Food Week November 21 – 27, 2022

Welcome to Food Week November 21 -27, 2022. This week’s digest (no, the other kind) comes as we recover from the Thursday feast. Lots to think about this week. Is inflation really slowing? Is the labor market still hot? Were turkeys really that expensive? And can a Carolina Reaper pepper really kill you? Read on and enjoy.

MACRO

• Decline in the price of oil should help ease inflation.

• Long COVID has taken millions out of the workforce.

• Upsets galore as World Cup opens.

RETAIL AND CONSUMER

• Was the increase in your Thanksgiving turkey a lot higher or maybe just a little? Probably the latter, headlines not withstanding.

• Mold, Listeria and other food-safety issues at Beyond Meat plant.

• Kroger averts a major strike by settling with the Teamsters.

• Cook and eat well in the time of expensive food.

• Egg supply in Great Britain in even worse shape than the US as rationing kicks.

RESTAURANTS AND FOODSERVICE

• Rainforest Cafe in Chicago to become a marijuana dispensary. The giant mushrooms in the front may stay.

• Compass commits to eliminate gestation crates in sourcing by the end of 2023.

• Chipotle is committing infrastructure to digital pick up.

• The California roots of fast food.

• The curry wurst memorial.

FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN

• Potatoes grown in the thin air of high elevations have a 20% improvement in yields.

• An explainer on how and why the Netherlands is a food export colossus.

• Tyson to offer immigration support to it workers. This is indicative of a tight labor market as well.

• Bailouts of big meat? Sen. Cory Booker wants to stop that.

• Crazy blizzard leads to empty shelves in Western New York.

FOOD WEEK NOVEMBER 20 LAGNIAPPE

• Gift guide for coffee lovers.

• Have you ever eaten food so spicy you thought you would die? Carolina Reapers give man a stroke.

• Pasta Carbonara getting traction as a turkey substitute. But recipe depends on warm pasta to cook raw eggs which doesn’t necessarily kill salmonella.

• The insects-as -food proponents check in. They are tremendously sustainable.

• Cocktails with a maple flavor.