Welcome to Food Week September 20 – 26. 2021. COVID is still impacting restaurant sales and the supply chain. Fruit sales are up, food-borne illnesses are down and the Great British Baking Show is back. Diet can help Alzheimers and Llamas may save us all. Enjoy.
MACRO
Food Week September 20 finds employment is still stagnant.
Fruit sales are over-indexing versus retail growth in general but this is likely a function of people being in stores. When it comes to produce, we don’t trust delivery.
Hard to not be cynical and think that Walmart’s green bond is nothing more than greenwashing.
If it seems like there are more and more shootings in supermarkets, it is because there are. But when they ban guns, they get boycotts.
Consolidation of the meat industry means cheaper production but it also means producers keep consumer prices high.
RESTAURANTS AND FOODSERVICE
Restaurants are at a do-or-die moment with the fall upon us. Either people will go to restaurants or they will fail. Chains grapple with reopening dining rooms as the Delta variant drives Covid-19 infections.
Perhaps Subway’s new strategy is working. Sales are up. But I wonder what all those celebrities on TV are costing? Is it sustainable?
Canadians hate Orange Julius most? That’s like saying I hate Packard’s as a car brand: Obscure and long in the past. What did Orange Julius ever do to Canada?
FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
The supply chain problems in supermarkets not only haven’t gone away, they might get worse.
Under-emphasized in these supply chain stories is the commitment to Just-in-Time management… Empty shelves and high prices are reminders that middle-class Americans aren’t insulated. JIT is great with short and reliable supply chains but is terrible for short shelf life things like food.
