We face a number of challenges in the future, which include the impacts of higher prices in food, in part due to increasing underlying commodity acquisition costs and tariffs (actual, pending implementation or threatened) by the U.S. government or other governments. We continue to see uncertainty over interest rates that may negatively impact economic growth, consumers reducing their branded and private label snack purchases, including snack nuts, trail mix and snack bars, intense competition in the snack food industry and potential for economic downturn in the markets in which we operate and supply chain challenges. To stay compliant with recent changes in employment laws across states where we operate and remain competitive in attracting qualified talent, we expect our labor costs to continue to increase in the remainder of the 2025 fiscal year and beyond.
Inflation and Consumer Trends
We face changing industry trends as consumers' purchasing preferences evolve. We continue to see higher selling prices at retail across snack nuts and trail mix, with price increases starting in January 2025 driven by higher commodity costs. These higher prices across our categories and the broader market, coupled with a potential economic downturn and tightening of consumer finances due to reduced government support through programs such as SNAP or a variety of other macroeconomic reasons, are causing consumers to purchase fewer branded and private label snack products. This declining demand is leading to sales volume declines for snack nuts, recipe nuts, trail mix and snack bars both for the Company and across the snack food industry. Consumers continue to shift their preferences to private brands or lower priced nuts or snack bars or purchase snack products outside the snack nut, trail mix and snack bar categories. We have also seen consumers shifting to more value-focused retailers, such as mass merchandising retailers and club stores, not all of which we distribute or sell to. Additionally, the increased use and/or prevalence of certain weight loss drugs, which may suppress a person’s appetite and/or impact a person's preferences, may impact the demand or consumption patterns of our products. We have responded by focusing on our strengths, including our knowledge of the snack nut and trail mix and snack bar categories, product innovation and judicious use of trade spending and pricing actions.
Tariffs, Supply Chain and Transportation
Global supply chain pressures have eased compared to fiscal 2024, but pockets of challenges, delays and extended lead-times still exist for certain raw materials and inputs. Overall packaging and ingredient inflation appears to be moderating or leveling off in the 2025 fiscal year; however, the U.S. government has implemented and announced new import tariffs on products from foreign countries such as China, Canada and Mexico, along with specific tariffs on steel and aluminum products. Approximately 2% of our material costs, primarily pepitas and pine nuts, are currently sourced from China and are subject (at present) to a combined 170% tariff. These tariffs, or tariffs imposed on imports from other countries, will lead to an increase in the cost of certain raw materials we use in our business and our financial performance may be adversely impacted if we cannot pass on the cost increases in the form of price increases to our customers. While we do not have direct exposure to suppliers in Russia, Ukraine or Israel, the conflicts and prospects for conflict in these regions could continue to result in volatile commodity markets, supply chain disruptions and increased costs. In addition, the ultimate impact of tariffs may be difficult to predict as their amount and duration is uncertain, making our planning process more difficult, and the threat of tariffs can also have adverse implications to our business and the business of our suppliers and customers.
Trucking capacity continues to slowly decline, potentially leading to further instability in the transportation industry in the remainder of 2025 fiscal year. While indicators suggest transportation prices are stabilizing, the overall transportation environment remains unpredictable. Additionally, fuel prices have been unpredictable in fiscal 2025 and may vary depending on the level of economic activity in the areas where we ship and receive shipments.
Our most significant ingredient requirements include cocoa products, dried fruits, sweeteners, vegetable oils, oats, flour and dairy. Many of these materials and their associated costs are subject to price fluctuations from several factors, including changing commodity markets, other market conditions, demand for raw materials, weather, growing and harvesting conditions, climate change, energy costs, currency fluctuations, supplier capacities, governmental actions, import and export requirements (including tariffs), and ongoing political instability and other factors beyond our control.
We have remained agile by proactively identifying risks, modifying inventory plans and diversifying our supplier base to mitigate risk of customer order shortages and maintain our supply chain. We continue to proactively manage our business in response to the evolving global economic environment and related uncertainties and intend to take steps to further mitigate impacts to our supply chain as they develop. If these supply chain pressures continue or worsen, or we cannot obtain the transportation and labor services needed to obtain raw materials or fulfill customer orders, such shortages and supply chain issues could have an unfavorable impact on net sales and our operations in the remainder of fiscal 2025 and potentially into fiscal 2026.
Furthermore, record cocoa prices have been fueled by a three consecutive years of supply deficits, led by significant production declines within the largest producers, Ivory Coast and Ghana. Cocoa market prices have continued to be volatile and touched new highs in late December 2024 while remaining well above long-term average levels throughout this quarter. Amid higher cocoa prices,