Welcome to Food Week June 19 – 26, 2023. In addition to some cool new content for the fork pitch team on cattle and climate change and research on egg buyers, we have a lot of content this week. Stories on struggling shrimpers and workers in San Joaquin, the end of boom times in alt-protein investment, the future of artificial intelligence in fine dining, Brownie Mary and incendiary grapes. Enjoy.
MACRO
Stocks slide over recession fears, which is unsurprising given the Fed’s continual rate hikes.
A unexpected housing-start boom.
Greedflation? Corporate profits highest in 90 years.
RETAIL AND CONSUMER
Forkpitch research project: The egg consumer. Prices have fallen but the fundamentals are the same.
Will the USDA crack down on inaccurate antibiotics labelling? We can only hope.
The French do things differently: To combat inflation, the government asks brands to lower their prices, with threat of further actions if they don’t get cooperation.
Americans eating twice as much chicken as beef as prices stay high. But domestic shrimp prices have plummeted.
RESTAURANTS AND FOODSERVICE
Rick Bayless tears into ‘The Bear’ for focusing on the worst parts of kitchen life.
Taking a stand against veganism proves a boon for Perth restaurant.
When does AI start affecting fine dining.
The recession over, diners want better, cheaper.
FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
The heyday is over for alt-protein/meat substitute companies as investment falls 44% YOY. A list of 12 failed companies so far
Cattle, Feed and Climate Change: a new article on the struggle to change the industry from our Chef Joe V.
USDA formal approval for cultivated meat.
Electric vehicles come to farms.
The San Joaquin Valley never really changes, at least not for workers.
FOOD WEEK LAGNIAPPE
With California’s success at the Supreme Court, more states move to eliminate gestation crates.
Lobsterperson still at it 103.
The most important scientific mystery of all time SOLVED: why do grapes catch fire in the microwave?
And the story of Brownie Mary, the woman who made cannabis brownies for patients during the AIDS crisis.
The Hugo Spritz. A delightful light cocktail.