Welcome to FoodStuff December 15, 2025. Gonna be a lean Christmas this year, kids. Prices are up and healthcare increases haven’t even kicked in yet. There’s too many Korean Coffee shops and not enough cows. There’s an imminent feta shortage, bowl restaurants are screwed, drinking is down but the cocktails are classic. I can’t make sense of any of it. Enjoy
MACRO
- Costco sues Administration over tariffs.
- Unable to explain pesistent food inflation, Trump administration launches probe in to price fixing.
- Administration taketh (tariffs) and giveth back back (bailout) with $12 billion for US farmers.
RETAIL AND CONSUMER
- How Family Dollar and Dollar General (same company) screw their low income customers with misleading and inaccurate prices.
- On the other hand, raising prices doesn’t fix Campbell’s revenue slide.
- Kroger’s merger fell apart but they are doing just fine without Albertson’s.
- Costco prices hold fast even with tariffs
- Ending the government shutdown led to a short term spike in retail food sales in November.
RESTAURANTS AND FOODSERVICE
- The Starbuck’s vs. union war grinds on
- Speaking of exhausted ideas, the original Dick’s Last Resort closes in Dallas
- South Korea is overrun with coffee shops.
- This probably doesn’t change your plans but Olive Garden will be closed Christmas Day
FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
- Are there PFAs (forever chemicals) in recently approved pesticides? FDA says no but it depends on how you define ‘forever’.
- Asian Swine Fever detected in Spain for first tine
- Beef continues to soar. Big problem: not enough cows.
- How about goat pox and sheep pox? Greece’s feta industry in crisis because of outbreak
DRINKS
- Port. How to.
- What does make it skate mean when you are tlaking about a martini?
- Everyone knows Gen Z is drinking less, by about 20% than Millenials. But there’s also been a rise in productivity. Correlation or causation? Older generation appears to holding up their end.
- Brown Forman sees a 62% drop in Canadian sales of US booze.
- What’s old is new. Classic cocktail revival continues. Here are ome retros. Here’s A Miseltoe Margarita. The Bebbo. Tierra Roja. The Old Etonian .And to warm you up, Le Verte Chaud.
FOOD WEEK December 15,LAGNIAPPE
- Melelkouni: the ancient Greek snack that checks a lot of modern boxes.
- I am not sure he thought this through: Guy steals some credit card numbers, orders $65,000 worth of liquor on line and then drives to over 200 locations to pick up the orders.
- While diet doesn’t have a huge impact on your cholesterol, here are 15 good things to eat and 5 bad things.
- The meat industry contributes more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere than all of Western Europe
- Side effects from taking Omega 3s.
- Cheese dreams for your holiday parties
- The concept of house butter.