Happy Friday!
Macro stuff
- Major Stock Indexes up slightly for the week; 1.5 million new unemployment claims.
- Retail sales rose 17.7% over last month, reflecting increased openings.
- 57% of workers have worked at home since pandemic began, as per Acosta survey.
Retail
- Kroger, a bellwether for traditional grocery, released Q1 results showing growth of 19% versus last year.
- Ground meat has experienced year to date growth of $1.3 billion in sales according to IRI. That was with limitations being placed on sales at the beginning of the pandemic. This reflects consumers comfort with the easy preparation and versatility of these proteins.
- Speaking of Kroger, the merger with King Kullen is off.
- In a not-all-surprising development, Aunt Jemima has decided to re-brand.
- Mask wearing has not been embraced by all:
Florida man DOES NOT want to wear a mask at Walmart @CaliCoCo3
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) June 21, 2020
Restaurants and Foodservice
- Reuters reported poor sales in luxury food items.
- Pandemic has cost restaurants $120 Billion… so far.
- Rents and leases are costs that do not stop even when restaurants are closed. Landlords and tenants are shopping for creative solutions.
- National Parks are re-opening and with it the foodservice companies that run their food operations get some relief.
Lagniappe
- According to Kenton Global, a third of Americans acknowledge that their new snacking behaviors have led to weight gain during the pandemic, but don’t anticipate changing their behaviors.