Exclusive: Kraft Heinz asks coffee suppliers for 60 days' notice for tariff hikes

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: msn/Reuters

11h


LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Food maker Kraft Heinz, which sells top U.S. coffee brand Maxwell House, has asked its coffee suppliers for 60 days' notice before hiking prices due to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, according to a document seen by Reuters.

In the document sent in April, the company asked suppliers to raise prices only if the tariffs are permanent and to immediately reverse them if the levies are removed, underscoring the struggle U.S. companies face to contain the fallout from Trump's erratic and punitive trade policies. The document also dashes the hopes of investors in U.S.-based companies and Trump administration officials that companies with big buying power like Kraft Heinz could negotiate better deals from their suppliers to help offset tariffs.

Under the Green Coffee Association contract, which covers most shipments to the United States, tariff costs imposed at the market of destination "shall be borne by the buyer." "No one (on the trade side) has hit the panic button yet, because it's crystal clear what the rules are," said a Europe-based coffee trader who ships beans to the U.S. Kraft Heinz, whose brands also include premium Gevalia coffee, declined to comment. The company also said in the document it hoped suppliers would work with it to "mitigate the impact" of tariffs.

The United States implemented a 10% universal tariff last month on all imported goods including coffee and is negotiating separate trade deals with different countries. Trump paused plans for steeper tariffs on April 2, except for Chinese imports. Kraft Heinz's well-worn brands like Lunchables, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and Oscar Meyer are struggling to keep their position on grocery store shelves against private label and start-up rivals.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/topstories/exclusive-kraft-heinz-asks-coffee-suppliers-for-60-days-notice-for-tariff-hikes/ar-AA1EqyNO

[wolfie001]

1. Since these executives all voted for the bloated felon, they should say, "Fuck off!!!"

Elections have consequences.

[Walleye]

2. Mr. "I alone can fix it", is now Mr."I alone can fuck everything up"L

[mdbl]

3. They really want the notice so they can raise prices ahead of time

My grocery store is doing that anyway on products made in the US.

[moniss]

4. Reading between the lines here

it is basically Kraft Heinz saying they don't want to pay any of the tariff cost unless they were given 60 days notice. Although the letter appears on the surface to be voluntary they are such a huge buyer and they have the ability to cut people off and buy elsewhere so it's kind of like being coerced without coming out and saying so.

[thesquanderer]

5. How can importers give Heinz 60 days notice if Trump hasn't given the importers 60 days notice?

Things change on a dime these days.

[FakeNoose]

6. I think "green coffee" means the fresh coffee beans haven't been roasted yet

The US companies like Maxwell House (as well as many others) buy the fresh, unroasted coffee beans from wherever and then provide the roasting, grinding and packaging within the United States. So the labor is done in our country with American workers.

It seems to me that the US coffee companies have a good argument to fight this tariff.

The companies that buy already packaged coffees from elsewhere, and resell them here in the US, well maybe they deserve to be subject to the import tariffs.