Welcome to Food Week March 28, 2025. Economic picture looks darker and darker, the Trump Administration is cutting off farm support and shipments to food banks and food safety is deteriorating. But at least we increased the egg supply (liquid only) by almost one percent. And Starbucks is welcoming back the aspiring novelist demographic, so we’ll be fine. Enjoy!
MACRO
- Markets tumble as investors bake in inflation and a slower economy. Wait til the tariffs kick in… Also consumer confidence at 12 year low.
- America’s growing food safety crisis.
- Food as medicine movement is finally taking off.
RETAIL AND CONSUMER
- City run grocery stores act as a cure for high food costs?
- If you love lamb chops, Costco is your go to.
- Walmart leaves eggs off the menu for its Easter meal special.
- San Diego bans digital only coupons, stating they prevent seniors and low income consumers from realizing savings.
- The new battlefront for the cola wars is prebiotics.
- Eli Lilly to release a new, improved weight loss drug.
RESTAURANTS AND FOODSERVICE
- It is becoming illegal to sell your dinner reservation. The reservation services have been slowly creating a bid system for restaurants. This is an effort to stop that.
- Panera further commits to lowering its quality by selling off more bakeries and switching to frozen.
- After shooing customers out their stores for about a decade, Starbucks has decided it wants you to stay.
- Many restaurant chains are walking back their commitment to cage free eggs.
- CPK does some re-branding hocus pocus to garner attention. Didn’t notice.
- What chefs would rather buy than cook themselves.
- Surviving as a restaurateur in the big city.
FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
- Kennedy’s HHS to look into infant formula. That may or may not be a good thing.
- First you lose your whole flock. Then you lose your federal funding. USDA grants being pulled in many states. Food banks cut off in several states, too. This food will rot, which I guess is preferable to feeding people.
- FDA bans Chinese clams due to high levels of forever chemicals (PFAs).
- Moves to bring in more imports and use ‘meat eggs‘ as a way to help supply issues is marginalia at best when you do the math. All these scheme total 1% of US production.
- More woes on the orange juice front; production down and demand up.
DRINKS
- Using the label to learn about your tequila.
- The most popular beer in each state.
- Shots are back and suddenly trending in New York. Also Phoenix weights in with a cocktail bar called best in country.
- 5 underappreciated drinks from bartenders. Also the Greenpoint. Strong cocktails for giving your brain the massage that it really needs.
FOOD WEEK March 28 LAGNIAPPE
- Are whole grains really healthier? It’s all about the fiber.How about seed oils? Are they really bad for you? (No) Are they worse than beef tallow? Also no.
- Asparagus, on the other hand, is wonderful for you, other than some ancillary odors
- 80k lbs. of beef stolen.
- Physicists love spaghetti.
- Microplastic consumption is linked to three chronic diseases