JM Smucker said it planned to lower coffee prices next year as the cost comes down.
The packaged food company set its 2027 full-year profit outlook above expectations Tuesday, forecasting adjusted earnings in a range between $9.75 and $10.25. Smucker said it expected net sales to decline next year between 3% and 4% when it reduces prices, as the company passes through lower costs on green coffee to consumers.
The company’s coffee brands include Folgers, Dunkin’ and Cafe Bustelo.
Smucker executives said their forecast for next year was designed to be “prudent,” given the turmoil in the Middle East and the cautiousness in consumer spending. The company said the price cut was designed to be fair to consumers while taking a “measured approach” that supports its financial goals.
Arabica coffee futures in New York are down nearly 45% from last year’s record high.
Smucker, like other packaged food companies, is contending with financially strapped consumers spending carefully as both the cost of food and gas have risen. The company previously raised its prices on coffee several times after tariffs caused the cost of coffee beans to surge.
The company is pursuing tariff refunds, but “the scope and realization remains uncertain,” Chief Financial Officer Tucker Marshall said on a call with analysts Tuesday.
Meta told to halt WhatsApp curbs on AI rivals
Meta Platforms Inc. has been ordered by the European Union to temporarily halt policies that allegedly block rival AI firms from operating on its WhatsApp messaging service for businesses.
The European Commission said Tuesday that Meta must “restore free access to WhatsApp for rival general purpose AI assistants” within five working days in order to “prevent serious and irreparable damage to competition.” Meta vowed to appeal the measure.
The order comes after Meta introduced changes seen by critics as unfairly preventing rival AI providers from offering their business services through WhatsApp. The escalation marks a further frustration for Meta in the EU, where it has locked horns with regulators in several costly cases for the Menlo Park company.
The EU’s executive arm “has decided that OpenAI and some of the largest companies in the world can use the paid-for WhatsApp Business product for free,” Meta said in an emailed statement after the commission announcement.
Apple expands child safety tools
Apple is expanding tools for parents to protect children online, a move that comes as governments around the world are increasingly banning social media for young people.
The iPhone and iPad maker at its Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday previewed new features that give parents greater control over when their children can use apps, what content they can access and with whom they can communicate on devices.
Tech companies are under growing pressure to limit children’s exposure to social media, which some psychologists have linked to mental health risks such as cyberbullying, eating disorders and suicide. Apple already lets parents create special accounts for children under 18, and they are required for those under 13 years old.
The updates are designed to help families “thoughtfully establish age-based protections and develop healthy digital habits,” Sumbul Desai, Apple’s vice president of health and fitness, said on the Cupertino-based company’s website.
Beginning with software updates this fall, parents will be able to use children’s account features to pick which apps they can use and control which websites they can view, for example.
Compiled from Bloomberg reports.