Food Week October 18 saw tightening labor and inflation rising hand in hand. Giant puffball mushrooms had a better week than vertical farming or Beyond Meat. The Federal CDC dealt with Salmonella in mushrooms while the Maine CDC dealt with want must be the dumbest COVID rumor yet. If you didn’t know, the hard seltzer boom has gone bust and rotisserie chicken is chock full of sodium. Enjoy!
MACRO
With a tight labor market, news of fewer and fewer unemployed is not necessarily welcome.
Prices rose .4% in September. Inflation may not be permanent but at the moment, it is pervasive.
A worker in Florida applied to 60 entry-level jobs in September and got one interview. One factor I can’t quantify is that restaurants got so used to an available (mostly immigrant) labor pool that they aren’t very good at hiring.
RETAIL AND CONSUMER
Beyond Meat stock plunges. The expectations were so high, it’s not surprising there are a few hiccups.
Demand for super fast delivery (under a half hour) continues to grow as Gopuff launches in NYC with but I am sure it require some kind of minimum density.
Investment in the hard seltzer has cost Boston Beer $100 million.
Store bought rotisserie chicken has way too much sodium. I guess I kind of knew that. Maybe I felt it in my veins.
California accumulates 90 Michelin stars in latest guide, the most Michelin-Star Restaurants in the U.S.
A hint or an indication that corporate offices are fully re-opening? FLIK with a new operation at Travelers.
Were have the workers gone? For food workers, the answer is anywhere else… Not. Coming. Back.
I wonder how much scrutiny this will stand up to especially in regards meat production and greenhouse gasses. (greenwashing) Panera’s on track to be ‘climate positive’ by 2050
FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
Just when you think things couldn’t get any worse for poultry workers… In North Carolina plant, poultry workers are quitting in large numbers over an unknown chemical.
The investment money for Aero Farms vertical farming concept has dried up.
Throw your onions in the trash, CDC advises. It appears the nasty onions are from Chihuahua. But produce labeling and traceability is a joke so unless it has tag saying otherwise, you don’t know…
The fact that the Maine CDC called the story ‘codswallop’ is perfect. The latest stupid rumor is that Maine lobsters started Covid-19 Pandemic.
FOOD WEEK LAGNIAPPE
The story behind Trade Joe’s The founder wrote a memoir.
Trying Pastila with the extra apples this weekend: Historic Russian recipe turns apples into marshmallows.
Speaking of puffy, the star of Tik Tok for Food Week October 18 was…the Giant puffball mushroom.- Apparently can be eaten. Why not?
