Food Week August 1 – 7, 2022

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

• The flavor of the summer is…pickle. It’s not just for pizzas anymore

• A low cal sweetener that improves gut health

• For International Beer Day, an explainer about different kinds of beer.

• Make your own soy milk.