The Produce Reporter Week in Review April 11, 2025 

What would the week be without tariff news? We had more. We also heard from Walmart executives on their digital ambitions. And we have two produce events to keep us busy.

Walmart strategy

Walmart leaders told investors about their strategies this week, and it’s more of what we’ve seen from the country’s largest retailer. Walmart reaffirms strategy at investment meeting – Blue Book

Digital is a huge priority, and CFO John David Rainey reiterated Walmart’s commitment to growing operating profits faster than sales, with much of it being from digital initiatives.

Walmart also announced that U.S. eCommerce business is on track to be profitable this year.

President and CEO, Walmart U.S., John Furner, said more than 50 percent of Walmart’s eCommerce fulfillment center volume flows through its next-generation fulfillment centers, and more than half of its stores receive freight from automation.

Walmart’s investments seem to be paying off, at a time when U.S. online grocery sustains its turbo-charged growth, with figures from Brick Meets Click showing March 2025 ended up 21 percent higher than a year ago with $9.7 billion in monthly sales. March 2025 online grocery sales jump 21% versus year ago – Blue Book

Tariffs

Each week that goes by, we know more than we did the week before. Produce buyers and sellers have been preparing for the worst, and it keeps not coming.

This week, President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on newly implemented country-specific reciprocal tariffs—except those applied to China. Trump announces 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs – Blue Book

Produce trade among U.S., Mexico, and Canada, that were USMCA compliant, were already exempted.

While stock market investors have had plenty of criticism for Trump’s tariff on-and-off, some commentators (OK, like me), have said from the start, Trump was likely to use tariffs to bargain for better trade deals with other countries. That’s largely happened.

U.S.-China produce trade isn’t as significant as many other nations, so there will be disruptions, as well as products that come from China that find their way into the produce supply chain.

But it’s obvious that the U.S. has massive leverage against China when it comes to trade, and that could lead to a stronger U.S. economy in the longer term.

For fresh produce, our concerns seem to have been heard, and patience has paid off. I think it’s worth using that approach when it comes to China.

Produce events

It’s an odd week in that we had two major industry events with CPMA in Montreal and TIPA’s VIVA Fresh in Houston. I’m attending Houston, and the expo is Saturday, so expect to see coverage next week, as well as coverage from Montreal.

To those who did the double, you deserve a nice long weekend, but it will have to be Easter weekend because this one will be too short.