Food Week February 14, 2025

Welcome to Food Week February 14, 2025. Happy Valentine’s day! Stuff on sputtering alcohol sales, shuttering restaurants and shuddering government agencies. A dearth of eggs, a surfeit of HPAI. And more. Enjoy!

MACRO

• Inflation numbers offset by decline in consumer spending, so financial markets placated.

• RFK Jr. sworn in as head of HHS which includes USDA and FDA. Before his confirmation, the CDC posted information on HPAI spread between cats and people, then deleted it.

• We’ve gotten to the ‘long line of cars waiting for eggs‘ part of the shortage. Little good news on that front with HPAI increasingly found in people.

RETAIL AND CONSUMER

• Inflation is back – here are the states feeling it the worst.

• C&S takes Winn-Dixie off of Aldi’s hands.

• GLP-1 use leads to a 6% reduction in food purchases.

• Bronco Wine, maker of 2 Buck Chuck, is struggling as Trader Joe’s sales dip.

• Is orange juice going extinct? Maybe, but not if these scientists can help it.

• 15 foods you should never put in the freezer. Also, simple ways to remove micro-plastics from your water,

RESTAURANTS AND FOODSERVICE

• Burger King is on a roll, McDonald’s is not. Also, the worst fast food restaurant chain in the US.

• About Musso and Frank Grill, a Hollywood icon for over 100 years

• Panera continues its move to outside contractors for their baked goods. I am sure this will improve quality.

• IHOP, Denny’s closing dozens of restaurants.

• Will RFK Jr. come after fast food? Will he bring on the golden age of beef tallow?

• Can a Michelin star end up a curse?

FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN

• New Agriculture Secretary sworn in, almost immediately confronted with HPAI crisis. Also, why broilers have not been as affected as egg laying hens.

• Several USDA farmer programs are frozen. But at least they’ll have plastic straws.

• No amount of lead in the human body is safe. That is why the EPA introduced a ban in drinking water. But GOP legislators want to roll it back.

• Expensive chocolate makes for an expensive Valentine’s Day

• Coffee, too:

DRINKS

• End of dry January leads to dry new reality for alcohol industry. Whiskey is getting the double whammy, with tariffs hurting too.

• What are maraschino cherries, really?

• Here’s a new rye finished in amaro barrels

• While I had a lovely Last Word cocktail last night, the green Chartreuse shortages still lingers. Demand has increased but the monks who make it decided not to increase supply.

• The Japanese cocktail – California brandy, housemade orgeat and aromatic bitters – sounds awesome. Also – probably less awesome – is the traditional supper club cocktail, the Pink Squirrel, one of many cocktails nobody drinks anymore.

FOOD WEEK February 14 LAGNIAPPE

• What is the best food for gut health? A different study shows that yogurt consumption can reduce risk of colo-rectal cancer.

• The time Austrian wineries sweetened wine with anti-freeze. Yes, the story goes where you think it is going to go.

• Improving your buttercream icing.

• Elderberry juice may be an effective weight loss solution.

• Easily irritated by loud chewing? You may be Misophonic.

• Mixing Southern cuisine with Ramen. Also, American foods the world finds weird.

• Once loved but probably not missed food court restaurants.