amount of land to grow food on is not.

In the longer term “there’s a lot to come in technology to improve the effectiveness of farmers” that will help, he told the BBC.

The warning from Kraft Heinz comes amid reports of Brits tightening their belts ahead of a winter of price rises.

A recent report from AJ Bell found 59 per cent of UK households had started cutting back spending.

In addition to spiraling food prices, energy bills have risen to a record high as suppliers struggle to cope with soaring wholesale prices, with experts predicting they have further to go.

The government also pushed ahead last week with the scrapping of the £20 weekly uplift to Universal Credit, a move debt charity StepChange says will have “devastating consequences” for many families.