Fruit & Vegetable Manufacturers NAICS 3114

Jul 23, 2025 - Canned Food Prices to Rise

• Canned fruits and vegetables could soon become more expensive not because of the contents but because of the cans, The Wall Street Journal reported in June. The Trump administration’s doubling of tariffs on imported steel to 50% could drive up retail prices for items in steel cans by 9% to 15%, according to the Consumer Brands Association. Cans used for food are made from tin-coated steel – known as tin-plate – made from molten iron, most of which is purchased from abroad. Can manufacturers say they’ll continue to buy imported tin-coated steel because there isn’t enough of it made in the US to supply them. They estimate that about three-quarters of tin-plate consumed in the US is produced overseas, with much of it coming from Europe and Canada. Moreover, the price of domestically produced tin-plate is likely to rise as US producers raise their own prices.
• Were the Trump administration to succeed in deporting millions of people living in the US illegally there would be fewer available workers to pick fruits and vegetables and prepare the food for shipment and distribution, Food Manufacturing (FM) reports. Moreover, domestic production of food could decline, leading to supply shortages, higher costs, and more imports for food manufacturers and consumers. Approximately half of US farmworkers are in the country without legal authorization, according to the USDA. FM notes that some immigrant farmworkers are skilled supervisors who make decisions about planting and harvesting, while others know how to use and maintain tractors, loaders, diggers, rakers, fertilizer sprayers, irrigation systems, and other machines crucial to farm operations. Were they suddenly removed from the US, consumers would see an increase in food costs at grocery stores and restaurants.

• A new study has found widespread human exposure to thousands of chemicals used in food packaging, Food Manufacturing reports. The study, published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, identified over 3,600 chemicals used in food packaging and other food contact chemicals (FCCs) that have been found in human urine, blood, and breast milk and reveals significant gaps in biomonitoring and toxicity data. “Our research establishes a link between food contact chemicals, exposure, and human health,” said Dr. Birgit Geueke, adding, “It also highlights those chemicals that have been overlooked in biomonitoring studies so far.” The researchers were surprised by the high number of FCCs, for which some evidence of human exposure exists, and said their study shows there needs to be more research about the toxicity of and exposure to many chemicals and regulations around their use in food packaging.
• Producer prices for fruit and vegetable preserving and specialty food manufacturers rose 0.6% in May compared to a year ago, after rising 2.7% in the previous May-versus-May annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. After rising steeply from mid-2021 to mid-2023, growth in prices of fruits and vegetables before they reach consumers has slowed amid cooling food price inflation. Employment by the industry grew 2.4% year over year in April, while the average wage at fruit and vegetable manufacturers rose 3.3% over the same period to $22.86 per hour, down $0.61 from its record high in January, BLS data show.