Tariffs imposed by the Trump administration are creating uncertainty around grocery prices, especially for products imported from Latin America. In Charlotte, some Latino food distributors are already feeling the impacts, even though grocery shoppers generally haven't yet, as the price bumps work their way through supply chains.
At El Ideal, a food distribution company in Monroe that specializes in Latin American foods, business appears normal — but inside the warehouse, worry lingers.
"I'm not going to know what to do and who is going to assume this price raise," Emylice Landestoy, of El Ideal, said. "If we raise our prices, are they going to buy the product? Are the stores going to put their prices a little higher?”
Tariffs are set at 10% for goods from most countries. President Trump announced the reduced rate earlier this month, but it is temporary.
"Even though this pause is for 90 days, some of our suppliers don't see the pause," Landestoy said. "They're already implementing the 10% just to cover whatever is coming."
Walking through the warehouse, Landestoy pointed to gaps on the shelves.
"You can see how it's affecting us, because there are some products we don't have because the price point is already a mess," Landestoy said.
The warehouse is low on items like coconut water from Vietnam, which currently faces a 46% tariff.
"We like to pride ourselves in having a price range that our community can afford," Landestoy said. "We want to be affordable. I feel like this is causing products to become a novelty, instead of something that is accessible for everyone."
Landestoy said El Ideal has struggled as its profit margins are squeezed on both ends — the distributor is paying more to import goods, while grocers are hesitant to pay higher prices.
However, further down the supply chain at the supermarket level, the impact has so far been minimal.
At La Unica Supermarket in east Charlotte, prices have remained stable, or even dropped.
"The tariffs haven't led us to raise prices nor make any changes directly at La Unica Supermarket," Diego Jimenez said.
Jimenez, originally from Colombia, has worked at the supermarket for more than two years.
"We, at La Unica Supermarket, have maintained our prices," Jimenez said. "We even try to offer customer discounts to lower them, to give them those great prices."
Still, Jimenez says some shoppers are worried.
"We are that voice of calm that tells them to be relaxed and, of course, continue to enjoy products that come directly from their home countries," Jimenez said.
Compare Foods operates eight stores across Charlotte.
In a statement, CEO Omar Jorge said Compare Foods isn’t currently facing much impact because most of its imported goods come from Mexico, which is exempt under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Still, Jorge said there have been small increases on certain items such as seafood, olive oil and bananas.
For now, distributors and grocery stores are juggling to keep prices low, meet demand for beloved foods and prepare for what could come next.
