Welcome to Food Week April 25, 2025. Indications not great. Inflation and consumer confidence down, USDA and FDA reducing inspections, Tariffs to raise prices of produce and hurt farmers, Bet on buffets. This and more.
MACRO
- Consumer confidence fails on inflation fears.
- Oopsie. USDA offers buy outs and then find themselves understaffed.
- NASCAR nation: White House sell sponsorships to the Easter egg roll for the first time
RETAIL AND CONSUMER
- The healthy eating warriors boycotting General Mills.
- The food items to be hit hardest by tariffs. And 11 groceries that are staying cheap.
- The FDA suspends its milk quality inspection program in light of staff cuts/shortages.
- The dinner saver that is canned tomatoes.
- RIP: Sierra Mist. En memoriam: Chicken taco Lunchables.
RESTAURANTS AND FOODSERVICE
- Chicken strips are hot and even McDonald’s is getting on board.
- Buffets are surging. Economic downturn would only help. And what not to eat at the hotel buffet.
- In-N-Out catching flack over beef supplier
- Funeral potatoes jump into restaurant dining
- Lawmakers jumping in on the trading/selling of restaurant reservations
FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
- More bad news about he presence of micro-plastics in food. Packaging, kitchen supplies, even plant leaves. Here are some ways to reduce exposure.
- Climate change is causing an alarming rise of arsenic in rice.
- Scientist create the worlds largest lab grown chicken nugget (okay) which includes veins in the meat (less okay).
- Yuzu has gone mainstream. Here is the next wave of Japanese fruits.Traditionally the Japanese ate little dairy . They have now put their own spin on the products. However, Japan domestic rice crisis (as usual, climate change) has led to imports for the first time in 25 years.
- The trade war will be played out on hundreds of US farms. China is developing strategies for a reality without American soy beans. And if that isn’t bad enough, the HHS is waging a war on seed oils domestically. And climate change worries too.
DRINKS
- The legal fight to loosen restriction from shipping liquor direct to consumer, across state lines.
- Anthony Bourdain’s favorite bars
- Lady Distillers? Egad. La Altena run by Jenny Camarena
- It’s not just American distillers fighting slumping demand; Tullamore Dew chooses to slow production.
- When you are ready to open your super hot, super trendy cocktail bar, here are the boxes you have to check.
- The Roffignac sounds delicious. The history of the Last Word. The Italian Cream Soda. New savory cocktails. Cocktails for Japanese whisky. The Caju Amigo
FOOD WEEK April 25 LAGNIAPPE
- Monk fish is delicious and plentiful, but outside the Gulf it is relatively unknown.
- For the billionth time; brown eggs are not healthier than white eggs and usually taste about the same.
- Vegan diets often lack amino acids
- Vitamin D can reduce colon cancer risk by more than half.
- Why you need a healthy gut. 5 fruits with more fiber than oatmeal. Have you thought about Ginger?
- 65% of people quit GLP-1 drugs in less than a year