Once in a blue moon, we have a blue moon. That’s tonight and on Halloween! As you toggle between diabetes and tooth decay, please enjoy news stories from the world of food. We read about chain acquisitions of Corner Bakery and Dunkin Donuts, monkey labor, urchin and Asian carp as dinner and the many ways gas stoves will kill you.
MACRO
- Markets down even though there was a significant rebound in economic activity in Q3 the disconnect from economy continues.
- COVID out of control especially west and upper Midwest.
- The election…
RETAIL AND CONSUMER
- Really? The New York Times has an article comparing Biden/Trump refrigerators. The generalizations are stupid, the snobbery is palpable.
- Monkey labor? I hate to see animals mistreated. I don’t know whether to be more shocked that this goes on or that there’s enough of it to be an issue.
- Indictments for food borne illness is not something we do a lot in this country so it is refreshing when it happens. The Peanut Corporation of America and the DeCosters (eggs) cases are the only other ones I can think of.
- While we’re at it, Listeria outbreaks in deli meats.
- I had no problems fattening up my kids. Now YouTube does the work for you.
RESTAURANTS AND FOODSERVICE
- Practical steps to help support the restaurant industry.
- Corner Bakery sold to Rohan Group, owner of Boston Market. Trying to find efficiencies in 2 struggling brands, I guess. The money comes from the Roark group. Roark and Rohan, huh? Makes me think of this quote: “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.” – John Rogers
- Roark also helping to fund Inspire brands as they buy Dunkin Donuts for more than $11billion. They already own Arby’s Buffalo Wild wings and Jimmy Johns.
- A lovely re-telling of the White Castle story with all its fun idiosyncrasies.
FOOD SUPPLY
- Jerk is wonderful and requires a really interesting group of ingredients that happened to end up in the Caribbean at the same time.
- Burger naming wars in Europe. In a world where we already have Beyond Meat and Almond Milk, burgers had no chance.
- Okay, we will be able to get honey without bees. But we really need bees.
LAGNIAPPE
- Eat mor’ Urchin! And more Asian carp!. Gorge our way out of environmental disasters! Get rid of the feeling of kelplessness!
- Gas stoves are bad. Bad for your health. bad for your safety. bad for the environment. OF course I have one. Have you ever rally tried to cook on an electric? Of course you could change to a coal fired oven. (I call mine the grill). Here is an interesting article about how coal ovens revolutionized and democratized baking.
- A short article about expiration dates. Key takeaway: it’s more about product quality than safety. Many products last long past dates if handled correctly; if you abuse it, it doesn’t matter what the date is. Your nose and your eyes are your best protection.