Kerry Group says local policy should limit any tariffs hit

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish food ingredients multinational Kerry Group has a policy of producing locally that should protect against possible tariffs, its chief executive said on Tuesday, but that it is too soon to gauge any impact this year's performance.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said in recent days that he would impose reciprocal tariffs on every country that charges duties on U.S. imports, increasing fears of a global trade war.

"Because of the local nature of our business, we're probably better positioned relative to many of our competitors," Chief Executive Edmond Scanlon told Reuters in an interview.

"There might be a few challenges. There might be a few opportunities as well."

Kerry Group, which operates a global network of food, beverage, biotechnology and pharmaceutical ingredient production, has long had a policy of producing products close to customers, using mainly local raw materials.

Its annual results that showed the majority of 6.9 billion euros ($7.2 billion) in revenue was earned in the Americas in 2024.

But Scanlon said it was impossible to say with confidence if the company's financial forecasts might be thrown off by tariffs.

"We're purely in the speculation zone at the moment," he said.

Kerry said it expected adjusted earnings per share of 7-11% this year, compared to 9.7% in 2024 on a constant currency basis.

Asked about food regulation under the Trump administration, Scanlon said Kerry would be well positioned to help food producers roll out healthier offerings, with technologies to reduce salt, sugar and fat.

"The overall philosophy seems to be, you know, Make America Healthy Again. And I feel we're very well positioned to help customers to make packaged food healthier."

Kerry has not seen any evidence of customers stocking up ahead of possible tariffs, Scanlon added.

($1 = 0.9562 euros)

(Writing by Conor Humphries; Editing by Alison Williams and Barbara Lewis)