AriZona Iced Tea may have to raise their .99 cent price due to aluminum tariffs


Inflation has consistently driven prices up for the past few decades, but some items have reputations as being dependable price-staples. Costco has maintained its $1.50 hot dog meal, certain Hot Wheels cars remain within the one-dollar range, and AriZona Iced Tea has held steady with its $0.99 price tag. Consumers have counted on these brands to be inflation-proof. Until recently, I would have included Planet Fitness’ $10 membership on that list, but they recently raised it to $15 and gave up their inflation-proof crown. Sadly, another longtime staple may soon join Planet Fitness by finally raising their price, and yes, you can blame the Trump administration. Thanks to heavy aluminum tariffs, AriZona Iced Tea’s co-founder Don Vultaggio said that, after 30+ years, they may have to finally raise their price to cover the cost of materials. He told the NY Times that he hopes not to have to do that though.

The New York Times recently spoke with Arizona Beverages’ chairman and co-founder Don Vultaggio on how the current administration’s economic policies are impacting his multi-billion dollar company. The beverage company, which has held fast for more than three decades on its tea’s 99-cent price tag, may be forced to increase it due to aluminum tariffs…

“At some point the consumer is going to have to pay the price,” Vultaggio said. “It would be a hell of a shame after 30-plus years.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau via Reuters, about half of all aluminum used in the U.S. is imported, with most of it coming from Canada. Arizona says it uses more than 100 million pounds of aluminum a year for its cans, with about 20% of its supply coming from Canada.

Vultaggio told the Times that Arizona sells about two billion cans annually. Half of that is the brand’s iconic tallboys, in addition to beverages that come in glass bottles, gallon jugs and other containers. However, the Arizona head is steadfast on his commitment to keeping the price under a dollar for as long as possible.

“We’re holding the line for now despite rising aluminum costs,” Vultaggio tells TODAY.com. “It’s particularly unfair — 80% of our can sheet metal comes from recycled U.S. beverage cans, yet 100% of our aluminum is subject to tariffs.”

He says that if “pressures keep rising,” the company may “have no choice” but to pass that cost onto the consumer, though the company will work hard to avoid it.

“Wherever we see savings — like lower crude oil costs for PET — we’re passing them to customers with deeper promotions or outright price cuts, including plastic tall boys at $1,” he says…

Since federal agencies don’t control how much your local convenience store or supermarket charges, Vultaggio conceded that he can only encourage stores to sell his product for its suggested cost.

[From Today]

Well, this sucks. I have nothing but respect for the companies that have managed to keep certain products at the same price for such a long time. I think it’s notable that AriZona Tea is privately owned, so they aren’t beholden to stockholders. What stinks is that whenever they do raise prices, uninformed consumers will simply blame it on either natural inflation or stores simply raising prices because they can. I’m glad that AriZona Tea’s chairman is doing interviews on bigger platforms to try to set the record straight. Companies should make sure everyone knows why their products are getting more expensive. They may be scared of speaking up, but consumers are not afraid of speaking with their wallets and blaming those brands for the price increases.

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2 Responses to “AriZona Iced Tea may have to raise their .99 cent price due to aluminum tariffs”

  1. SarahCS says:

    Wow, I’m amazed that they’ve managed to stick to this. I assume that places like Costco can sell things like hotdogs at a loss if they need to as they recoup the money elsewhere but do this company sell anything else?

  2. Blithe says:

    I am seriously praising Arizona. (Yes, awful pun intended. lol) Good on Vultaggio for speaking out — and for his commitment to maintaining reasonable prices.

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