With the current trend of rising food prices, I decided talk with some of my food ingredient manufacturer clients to see if I could get their perspectives on what might be causing this. One of my flavor manufacturers told me that the hardest part of doing business recently has been the uncertainties caused by the current government administration. He said that the food industry in general is quite resilient since we all need to eat. But the tariffs coming and going have made it very difficult to set stable prices since they source raw materials from all over the world. Domestic sources are challenged since they also rely on international resources, not only for food products but for production equipment and packaging supplies. My client said they have done their best to keep prices stable and he believes that the cost increases have not been as prominent as they were in the COVID era. 2025 was a “flat” year in growth, but he remains optimistic that they will have a good year and looks forward to experiencing some growth in 2026.

 Another industry contact (with a seasoning company) told me that they had to do a very large price increase at the end of 2025, and that was 100% a result of tariff-driven material cost increases. They sell ingredients to grocery finished goods manufacturers like Kraft and Campbell Soup, who have noticed that their higher-end products are experiencing decreases in sales due to shoppers opting for less expensive alternatives and non-branded products. The MAHA initiative (Make America Healthy Again) has also had an impact on price increases as manufacturers have had to reformulate some of their products to be compliant with the new directives. This hasn’t been all bad for the seasoning company, as they have had more need for their R&D team to work with the finished product people. But any changes have accompanying expenses that contribute to higher prices.

From our Co-founder and Food & Beverage (Ingredients, Flavors, and Food Science) Recruiter, Scott Jamison