Consumer Staples Stocks for Defensive Income as Inflation Eases

With US inflation easing to 3.5%, Simply Wall St highlights three consumer staples stocks positioned for defensive income: Del Monte (DMC, $1.40b market cap), Colgate-Palmolive (CL, $75.27b), and Kimberly-Clark (KMB, $36.18b). Del Monte is pivoting toward premium pineapple varieties and upcycled fruit extracts, though it faces thin margins and climate/logistics headwinds.

Why it matters: Colgate-Palmolive benefits from resilient everyday-essentials demand across oral care, cleaning, and pet nutrition, but carries a $1.1B one-off loss and elevated debt.