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Trade Wars
Global Supply Chain Costs Could Rise to 7% Above Inflation
Several factors are expected to cause the supply chain to experience a high rate of inflation by the fourth quarter of 2025. "Inventories stockpiled ahead of tariff deadlines are now being depleted, forcing companies to restock at higher prices," said Suketu Gandhi, a partner at Kearney. "This is an early signal that the cost of goods and materials is rising before they reach store shelves, creating intensifying margin pressure."
A new Supply Chain Navigator report from Kearney concludes that, looking purely at economic factors, supply chain costs are expected to rise about 2% above inflation. However, when accounting for tariffs, sentiment, and other risk-based factors, that increase could reach 4% to 7% above inflation. Trade friction is constant, with applied tariffs up 30% year over year. Add in tight labor markets, which are exerting price pressure. However, a bright spot is that energy and freight costs are declining but remain volatile due to geopolitical risks.
Read more at Material Handling & Logistics
Kraft Heinz Is Splitting Into Two Companies
After more than a decade together at Kraft Heinz KHC -2.04%decrease; red down pointing triangle, ketchup is breaking up with hot dogs. The food giant said it plans to split its business into two companies, unwinding an industry megamerger that married two packaged-food behemoths. In the breakup, one global company would focus on sauces, spreads and seasonings, while another would sell grocery staples in North America. The move aims to create businesses with more focus and less complexity, Kraft Heinz said, and deepens a reversal of the food industry’s yearslong strategy of pursuing deals to build scale.
The transaction undoes much of the work done from the much-maligned merger of Kraft and Heinz in 2015, a deal arranged by Warren Buffett and Brazilian private-equity firm 3G Capital Partners. The division comes as corporate breakups are coming into vogue in the food and beverage industry. Kellogg in 2023 split into two companies, a snack giant named Kellanova and a North American cereal business called WK Kellogg. Keurig Dr Pepper is unwinding a 2018 transaction that had united a coffee maker and beverage company under the same roof.
Read more at The WSJ
Activist Investor Elliott Takes $4 Billion Stake I Pepsi, Sees ‘Historic’ Value Opportunity
PepsiCo shares popped Tuesday after Elliott Investment Management took a significant stake as the activist investor sees a “rare” and “historic” opportunity for a turnaround in the iconic soft drink giant. Elliott’s bet in Pepsi is worth $4 billion, becoming the consumer giant’s top five active investors excluding index funds, according to FactSet. The activist investor sent a presentation and letter to Pepsi’s board of directors Tuesday, detailing a clear agenda focused on restoring business momentum.
“While unfortunate, this disappointing trajectory has created a historic opportunity: With the right mindset and an appropriately ambitious turnaround plan, PepsiCo today represents a rare chance to revitalize a leading global enterprise and unlock significant shareholder value,” Elliott wrote in its letter. “Elliott’s goals at PepsiCo are straightforward: help the Company sharpen focus, drive innovation, become more efficient and unlock the value that its leading brands, unmatched scale and worldclass employees deserve. The path back to winning is clear and achievable,” Elliott said.
Read more at CNBC
Boeing Drops First Look at F/A-XX Sixth-Gen Fighter, Sparks F-47 Comparisons
Boeing has dropped the first public rendering of its proposed F/A-XX fighter, offering a glimpse at a design that appears to echo elements of the US Air Force’s F-47 combat aircraft. The image shows the aircraft flying above a US Navy aircraft carrier, partly shrouded in clouds that obscured possible canards and wingtips, with no tail visible. The cockpit shape bears a resemblance to the F-47, while the navy version’s smaller radome contrasts with the air force fighter’s wider nose.
Earlier Boeing concepts have also explored tailless designs, suggesting a consistent approach in its next-gen thinking. Although both the F/A-XX and F-47 are classified as sixth-gen fighters, their roles differ. The F/A-XX is expected to extend range by about 25 percent over current strike fighters and use a derivative engine. On the other hand, the F-47 will feature a new adaptive power plant capable of a combat radius exceeding 1,000 nautical miles (1,151 miles/1,852 kilometers) and speeds above Mach 2 (2,470 kilometers/1,535 miles per hour).
Read more at Next Gen Defense
Olympics Could Be Proving Ground For eVTOL Air Taxis
The FAA’s Innovate28 blueprint forecasts 2028 as the year electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis reach operational scale in major U.S. cities, such as Los Angeles. The City of Angels is slated to host the 2028 Olympic Games that summer. If scale is the goal, there are few events grander than the Olympics. “It’s the biggest show you could ever imagine, and it just so happens to be in the best city in America for this type of service,” Adam Goldstein, founder and CEO of Archer Aviation, told FLYING at the Paris Air Show in June. “LA has over 5 million daily trips that go less than 20 miles and take over an hour.”
Archer, the developer of the four-passenger Midnight air taxi, believes it can seize the opportunity. The company in May was tapped by the event’s organizing committee, LA28, as the Games’ official air taxi provider. The plan is to ferry spectators, dignitaries, VIPs, and even athletes between Olympic venues—such as the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and SoFi Stadium in Inglewood—in as little as 10 minutes, using a Team USA-branded Midnight.
Read more at Flying
Updated: Tracking CHIPS and Science Act awards
It’s been more than three years since the Biden-Harris administration ushered through the CHIPS and Science Act, a landmark technology law that allocates $52.7 billion to bolster U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, research and workforce development. The monumental legislation aims to onshore chip manufacturing, an industry that has long been dominated by foreign countries such as China, Taiwan and South Korea.
Included In The Law Is $39 Billion Allocated For Semiconductor Manufacturing Projects, Which The Commerce Department Began Doling Out As Funding Awards In December 2023. The Commerce Department Has Been Renegotiating Some Of The Multibillion-Dollar Contracts To Chipmakers Funded By The Legislation, Secretary Howard Lutnick Said During A Congressional Budget Hearing In June 2025.Manufacturing Dive Is Tracking The Status Of Each Award Funded By The CHIPS Act’s $39 Billion For Manufacturing Projects. Read On For The Status And Details Of Each Project.
Read more at Manufacturing Dive
Tesla August Sales Slide Again In Key European Markets — And China
New reports from around the globe show that Tesla’s demand issues in August persist in key regions, including a new growth territory: India. In France, Tesla registered only 1,331 vehicles compared to 2,532 a year ago, representing a 47.2% drop, according to the PFA auto lobby. Meanwhile, overall August auto sales in France were up 2.2% in the month. Tesla sales in Sweden (down 84%) and Denmark (down 42%) tumbled as well, per Mobility Sweden and Mobility Denmark. EV-crazed Norway was a lone bright spot, with sales up nearly 22%. Germany and the UK, Tesla’s two other larger territories, will report August sales later this month.
Depressed demand is also an issue in China, though not to an extreme degree as seen in Europe. Tesla's China sales dropped 4% in August from a year earlier, following an 8.4% slip in July, per Reuters, though sales were up month over month. Elsewhere in Asia, Turkey remains a bright spot for Tesla. Reuters reports that Tesla sold 8,730 Model Y SUVs in August, up 86% from the previous month, which gave Tesla a 50% EV market share, according to industry data source EBS Danismanlik. Tesla sales year to date in Turkey surged more than 400% compared to a year ago to around 26,000 units.
Read more at IndustryWeek
Nestlé CEO Fired After 'Romantic Relationship' With Subordinate Exposed
Nestlé has dismissed CEO Laurent Freixe with immediate effect after determining he had not disclosed a “romantic relationship” with a direct subordinate. The Swiss multinational, maker of Kit Kat chocolate bars and Nespresso coffee capsules, confirmed the decision following an inquiry overseen by chair Paul Bulcke and independent director Pablo Isla. The BBC reported that the case originated from a tip submitted via the company’s whistleblowing channel.
The company said the matter was treated as a conflict of interest because the employee involved was not part of the executive board. Bulcke and Isla directed the investigation “with the support of independent outside counsel.” Freixe, who joined the company nearly four decades ago, became global chief executive in September last year after succeeding Mark Schneider. Nestle confirmed he will not receive an exit package. The BBC said it had contacted Freixe for comment.
Read more at HR Grapevine
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