There are a lot of issues working against the snack world right now from tariffs to cocoa and sugar prices, to the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) ban on dyes and artificial colors. Let’s take a look. First, there is the ongoing volatility of cocoa prices. Prices have been in an almost constant state of flux for all of 2025, remaining significantly ahead of their roughly $2,500/MT levels during 2022. However, prices last month dropped off considerably. After settling at just over $10,000/MT in mid-May, cocoa futures in New York dropped nearly 25 percent in less than a month. The price of $7,309/MT on 16 June is effectively the lowest price of the year and off 21.3 percent since “Tariff Liberation Day” on 2 April. T...
Key Takeaways: The EU's new deforestation regulations, taking effect 30 December 2026, could alter global soymeal trade through stricter traceability requirements and higher compliance costs. Brazil's complex supply chains are likely to complicate compliance with the new regulations, potential...
The brewing West Coast port strike involving about 250 maritime watchmen, or approximately 2 percent of port employees, has been postponed until 5 November after the workers agreed to extend the strike deadline. The watchmen control and inspect truck and employee access at terminal gates. A sho...
What You Need to Know Today: Funds remain in control of the market, which means broadly bearish trade for the ag sector. Monday’s massive corn export sale to Mexico helped trigger some short covering and a bit of other end-user buying in corn, which could help stabilize the market. Wheat...
From WPI Consulting
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.