At Albemarle Paper, we know your restaurant runs on reliability — and we’re committed to being a partner you can count on. With recent tariffs creating waves in the global supply chain, we want you to know that we’re doing everything possible behind the scenes to keep your orders on track and your shelves stocked. Our priority is minimizing any disruptions so you can stay focused on what you do best: serving your customers.

A major question around the country, and more specifically in our restaurant supplies industry, is how the different tariffs are affecting product costs. Here is a quick breakdown of some of what we have been seeing and hearing since tariffs were imposed on China, and put on hold in other countries:

Aluminum products

Aluminum products are imported in large part from China. Our primary supplier, Crystalware, increased their price on our aluminum products due to the imposed China tariffs, causing a ripple effect on our cost and price.

When the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs on nations outside of China things reportedly started to settle. (source) Crystalware informed us that they were already able to get most of their production out of China, so the imposed Chinese tariffs should have less effect on our aluminum products for the foreseeable future.

Plastic products

Plastic products are another supply that comes from China. We haven’t seen imposed costs anywhere near the rate of what we initially saw from aluminum products, but they are items worth monitoring and asking your sales representatives about, as changes to tariff policy could impact these products.

So far, we have not seen an increase in costs from manufacturers of plastic disposables, but after the 90-day hold, it does appear that those costs are likely to go up. This will all depend on how negotiations between different nations outside of China shake up in the coming months and which manufacturers are committed to getting their supply lines outside of China.

Paper products

A large part of raw paper materials comes from Canada, so changes to tariff policies could impact prices on paper products. As of now, we haven’t seen any major disruptions, but these are other products worth monitoring.

We are in the process of changing our primary supplier of paper products to Novex Brand, which is an American-made company, so the only effects from tariffs would be on the raw materials side, which looks to be more minimal and less likely to have a major impact on cost.

Foam products

Our primary supplier of foam products is Ecopax which is an American company so no real changes in price due to tariffs should be seen. Most raw materials and manufacturing on foam products takes place in the states as these products are too light for shipping companies to import. Shipping companies charge by weight, so lighter fare like foam products will almost always be made domestically.

We know there have been a lot of moving parts and changes over the past few months, so we hope this breakdown helps provide a bit more clarity in uncertain times. As always, if you have any questions or would like more information, reach out to us. We want to be more than just a supplier — we’re here as a transparent, reliable partner you can count on while you run your business.