While Irish agri-food products are considered high-quality among American consumers the cost-of-living crisis has affected their willingness to spend, senior principal and head of partnerships at Chicago-based consumer insights company Technomic, David Henkes, has said.

Speaking at Bord Bia’s annual Food Service Seminar on 11 November, Henkes said “when the US sneezes, the world catches a cold”, indicating the nation’s knock-on economic effects. American consumer confidence is currently at a significant low; affecting footfall in full-service restaurants and leading to restraint on overall food spend.

“I think, anecdotally, there is a very high-quality perception [of Irish food in the US],” he told the Irish Farmers Journal.

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“In general, Americans have a good image of Irish imports and are generally willing to pay for them, but I say ‘generally’ because it’s a challenging time with inflation right now. There’s a value play there, where [Irish imports] are higher quality, but you have to balance the price and the quality.”

Henkes notes that government policies around tariffs and immigration are causing concern within the American food service sector. While the impact of tariffs on raw materials is less of a concern, their impact on end sales – and what this means in the context of consumer spend – is worrying.

“In the US, tariffs have had a very mixed response,” he explained.

“For the most part, there is a level of concern among consumers that tariffs are, essentially, a tax that they have to pay. Exports aside, for the most part, our food is sourced in the US.

Over 90% of food service food comes from within the US. The bigger issue is that consumers are worried about what tariffs are doing to the broader economy.

“From an Irish perspective, exporting into the US involves jumping through hoops, and now [the tariffs] make products more expensive.

“While inflation has come down in the states, it’s still ranging higher than the 30-year average and consumers are very price sensitive right now. Anything that increases the price [again] on top of the price for a high-quality product coming in from a place like Ireland, it’s tough for consumers to absorb that.”