Restaurant Industry Struggles

Hi Folks. The commodity markets generally remain elevated as a Florida Panthers fan again led by beef, cheese and chicken wings. Interesting to see chicken breasts, tenders and thighs start to see some seasonal weakness. Speaking of weakness, the pork markets continue to struggle despite being historically undervalued to beef. Just in case you're interested, the USDA pork cutout is the second most undervalued to the USDA choice boxed beef cutout in June in the last decade.

Speaking of struggling, the National Restaurant Association's Restaurant Performance Index caught my eye recently with the index at some of its lowest levels, not including Covid, since the Indiana Pacers drafted Paul George in 2010. Menu prices have certainly played a part in this. The good news, as the chart shows, restaurant menu price inflation is finally starting to come in-line with overall inflation. The bad news you ask? Restaurant menu prices are at record highs and as pricing guru Michael Lukianoff will tell you, once you get pricing wrong its really hard to correct.

If you want to learn more about menu pricing listen to Mike on this episode of Farm to Fork: The Innovators Podcast. Want to learn how Datum FS can help you anticipate commodity volatility? Learn more at DatumFS.com or direct message me. Thanks for reading