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Donald Trump’s grand plan to save Florida’s tomatoes: make Mexico pay
The US president has imposed a 17 per cent tariff on fruit exports from the southern neighbour to save the dwindling number of local farmers...Mexico supplies more than 60 per cent of the fresh tomatoes consumed in the United States, a clear example of how the country has gained market share in various sectors, becoming the US's largest trading partner since the North American Free Trade Agreement came into force in 1994...Mexico's National Agriculture Council has stated that it is the consumers who will pay, predicting a price increase of 11.5%, also because those grown in the US are of different species
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US wholesale prices rise 3.3% as Trump’s trade war hits economy
The increase in the producer price index in July was the highest since February...
The data suggest that despite subdued inflation so far in consumer prices, the levies the president has imposed on US trading partners are driving price increases higher up the supply chain.
Walmart, in the same headline, has just announced rising costs.
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Food Marketing Institute (USA): 80% of suppliers expect duties to affect prices and supply chains
According to IMF data shared in that briefing, 55% of consumers reported in July that tariffs were their main concern. This sentiment rose from 54% in March and 49% in January...
How do these concerns translate into consumer prices, especially since the food-at-home consumer price index (CPI-index of inflation) has continued to remain fairly constant
...80% of food in the US is produced domestically, some categories are particularly dependent on imports ... Dr. Ricky Volpe, associate professor of agribusiness at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California, provided additional context during the briefing, using the example of a sultana and cinnamon bagel made with ingredients that are primarily imported.
"If 50 per cent of a bagel is subject to an average tariff of 18 per cent, the total expected increase in the cost of producing a bagel will be between 9 per cent and 10 per cent of the cost of production, which is not insignificant. These food companies are really operating on low margins, so this is a cost increase that is likely to be passed on through the chain "...
The impact of tariffs on non-food will be much more important (with China being the No 1 producer and importer), with a much longer lead time than food though, because consumption is slower and there are certainly stocks.
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Mignon dishes and waning appetites: Ozempic forces restaurants to change menus
The table is changing: less hunger, more tasting, customised portions. But what will happen when it is chemistry and not appetite that decides what we put on our plate?...
According to a report by the consulting firm PwC published in October 2024 - between 8 and 10% of the American population already use these drugs and 30-35% say they are interested in doing so in the future. A huge market that is beginning to have a real effect on unexpected sectors. One of these is the restaurant industry: less appetite means more leftovers (waste) and customers less inclined to spend on dishes they cannot finish. The result? Restaurants, especially those most attentive to changes in consumption, are rethinking their menus to adapt
Read more about GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy here.
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US: stagflation feared
Over the past five years, worsening inflation has caused a cumulative 34% increase in average retail food and drink prices(according to Circana) but now there are fears that inflation will rise while growth may slow (Reuters).
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Donald Trump’s trade wars put agriculture in crisis: the example of Michigan cherries
In 2024, the US exported nearly $506 million in fresh cherries worldwide, up 10% in value and 3% in volume from the previous year
In the first half of this year, US fresh fruit exports fell 17% in volume and 15% in value.
This was due to:
bad weather: the USDA predicts 41% for cherry crop loss in Michigan)
iCE interventions and visa delays there is a shortage of farm labour
trump's trade wars. US shipments to China never fully recovered after Trump's trade war in 2018. Sales to Canada fell 18% in volume in the first six months.
Source : Reuters
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Walmart gives 10% off groceries to its 1.6 million US employees
The Wall Street Journal 14 August 2025
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Amazon: customers in over 1,000 cities and countries now have access to fresh groceries with same-day delivery
Tens of millions of Prime members in more than 1,000 cities and towns can now purchase fresh groceries with their same-day delivery orders. The company plans to expand this offer to over 2,300 cities and towns in the US by the end of the year.
This marks one of the most significant grocery expansions for Amazon as the company introduces thousands of perishable food products to its existing logistics network...
