Invivo's co-founder said the firm wanted to protect consumers as much as possible. File picture. Photo: 123RF
Wine producer Invivo plans to try to shield shoppers from the impact of a 10 percent tariff on its exports to the United States.
US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that New Zealand exports would be subject to a 10 percent tariff in the US.
The US is one of Invivo's biggest export markets.
Co-founder Rob Cameron said there had been a "huge amount" of speculation about what tariffs might be enacted.
"It's not ideal, we would have hoped there wouldn't be any tariff at all but in the scheme of things, this is probably the best we could have hoped for. We haven't had a chance yet to speak to our partners in the States, but at the outset we feel this is probably manageable throughout the value chain with everyone taking some sort of share without a huge increase in our retail price point for the wines."
He said Invivo wanted to protect consumers as much as possible.
"What people don't realise is a percentage increase at the border, once it's gone through layers of distribution it could be a significant increase to the retail price point and consumer. So our strategy is to try to smooth that 10 percent across the value chain."
He said there had been so much uncertainty that it was hard to put plans in place.
The news of the tariff at least provided a place to work from, he said.
"While this is not ideal, we can live with it and move on and apart."
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