I’ve had a string of conversations recently with senior leaders across the food and food ingredients sector, in the US, in Europe, and across Latin America - and every single one has touched on the same subject. Tariffs. Trade policy. What it means. What it doesn’t mean. And, crucially, what to actually do about it. What’s struck me most isn’t the anxiety felt by those people I speak to. That’s understandable. It’s the divergence.

I’ve had a string of conversations recently with senior leaders across the food and food ingredients sector, in the US, in Europe, and across Latin America - and every single one has touched on the same subject. Tariffs. Trade policy. What it means. What it doesn’t mean. And, crucially, what to actually do about it. What’s struck me most isn’t the anxiety felt by those people I speak to. That’s understandable. It’s the divergence.

I had a conversation recently with a senior commercial leader at a PE-backed food ingredients business. It was one of those calls that started as a catch-up and turned into something much more revealing about the state of the sector right now. He didn’t hold back. The business had grown. Revenue was up. The team was delivering. But underneath the numbers, something wasn’t right. His words have stuck with me since…

The President I was speaking with had just finished walking me through how his company spotted opportunities in confectionery and foodservice, both completely new categories for them, and moved on them before larger competitors had even finished their quarterly planning cycles. Days, not quarters.

That’s not from a mindfulness guru or a self-help podcast. It’s a food industry president, mid-conversation back in January, talking about how he actually runs his organisation. And right now, in early March 2026, those words feel almost prophetic.

"We cut our workforce almost in half, went from two shifts to one, and we still managed to get 17-18% more product out the door."

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