Welcome to Food Week June 20, 2025. And welcome to summer, in a big way in the Eastern half of the US. Prediction: the next big claim in the egg industry will be over the male chick population for layers; They are usually destroyed after hatching but there are techniques now to mitigate this. Which is better. Tons of other stuff too. Enjoy
MACRO
- Economists say the inflation is coming , just hasn’t arrived yet.
- A running list of ICE raids on food production facilities and farms.
- I never heard of the Pentagon Pizza Report before…
RETAIL AND CONSUMER
- A long but worthwhile investigation into egg theft, egg prices and the role of CAl Maine in the egg industry.
- The worst item for pesticides in the produce department is spinach, which also happens to be the biggest seller.
- Connecticut ban on plastic bags actually worked.
- Finding cheap wine in grocery stores.
- Heinz and General Mills plan on removing all artificial dyes by 2027.
- Cyber attack brings UNFI – major grocery distribtor – to its knees. It did the same to Stoli, resulting in a bankruptcy filing.
RESTAURANTS AND FOODSERVICE
- Using reservation services to commit credit card fraud against restaurants.
- If you want a loyal customer for your restaurant, try a Boomer. However the same generation has terrible bar etiquette.
- Beard awards cam e out this week: A bakery in Portland, Also a listicle of top 50 restaurants in the world.
- Hulk Hogan wants buy Hooters which sounds like a match made… in a double wide?
- It is possible to get great barbecue in California. But in Chicago, BBQ is becoming fine dining. And who has the best store bought barbecue sauce? Lillie’s Q, the only sauce I use.
FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
- Dairy methane capture is possible in the real world.
- Company announces technique to eliminate the process in which make chicks are eliminated.
- Wine growers in California hiring their own fire fighters.
- The only completely self- sufficient country is… Guyana.
- Banning seed oils will crush farmers.
- Texas approves use of fracking wastewater to irrigate crops.
- How PFAs (Forever Chemicals) become airborne dust, particularly on farms. And the FDA cancelled limits on PFAs in drinking water. On the bright side, Japanese scientist invent a plastic that degrades in sea water. And from Taiwan, an environmentally friendly resealable bag.
DRINKS
- The infinity cocktail is always ready and always evolving.
- Wine vocabulary for the here and now. And the only three ways you should handle you wine glass.
- Giant, shareable Martinis – no back washing!
- Never order tap beer in a sketchy bar. That is all.
- On the other end of the spectrum, the top 10 hotel bars in the US. The winner? King Cole Bar i n the St. Regis, NYC.
- The Banana Daiquiri. The Red Raider. The Aperol Paloma. The Last Word and some history.
FOOD WEEK June 20 LAGNIAPPE
- How the FDA classified animal rights activists as bio-terrorists.
- Opening and closing your soda bottle causes it to release more micro-plastics.
- The 25 best sandwiches in the world.
- Are pesticides accelerating the development of ‘super bugs?’ (Micro-organisms, not insects, thought i don’t think that is any better).
- FDA approves lab-grown salmon..
- Americans love sweets and want to have less of them.