Lavazza plans US expansion amid Brazil coffee tariff concerns

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian coffee maker Lavazza plans to press ahead with expansion in the U.S. market, it said on Thursday, adding it would assess the potential impact of tariffs on its Brazilian beans before making a decision on boosting local production.

The group currently produces locally around half of what it sells in the United States, where it has a plant at West Chester in Pennsylvania.

"Our goal remains to grow in the U.S. because ... it has an immense market size compared to the rest of the world," Chief Executive Antonio Baravalle said in a press conference in Milan as the group presented annual results.

"We had already planned to increase it (output) to 100%", he added. "We are ready to go... but now there is this other element that is to be investigated, the duties for Brazil."

Brazil is the world's leading coffee exporter. The United States has imposed a 10% tariff on imports from the country.

Baravalle added that expanding production in the U.S. will take between 18 months and 24 months. 

Revenues at the family-owned group, which bought French coffee seller MaxiCoffee in 2023, rose 9% last year to 3.35 billion euros ($3.7 billion), also thanks to an increase in prices. 

Its core profit increased by 18.6% to 312 million euros, despite a 70% increase in green bean prices last year, the Turin-based group said. 

Lavazza is not seeking to do more deals for now.

"We already have enough on our plate," the CEO replied to a question about possible acquisitions. ($1 = 0.9020 euros)

(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin; Editing by Keith Weir)