BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — A staple in Western New York pantries could find itself caught in the trade war between the U.S. and Canada.
A beloved local brand, Weber's Mustard, gets its main ingredient, mustard seed, across the border.
President Trump’s 25 percent tariff on Canadian imports could be difficult for the company.
“And now the possibility of tariffs arising, it could really hurt us,” said Luke Desmond, vice president of Weber’s Mustard.
I visited the mustard maker's facility on Thursday, just hours before Trump announced he would delay some of the tariffs on Mexico and Canada, to find out how the tariffs could impact this locally owned company.
More than 100 years ago, Desmond’s great-grandfather started Weber’s Mustard in Buffalo.
Desmond is now the fourth generation to carry on Weber's legacy. But he told me he's bracing for the possible consequences of the tariffs since Canada is the third-largest mustard seed supplier to the U.S.
“They supply nearly four times more mustard seed than the U.S. in total, and they've been providing our mustard seed for our mustard for over 90 years," explained Desmond.
The mustard seeds are processed, and they arrive at Weber's in a liquid form so that Weber's can create its many different mustard products.
Weber’s produces several types of mustard in its South Buffalo facility. Production takes place the first three days of the week.
Desmond told me everything is “speculative” on tariffs right now but wants customers to know they'll do their best to provide the lowest cost possible.
"We don't want to see price increases," Desmond said. "We're going to do everything in our power to try and cover the cost on our end, as well as other manufacturers the same because nobody wants to see 25 or more percent price increases at the store level for our consumers because we know in the long run, we're going to lose our fans that way."
“What does this do to your bottom line here at Weber's?" I asked.
“Well, it not only increases our price costs, but it decreases our product movement, with people at the store level not buying our products, so, it tightens up all of our margins we can provide a lot of our marketing or business ventures to help us grow outside of the Buffalo region,” Desmond replied.
Desmond added that if these Canadian tariffs go through, their 16-ounce mustard could jump from $4.79 to $5.19.
