Welcome to Food Week May 23, 2025. Big, rich edition after the Restaurant show. Lots of Brazilian news on cattle, soybeans, beneficial bacteria and even lemonade. And a lot more too. Enjoy. Or should I say aproveite!
MACRO
- Inflation is steady but economists warn of coming spike due to tariffs.
- Few people realize this but Brazil has overtaken the US in soybean production.
- Kraft Heinz considering spinning off businesses, including processed meats.
RETAIL AND CONSUMER
- It’s not just Costco; Aldi has its own product safaris.
- Is Kroger deliberately misleading customers?
- After initial bravery, Walmart announces price hikes beginning in May due to tariffs.
- What really is in American Cheese? Certainly not cheese.
- Sprite, riding a wave of success, introduces a sweet tea line extension.
- Dangerous levels of arsenic and cadmium found in retail rice.
RESTAURANTS AND FOODSERVICE
- The Pope Leo sandwich, from Portillo’s, of course
- Love for Zaxby’s in the chicken nugget wars.
- Starbuck’s struggles are not going to get easier with the expansion of China’s Luckin Coffee into key markets. Of course maybe the coffee shop needs re-imagining.
- Dunkin expands their brand footprint into… aircraft?
- With wide-spread proliferation, what is the role of Pont of Sale tip demands in driving inflation?
- In-N-Out removes ‘artificial’ ingredients from ‘some’ items.
FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
- No till agriculture is not the same thing as regenerative agriculture. Plus, organic farming struggles due to labor and other factors.
- Brazilian super cows? And a Brazilian has identified a whole new strain of bacteria that benefits farming.
- Among other things, climate change is going to double farm insurance.
- Cuts to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) will hurt local fisheries. Meanwhile, FDA inspectors trying to adjust to a much smaller staff.
- Craft oysters from Florida farms. Still don’t know whether I would trust the warm waters.
- All the pork industry needed to get prices up was a little disease and a little tariff disruption.
DRINKS
- Clarifying your drinks isn’t really that complicated and makes for wonderful results
- What are the next generation of classic cocktails?
- While they sound like some sort of hipster marketing trend, Radlers have been around a long time,
- The Santo Libre. The Whiskey Smash. The Chi Chi Rodriguez. The Don Lockwood. The Kicker Rock.
FOOD WEEK May 23 LAGNIAPPE
- Facts about Stevia, the natural sweetener. And facts about Robert Shapiro, who essentially brought us NutraSweet .
- 9 fruits with the most calcium
- Risky foods. And you’ve heard it before, but red and processed meats increase your risk of GI cancers.
- Give your lemonade a Brazilian (twist).
- Yes, the plastic spatula has to go.