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.