Welcome to Food Week August 1 – 7. Things are very confusing. Inflation is high but oil and grain have fell substantially in July. Restaurant visits are down but hiring is (way) up. Alt-proteins aren’t really gaining traction but that doesn’t stop the French and Cracker Barrel patrons (strange bedfellows) from being outraged over… their existence. See? Confusing. Enjoy.
MACRO
- A monster jobs report 75k plus from eating and drinking establishments.
- Maybe US can avoid a recession?
- And Oil prices keep falling.
RETAIL AND CONSUMER
- Vegetarian burgers should have , you know, vegetables.
- Meanwhile, Beyond Meat is cutting workforce, trimming revenue projections. The stock value is down 50% this year.
- Walmart cutting thousands of jobs as profits fall.
- Just because you are organic doesn’t mean you treat your workers well. Amy’s has some serious issues with its labor force..
RESTAURANTS AND FOODSERVICE
- The Chicago style hot dog – an under-rated treat. An homage
- A new front in the culture wars: outrage over Impossible Sausage at Cracker Barrel.
- Higher prices finally causing slow down in restaurant visits.
- SBA releasing $180 billion in restaurant revitalization funds.
- Chefs are not good at comedy, part infinity.
FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
- In what could be called the second green revolution, new technologies promise higher yields under sub-optimal conditions.
- In France, at least, you can’t call things that aren’t meat, meat. Non veggie sausage.
- World food prices dropped almost 9% in July as commodity grain gets cheaper.
- But getting grain out of Ukraine is a minefield. Literally.
FOOD WEEK AUGUST 1 LAGNIAPPE
- A low cal sweetener that improves gut health
- For International Beer Day, an explainer about different kinds of beer.
- Make your own soy milk.