Welcome to Food Week July 4, 2025. Holiday so a short week; early because we need a long weekend. Some things we don’t need: a falling job market, deductions, Summerween, Fernet Branca, spiked drinks, deductions, PFAs, dead bees, artificial sweeteners, crops rotting in the field and most of all, wearables to tell us we are healthy. Enjoy!
MACRO
- US employment falls in May for the first time in two years.
- Minimum wage hikes in many locations went into effect this week.
- RFK Jr. seems to arbitrarily reject science but embrace technology; suggests everyone should be in wearables to track their health. Yes, personal data is a major concern.
RETAIL AND CONSUMER
- Walmart to enter into meat production.
- Shelf tags in Massachusetts had to be in orange and white only, as per law. That is weird and is being stopped
- Meat packer threatens to pull products from Kroger over lack of payments. Wanna bet this is about deductions and unexplained charges that manufacturers constantly fight about with retailers?
- What chefs buy at Costco
- Candy makers trying to make ‘Summerween‘ a thing
- Del Monte files for bankruptcy. Though it looks like they have sufficient funding for reorganization
RESTAURANTS AND FOODSERVICE
- While the Gyros is a relatively modern invention, Greeks have been serving souvlaki for at last 4000 years.
- No taxes on tips provision makes it through Senate version of budget
- California to require bars and restaurants to provide lids to prevent the spiking of drinks.
- The restaurant The Bear is based on. I maybe shouldn’t reveal this but right next door there is a great old bar, the Green Door Tavern, with a speakeasy room.
- Starbucks dangling $6 million in bonuses to management to help with turn around.
- Buffalo Wild WIngs was the champ in adding locations last year
FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
- EPA pulls back on PFA regulations in drinking water
- The Supreme Court declines to hear a case from Iowa pork producers trying to overturn California’s Propostion 12.
- Scientist identify the cause of the largest honey bee die off. Meanwhile, budget cuts threaten bee research, which is kind of important if you are a fan of pollination.
- Immigration raids leave crops unharvested.
- In the developed world, egg production from cage free hens are now as common as caged hens. However diseases like HPAI may constrain further growth.
- USDA updated its HPAI strategy; other than free bio-security assessments, not much different. Still reimbursing farms for destroyed hens, no matter how lax their prevention practices were.
- Getting rid of food dyes is going to be hard for Jello.
DRINKS
- How to not out yourself as a tourist.
- Where I come from, a bartenders handshake involves Malort. Apparently it is a thing with Fernet Branca too. Which is honestly even nastier.
- The best dive bar in every state
- Last week it was Guinness being added to cocktails. This week Corona. Speaking of lagers, a list of the world’s best.
- THis week only summer drinks: 9 frozen cocktails. The Limoncello Spritz. The Colada Sunrise. Ranchwater. The Picon Punch. The Bourbon Lemonade Slush. And last (as it probably should be) The Pickle Margarita
FOOD WEEK July 4 LAGNIAPPE
- Ancient avocados discovered. THis is important because almost all avocados being grown are one varietal, Haas.
- The data keeps growing that artificial sweeteners are simply horrible for you.
- Serious foodborne illness outbreak and recall of blueberries. A primer on cleaning blueberries.
- Foods to eat to remove visceral fat.
- US babies lack important gut bacteria
- Eat beans. That is all.