For business owners and consumers alike, attempting to find clarity around where the economy was headed as 2025 got underway was a bit like trying to draw a picture in the sand.

Just when things were looking pretty good, unexpectedly rough storms blew in in the form of global trade wars, see-sawing tariff scenarios, shifting alliances, rising prices, falling business and consumer confidence, huge cuts to public-sector programs and, with it all, stock market volatility and rumbles of recession. Just like that picture in the sand, clarity and confidence in the economy and what the balance of 2025 might look like quickly washed away.

For companies that support the foodservice industry, one thing was clear in the first two quarters of 2025: Uncertainty and angst had once again become the order of the day.