Welcome to Food Week March 21, 2025. Its March Madness and I am not talking about basketball. Tariffs and governmental disfunction causing havoc in the food industry. At least eggs are cheaper for the moment, but that won’t last either. Enjoy?
MACRO
- The EU readies retalitory actions against US if tariffs are imposed
- The Small Business Optimism Index fell to its lowest level since the height of the pandemic over fears of tariffs, stagflation,
- Trump asks Denmark for eggs. He has also threatened them with economic sanctions if they don’t turn over Greenland, so I don’t think they will be too keen to help.
RETAIL AND CONSUMER
- Aldi is abviously a much nicer shopping expereince than Dollar tree. Less obvious, though, is that it is actually cheaper.
- Coca Cola has a new vending machine that runs on hydrogen power. Meanwhile the Poppi acquisition by Pepsi signals the mainstreaming of prebiotics.
- America has lost its love of snacking.
- The Trump administration delays implementation of new food safety rules.
- USDA halts millions of dollars of food for food banks. No explanantion given,
RESTAURANTS AND FOODSERVICE
- Yum Brands goes high tech with Nvidia.
- On the Border? More like on the brink. The chain closes 70 restaurants.
- Elon Musk about to enter the restaurant business.
- Restaurants in China struggle with deflation; 4 person meals at sit down restaurants offered at $14.
- White Mana: the oldest burger restaurant in America.
- Sodexo thinks its college and universtiy business will begin to decline because of trends.
FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
- RFK Jr. has a really terrible idea about what to do about HPAI.
- Corn futures plunge over tariff concerns. Wine industry braces for hard times as well.
- Citrus production in Florida is down 90%.
- The border dispute between US and Mexico has spread to water; the drought in Northern Mexico will worsen as a result.
- Iowa farmers going for their pitchforks after $11 million cut from USDA. And seafood distributors and fishermen also upset with DOGE cuts.
DRINKS
- The guys who opened famous cocktail bar PDT are opening a new joint. ALso a quick bio of the ladies behind Kumiko.
- The saga of Bronco Wine – maker of $2 buck chuck – continues to be weird.
- What US city has the most breweries? It’s not Milwaukee. And what the hell is a Banquet beer anyway?
- Strangely enough, it is still illegal in most the US to ship beer across state lines.
- The Evertini. Very spruce-y.
FOOD WEEK March 21 LAGNIAPPE
- Bottled water is one of the main ways microplastics enter the body. Here are other ways to reduce your intake. Also chewing gum is not great as it is often made with plastics.
- Great sources of probiotics.
- Chefs think about salt differently than you do. Here are some of those ways.
- Defunct burger chains.
- What did people eat in the 1920’s?