Cans of food moving quickly through a Wisconsin processing plant
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Midwest vegetable growers and food processors face a perfect storm of soaring energy bills, severe labor shortages, and cheap foreign imports.
Nick Novak represents the Midwest Food Products Association. He notes that rising expenses hit farmers, consumers, and food processors alike. Novak recently told the Mid-West Farm Report about these industry-wide spikes. “Whether it’s the cost of labor, whether it’s the cost of the goods we need to make these different food products, the cost of energy, it’s really something that our members are experiencing just like the consumer, and I know our members are doing their best to absorb those costs as they can, but there’s nothing you can really do when you’re seeing costs go up as much as we have, and so it is an issue. I think that there is something to say that the economy may have slowed a little bit. There are some challenges, but we’re certainly doing everything we can with our members to make sure that we’re keeping those costs low and making sure that we’re still delivering an affordable and healthy product to the consumers across the Midwest and across the country.”
Can Costs Are High
The food itself isn’t the only expense. Packaging prices have surged. “We’ve talked with policymakers at both the state and federal levels to really make sure that they understand how things like steel tariffs and other policies impact the final cost of that can, because just the can alone can be up to 40% of the cost of the final product, so when you add a tariff on there, and you see some of these other costs on there, it really does make us sometimes uncompetitive with these foreign imports like from China, where they can just subsidize it to drive out competition from folks here in the U.S.”
Running a food production plant requires massive amounts of electricity. Because energy ranks as a top expense, processors are closely watching proposed energy legislation in Wisconsin. “Energy is one of the biggest costs our members pay outside of labor and outside of the products that are going into what we eat. Energy is certainly up there as an increasing cost they are seeing. When you think about it, a manufacturing facility takes a lot of electricity to run, and so as we see those costs go up, it’s certainly something where our members are trying to reduce costs in other places.”
Labor A Challenge For Processors, Too
Finding qualified workers remains a constant struggle. The food products industry desperately needs staff with specific technical skills. “Whether you’re in manufacturing or construction, or any of the skilled trades that are out there, it’s hard to find people, you know. Not only is it hard to find people generally to fill these roles, it’s especially difficult to find individuals who have the skillset needed to work in a manufacturing plant. We continue to work with our partners to get more people to Wisconsin and the Midwest who have the proper skills. Our members are continuously investing in upskilling their workforce to ensure that people are ready to take on the new technology and automation that we see in plants nowadays.”
Average Crop Production In 2026
Wisconsin boasts numerous canned and frozen vegetable producers. Fortunately, Novak reports this year’s crop acreage looks completely normal. “So far this year from what I’ve heard from our members, we’re about average for what we’ve seen in the recent past. Some crops are up a little bit, some crops are down a little bit, but most members I’ve talked to, they’re kind of expecting a budget year, and things are going well. We had some weather that hurt some acreage with crops, whether it was the heat we saw in July or some of the hail and winds that we’ve seen, but overall, I think we’re having a pretty decent year, and the overall crop is about average for what we’ve seen in past years.”
Busting A Myth About Canned Food
Consumers often mistakenly believe fresh produce always beats canned goods in nutrition. Novak strongly pushes back against this myth. “And nothing could be further from the truth. The canned vegetables in some cases are actually more nutritious and better than what you can get in the fresh vegetable (section). Take tomatoes, for example. Typically, if you’re buying a fresh tomato in the grocery store that’s nice and red sitting on the shelf, that’s something that was probably picked a couple of weeks ago when it was green, and it had to ripen while it was in transportation to the grocery store, whereas a canned tomato, it’s actually picked at its ripest stage and within hours is taken to a food processing facility, turned into a diced tomato or whatever it is, and canned within hours, so you’re getting all of that nutrition. All of the flavor is locked in, and it can sit in your pantry for as long as you want.”
Cheap, Foreign Canned Goods Are Hurting U.S. Producers
Shoppers rarely check where their canned vegetables originate. However, unfair and subsidized foreign imports directly threaten U.S. processors. “I’ll pick up a can on the store shelf, and I’m always turning it around to see if that’s a product that’s packed here in the U.S. or is it a product that was made somewhere in a foreign country like China. It’s not always that clear on the label. That’s why we worked with folks in Congress to pass the CANS Act, which would have a country of origin right on the front of the label so that folks know I’m getting a product that’s made right here in the United States, because that competition is a big issue. If you have Chinese sweet corn or other vegetables that are coming in at a fraction of the cost, it can really hurt the domestic manufacturing that we have here in the U.S.”
Buying American-made foods requires careful label reading. A single brand might source different vegetables from entirely different countries. “I was in a store the other day, and I picked up a private label, a store brand, and they all had the same label on them but all different products. Some were from the U.S., but some were from Egypt, so I mean you really just need to be an informed consumer. I think the CANS Act, which has bipartisan support, is something that would give more information to that consumer so they would know if they are buying a U.S. made product.”
The American Consumer Awareness of National Source (American CANS) Act aims to solve this confusion. The bill requires clear country-of-origin labels on all canned foods. It currently awaits committee action in the U.S. House.
