Even among the most ubiquitous elements in high American eating places aren’t resistant to tariff woes.
4 years after launching, Carbone Tremendous Meals — a CPG firm related to the well-known New York Metropolis restaurant — is grappling with an more and more difficult provide chain. Due to tariffs on imports from the European Union, Carbone might face further long-term prices on what it calls its “most essential ingredient” for its line of pasta sauces: tomatoes imported from the San Marzano area of Italy.
For Carbone, 2025 was anticipated to be a serious yr, with the corporate rising at a 100% year-over-year charge. In 2024, the corporate bought a report 9 million jars, for a complete of over 18 million jars bought thus far. Final yr, Carbone expanded into Walmart and Costco, and it now has nationwide availability in over 24,000 doorways. Carbone deliberate to construct on that momentum this yr with new product releases and added retail doorways.
However now, ongoing tariff negotiations have thrown a wrench within the firm’s provide chain planning. On the finish of July, the European Union and the US got here to a brief settlement that might put a 15% tariff on most imports from the E.U. — together with the famed San Marzano tomatoes.
CEO Eric Skae has been sounding the alarm on these tariffs in latest weeks on LinkedIn, questioning, “Are my Italian entire peeled tomatoes unhealthy actors?” As Skae and Carbone describe it, the corporate selected this specific sort of tomato for its sauces as a result of it’s the best-tasting, and different forms of tomatoes don’t have precisely the identical qualities. However now, tariffs have pressured the corporate to make exhausting selections on sourcing uncooked supplies whereas holding margins wholesome.
Carbone makes its sauces in U.S. services however imports a number of elements from abroad, largely from Europe. The jarred sauce line, an offshoot of the favored Carbone eating places, launched in 2021 as a solution to carry the famed model into the grocery aisle. Carbone can also be rising its choices rapidly, making provide chain challenges extra pronounced. The model added 5 new SKUs earlier this yr. The enlargement contains two new purple sauces, Candy Pepper & Onion and Mediterranean Marinara, each of which use 100% Italian tomatoes.
The San Marzano tomato selection originated from the Italian area of Campania. San Marzano is understood for its plumness, candy taste and low seed rely, which makes it very best for canning. Numerous companies have already reported rising prices on the imported canned tomatoes, even at simply the ten% tariff charge that the majority imported items had been topic to within the months following the ‘Liberation Day’ announcement. Small companies similar to pizzerias and eating places say they’re already taking successful, having to soak up the upper price of elements like Parmaggiano Reggiano, Parma Prosciutto, and canned San Marzano tomatoes.
Carbone’s jarred sauces retail for about $8.99. This places it at a better value level than nationwide manufacturers, however nonetheless accessible sufficient for residence cooks searching for premium ready-made sauces. With uncertainties round the place precisely tariffs can be six months or perhaps a yr from now, the corporate says it should change into more and more troublesome to compete and maintain costs the identical.
At the moment, Carbone is ready to determine whether or not to extend on-shelf costs, based mostly on how the eventual tariff charges shake out. However Skae informed Fashionable Retail that the corporate doesn’t wish to compromise on style and high quality by swapping out the San Marzano tomatoes used for the bottom of the sauce.
The corporate imports 100% Italian tomatoes grown within the volcanic soil beneath Mt. Vesuvius in Campania. “They’re hand-picked and packed into chrome steel cans,” Skae mentioned, with every can containing 29 to 31 tomatoes. “Every can is lined with contemporary, hand-stripped basil, they usually’re shipped to our co-manufacturing location right here within the U.S.,” he added.
The tomatoes are then open-kettle cooked in small batches, much like the best way it’s carried out at Carbone eating places. Further elements, together with contemporary onions, olive oil, contemporary basil, oregano, contemporary garlic and sea salt are added all through the method.
“Throughout our rigorous product growth part, we tasted numerous tomatoes from numerous areas, together with U.S. areas,” Skae mentioned. Ultimately, Carbone discovered the Vesuvian tomatoes to be the most suitable choice. “They’re naturally sweeter and meatier, and have fewer seeds than the opposite tomatoes we examined. None made our sauce style as thick, wealthy and scrumptious,” he mentioned.
Whereas the origin of canned tomatoes could appear trivial at first look, Skae mentioned Carbone has constructed a buyer base that expects an genuine Italian product and pays the premium that comes with that label. “They assume our jarred sauces are going to satisfy the identical excessive style requirements of legendary Carbone eating places,” Skae mentioned.
Skae mentioned that Carbone has some benefits which have helped the corporate navigate fluctuating tariff charges in latest months, like having a number of suppliers and home manufacturing in place. Nonetheless, the distracting tariff dialog is inflicting uncertainty.
“Identical to all people else, the largest situation I’ve proper now is determining what the impact of tariffs can be,” Skae mentioned. “It’s unlucky and pointless, however that’s the place we’re.”
Carbone’s predicament highlights the plight that many specialty meals companies face proper now. In the event that they depend on particular imported elements, it may be troublesome to search out an alternate within the U.S. on the similar value and scale.
Kantha Shelke is a trendspotter who additionally teaches within the Specialty Meals Affiliation training sequence. Shelke mentioned that premium meals manufacturers should typically weigh the worth of utilizing imported specialty elements whereas making the margins work.
Taking the instance of the San Marzano tomato, Shelke mentioned that though stand-in variations at the moment are obtainable in California, it’s practically inconceivable to duplicate the precise style and texture because of the native terrain. It might be troublesome for American suppliers to compete with the prevailing infrastructure that Italian canning operations have in place.
“It additionally has to do with the quantity of care and the method that the [Italian] suppliers take to supply these elements, versus a quick and low cost course of,” Shelke defined.
A technique a enterprise can future-proof its provide chain, Shelke mentioned, is to safe shut relationships with their suppliers. This helps with planning and probably locking in long-term charges, to make prices predictable within the coming years.
Because the European tariff negotiations proceed, Carbone Tremendous Meals will consider whether or not to extend costs or soak up prices indefinitely. Within the meantime, the corporate is taking a look at all areas of its enterprise for potential financial savings, together with discovering secondary elements to supply from inside the U.S.
“However tomatoes and olive oil are the 2 non-negotiables,” Skae mentioned. That’s not solely due to the flavour profile, but additionally as a result of it’s troublesome to buy U.S.-made olive oil on the scale large meals corporations want. “There’s simply not sufficient of it to cowl demand,” he mentioned.
“If I might discover tomatoes out of California that match the sweetness and the style and the standard of what we get in Southern Italy, I’d do it,” he mentioned.
