A deeper dip into consumer wallets this holiday season is expected to last through Thanksgiving and Christmas, and it is already being seen in the Halloween product market.
DataWeave, which analyzes SKUs (stock keeping units), a scannable code retailers use to identify and track a product, says it has seen big price hikes among relatively inexpensive Halloween items, led by pumpkin carving-related products. Pumpkin Masters, the popular pumpkin carving company that offers a wide range of carving and decorating kits, topped the list in the percentage of price increases, with year over year increases as high as 300%.
According to customs agents who have reviewed the products, which are made in China, and calculated the approximate tariff costs for CNBC, the tariff burden paid by Pumpkin Masters ranged between 58.1%-59.6%. Nunzio De Filippis, a tariff mitigation expert and licensed customs broker, noted that at these levels, the importer is now paying tariffs and fees which are more than half the product’s value.
Joe Ens, CEO of Signature Brands, which owns Pumpkin Masters — in addition to Betty Crocker, Paas, Cake Mate, Gift Pop, and Brand Castle — tells CNBC that while the lion’s share of the cake decorating business is domestically manufactured and produced in Ocala, Florida, Pumpkin Masters and Paas are 100% made in China. The company’s products were subject to the first trade war in 2018, but this time around, he says the increase in tariffs has made it hard to keep prices at original levels.
