Technomic: Tariffs rattle restaurant operators

Considerable uncertainty has entered the market with the introduction and partial 90-day pause of tariffs, as well as shifting narratives surrounding these actions.

To understand how these tariffs are impacting foodservice, Technomic conducted a study with operator decision-makers to learn more about how they were managing the situation.

Rich Shank, senior principal and VP of innovation, says this whitepaper will share the results of the operator study, as well as a reintroduction of top-line, scenario-based forecasting.

It’s important to note that the current state of tariffs, after the pause of the April 2 tariff announcement, still raises the average effective tariff rate by 30%. With that in mind, our forecast scenarios are designed to provide guidance around multiple possible outcomes given the tentative status of most tariffs.

We found that concerns about tariffs have increased significantly, even before the twin announcements, as has the already elevated concerns around rising food costs (See Exhibit 2). Couple this rise in concern with elevated feelings among operators that they don’t have the ability to raise their current prices, and you get an operator likely looking at other options to counterbalance potential cost increases.

To read the whitepaper, click here.