Welcome to Food Week May 15. A busy week with the restaurant show in town but lots of good stories on the impact of inflation on CPG brands along with two trends – plant based meats and ghost kitchens – that have struggled since. Also who owns Taco Tuesday and why do we eat so many snacks? Enjoy
MACRO
The United States should really continue to pay its bills.
Consumers and markets still bullish, despite doomsayers.
Is food inflation finally dying? It has taken a chunk out of branded products.
RETAIL AND CONSUMER
Trader Joe’s is fiercely committed to being an IRL business only.
Is MSG good for you? Well, certainly better than salt.
American’s have still not come down from their COVID snacking binge,
New legislation to make food date labeling more coherent.
The struggle at Beyond Meats continues.
A ranking of the best supermarket chains for meat.
Leafy greens are the leading cause of food-borne illness.
RESTAURANTS AND FOODSERVICE
The evolution of Texas BBQ.
The fight over who gets to call Taco Tuesday Taco Tuesday. Taco Bell suing Taco John’s.
Ghosts (kitchens) remaining dead.
Some top restaurants to try during the Restaurant show in Chicago this week.
FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
Tyson is the latest food manufacturer to a.) make unsupportable product claims and b.) have horrifying conditions in their facilities. In this case, a free range farm was shown to have access to outdoors but almost no chickens were able to go out.
Are crabs doomed by warming waters?
Agroforestry may be a coming trend in sustainable farming.
The legal confirmation California’s law for humane care may embolden other states. And the state is on the verge of banning 5 ingredients before the federal government.
FOOD WEEK MAY 15 LAGNIAPPE
The military carries mostly negative connotations regarding food. However many important innovations began there.
Pouring boiling water over your chicken thighs before cooking gives you great results.
Challah bread for grilled cheese sounds like a really good idea.
To get a white paper about Saccharomyces boulardi, the yeat that is the world’s first and most successful pro-biotic, click here.
Ranking Ryes. My favorite. Also the Green Chartreuse crisis continues.