Tariff update from the Brattleboro Food Co-op

As you may know, there is a potential 25% tariff coming on Canadian imports in the near future, although it’s anyone’s guess at the moment what or when this reality will hit us.

We are watching and waiting, but in the meantime please know that if this dramatic increase does come to pass, we are working with our vendors to absorb as much of this price increase as possible so that it doesn’t affect the cost for you, our customers.

We source our pork from a Canadian company called duBreton, and have done so for over two decades. We stand by this company in terms of their humane treatment (they are trend-setters in the industry in their humane practices) and high quality meat.

We carry duBreton products in a few different forms: we cut and package some cuts in-house, we use their pork in our house-made sausage, and we carry some pre-packaged products. We will work to maintain pricing on our in-house cuts and house-made sausage and are committed to minimizing increases on other products.

A natural next question might be: why don’t you source pork locally or at least somewhere in the U.S.? That’s because our local farms don’t produce enough pork to meet our demands, and most of the pork produced in the U.S. doesn’t meet our Meat Department’s standards.

We do, however, want to stress the importance of strengthening our local/regional food system and economy. You, our customers and our shareholders, Do make a difference when you choose to shop at our community-owned store, and choose local and regional products. We are going to continue our efforts to strengthen our food system and economy in our region.

As our Ends policies state: The Brattleboro Food Co-op, an organization modeled on cooperative values and principles, exists to serve its shareholders’ collective needs for an organization that contributes to a just and resilient local economy.

Which is to say: this stuff is in our DNA, we’re paying attention, and we are committed to doing all we can to support a healthy local economy.

This is a fluid situation, and we will update you on the tariff issues as information becomes available.

Thank you so much for your support!
The Brattleboro Food Co-op