- Budget beauty giant e.l.f. recently announced plans to increase the cost of its products by $1 due to tariffs. CEO Tarang Amin told Fortune customers have reacted positively to the announcement. “This is exactly what we’re facing, and they understand,” he said. Increased pricing is one of a few mitigation strategies the company is employing given tariff uncertainty.
As companies brace for the impact of tariffs by passing down increased costs to consumers, not all businesses have drawn the ire of cautious shoppers.
After budget beauty giant e.l.f. announced it would raise prices due to the levies, its customers were grateful for the heads-up, according to CEO Tarang Amin.
“The overwhelming response has been quite positive from our community. They appreciate [that] e.l.f. is always transparent,” Amin told Fortune. “We’re not trying to pull anything over on anyone. This is exactly what we’re facing, and they understand.”
E.l.f announced this week plans to raise the prices of its products by $1, starting Aug. 1.
“Bringing you the best of beauty is getting more $$$ but we’re committed to keeping the quality high and prices e.l.f.fordable,” the brand said in an Instagram caption about the price increase. “We are keeping an [eye] on the tariff situation as it evolves.”
In the first months of President Donald Trump’s second term, consumer sentiment fell to its lowest levels since 2021 as a result of tariff uncertainty. In April, consumer confidence rebounded after Trump’s trade deal with China lowered the taxes from 145% to 30%.
The future of tariffs continues to be shrouded in uncertainty. The U.S. Court of International Trade blocked Trump’s tariffs, ruling on Wednesday the White House did not have the authority to impose the sweeping economic sanctions. E.l.f. did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment on any changes it would make given the court ruling. The company did not provide fiscal 2026 guidance in its fourth-quarter and full fiscal 2024 earnings on Wednesday due to tariff unpredictability. E.l.f. posted $332.6 million in quarterly net sales, a 4% year-over-year increase, as well as a 28% boost in year-over-year annual net sales to $1.3 billion.
How e.l.f. is managing tariffs
The price increase is one of a handful of mitigation techniques e.l.f. is implementing to offset the impact of tariffs. Since 2019, following Trump’s tariffs on China during his first term, e.l.f. began shifting some of its supply chain away from China, where it once had about 100% of its production. Today, e.l.f. has about 75% of its supply chain in China, according to Amin, but the company is not planning to completely divest from operations there.
“We’re also not like some companies that say they’re 100% getting out of China,” Amin said. “We’re committed to our team and our suppliers there, and we want to continue long term partnerships that we’ve developed over the years that give us the advantage that we see.”
Instead, e.l.f. has diversified production across China, Europe, Thailand, and the U.S., Amin said, with the intention to continue to expand U.S. production. Hailey Bieber’s beauty brand Rhode, which e.l.f. just acquired in a $1 billion deal, has most of its production in South Korea and Italy.
The company is also relying more heavily on its international demand, the fastest-growing part of the business, according to Amin.
“You’re going to see a globally distributed core supply chain for us, the main objective of which is to meet the global consumer demand we see for our brands,” he said.
E.l.f. will employ its communication style regarding tariff ramifications internally as well. The company gives its 600 workers equity when they are hired, as well as new grants every year, meaning stock-market jitters as a result of tariff concerns has direct stakes for e.l.f employees, chief people officer Scott Milsten told Fortune last month.
“We sort of overshare internally,” Milsten said. “So while this is a time when I think you might find companies sort of retreating into silence, we absolutely go the other way.”
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
Credit: Source link
