Cereal Manufacturers Desperate to Boost Sales

Americans are turning away from breakfast cereal, and that’s got cereal manufacturers seeking fresh innovation to bring consumers back to their bowls and the breakfast table.

How Post Holdings Claimed the Best Packaged Food Stock in the Market

Since its spin-off from Ralcorp, Post has spent over $10 billion on acquisitions. It has taken impairment changes relative to acquired assets of less than $300 million. Meanwhile, off a cereal business worth about $2 billion, Post and Bellring are now worth over $20 billion combined (including the respective companies’ debt).

PepsiCo Execs Express Optimism in Earnings Call

PepsiCo’s latest earnings call revealed net revenue of $91.5 billion for the fiscal year and $27.9 billion in Q4.

Analysis: Ozempic Likely to Impact Snack Manufacturers’ Bottom Line

The recent rise of Ozempic and other weight-loss drugs started with blowout results that drove shares of their manufacturers higher, then wound up cascading across seemingly disparate sectors. In 2023, Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of …

Analysis: Automation Could Cure Labor Shortages in Manufacturing

Automation offers companies the opportunity to attract talent with the right skills and assign those skills to the most appropriate areas of the business.

Rash of Restaurant Bankruptcies Festers

Fast-food businesses that focus on creating a positive workplace culture, improving the overall employee experience, and nurturing strong employer-employee relationships are better positioned to attract and retain top talent.

Walmart Commits to Reducing Food Waste

In an era of increased greenwashing and many companies abandoning once-ambitious ESG plans altogether, Walmart appears to be making real strides toward helping reduce food waste, solve food deserts, and burnishing its worldwide brand a little more.

Analysis: Why History Colors Campbell’s Sovos Deal

Across the 1980s and 1990s, Campbell Soup was one of the best stocks not only in the food industry, but the entire market. Including dividends, CPB returned 2,700%, or about 18%, on an annualized basis. …

The Grimace Effect – How Marketing & Memes Drive Sales

Audacious, sublime, organic – these are the hallmarks of profit for brands wise enough to be confident in their values and lucky enough to thread the needle between quality-controlled seriousness and edge-of-the-internet frivolity.

Costco Clamps Down on Membership Abuse

It’s unusual for a retailer to make it more difficult for consumers to shop at its stores. But membership fees are the key to Costco’s business. In fiscal 2022 (ending August 28), membership fees accounted for 54% of the company’s operating profit; the figure has risen to 58% in the first three quarters of fiscal 2023.

Meat Producers Look For A Bottom — And For Answers

The cycle has turned against meat producers with a perhaps unprecedented vengeance. In response, investors and industry participants face two key questions. First, when does the cycle turn? More importantly, what can meat producers do …

COLUMN: For Tyson and JBS, the Problem is Not Just the Cycle

Input costs are up, prices are falling, volumes are down. It’s an unprecedented environment.

COLUMN: Resilient Consumers Aren’t Going Anywhere – Yet

With price hikes easing and food company earnings strong, it appears resilient consumers aren’t going anywhere – yet.

Are Ingredient Suppliers Signaling Trouble Ahead?

One of the biggest stories in food manufacturing in 2022 was the ability of producers to take pricing. Despite price increases usually in the range of 15% year-over-year (if not higher), major manufacturers were able …

Texas Roadhouse: A Blueprint for Success

Texas Roadhouse is defying the odds and welcoming more guests than ever, even as other establishments have been forced to scale back.

Weakened Chicken Demand Pummels Tyson

Tyson Foods’ first quarter earnings missed Wall Street estimates as improved beef and pork supplies weakened demand for chicken, the company said. And chief financial officer John R. Tyson said the next quarter also will …

Judging the ‘Pivots’ in Packaged Foods

J.M. Smucker and Campbell Soup both stand out in their attempts to diversify from fading legacy packaged food products.

Analysis: Beyond Meat Earnings Indicate Alt-Meat Category in Trouble

Beyond Meat reported third quarter earnings on Wednesday afternoon, and they were disastrous. Revenue declined 22.5% year-over-year … and that wasn’t even the worst news.

Recession Still Looms as a Risk to F&B Stocks

Many investors believe that food and beverage stocks are safe places in which to hide when the stock market turns towards recession. That belief centers on a simple thesis: people still have to eat. The …

Investors See Tough Times Ahead for Fast Casuals

It’s difficult to project how the fast-casual industry will perform in a recession. The current version of the industry hasn’t really seen one. To be sure, the fast-casual concept predates the financial crisis of the …

Will AI Ordering Go Mainstream at Restaurants?

In response to labor shortages, some restaurants are turning to AI-powered bots that answer phones and communicate with customers.

Amid Labor Shortage, Gen Z Demanding ‘EWA’ Pay

Companies like McDonald’s are allowing workers to access hourly pay on demand in the hopes of shoring up the ongoing labor shortage.

Alternative Seafood Investments Are on the Rise

Investment in plant-based, fermented or cell-based “alternative seafood” amounted to $178.2 million between January and mid-July this year, as interest in the sector continued to grow. (Fish Farming Expert, July 28) In fact, the alternative …

CASE STUDY: How Pan’s Mushroom Jerky Scaled During COVID

Looking ahead, Pan’s plans to stay true to its core values of reducing meat consumption by making nutritious foods from mushrooms.

Supermarket Stocks Flip the Script on Big Box Retailers

The trend of pure play grocers struggling has flipped since 2020, with supermarket stocks for grocers like Albertsons holding their own.

Can Oatly, the Latest Plant-Based Company to Miss Its Targets, Rebound?

Oatly Group AB shares fell nearly 21% on Monday after the plant-based dairy company reported a third-quarter revenue miss and issued a revenue warning for the year. The company, which had a net loss of $41.2 …

What’s Driving Beyond Meat’s Slide?

What’s going on at Beyond Meat? A week ago, the company’s stock price fell 12% after it warned that third-quarter revenue should come in at $106 million—far lower than its prior outlook and the nearly …

Is the Plant-Based Market Showing Signs of Decline?

Despite interest in the plant-based space by investors, the category appeared to lose a bit of luster in the second quarter, as both Beyond Meat and Maple Leaf Foods noted sales of their plant-based offerings …

Digesting This Week’s Earnings from McDonald’s and Other Food Companies

With a slew of earnings being released over the past week, The Food Institute looked into which companies are thriving, as well as which companies are experiencing issues. EARNINGS ‘WINNERS’ McDonalds (MCD) Global comparable sales …

EARNINGS UPDATE: Coca-Cola Reports Strong Second Quarter Results

Coca-Cola Co. released its second quarter earnings this week—and sales rebounded faster than expected. HIGHLIGHTS: Net Revenues grew 42% Organic Revenues (Non-GAAP) grew 37% Operating Income grew 52% Operating Margin was 29.8% versus 27.7% in …

Conagra Latest CPG Brand to Increase Prices

With the Consumer Price Index rising 0.9% in June, food brands are raising prices to keep up with inflation. The latest major company to follow suit is Conagra. Conagra recently cut its fiscal 2022 outlook …

Food Industry Financials: GenZ Unemployment, McCormick, and more

Here are trending economic and food industry data points, as well as major economic and company earnings releases for the coming week: Gen Z Unemployment, Robinhood and new generation of investors, earnings from McCormick (MKC), …

EARNINGS UPDATE: McCormick Reports Strong Second Quarter Sales

McCormick & Co. today reported financial results for its fiscal second quarter ended May 31, 2021. KEY HIGHLIGHTS Sales rose 11% in the second quarter from the year-ago period. In constant currency, the company grew sales …

EARNINGS UPDATE: General Mills, Constellation Brands

General Mills and Constellation Brands both reported earnings today. Here’s a closer look at highlights from both reports: GENERAL MILLS Fourth Quarter 2021 Highlights Net sales declined 10 % to $4.5 billion and organic net …

Food Industry Financials: Retail Sales, Darden Restaurants, and more

Here are trending economic and food industry data points, as well as major economic and company earnings releases for the coming week: retail sales, supply crunch, global forecast, earnings from Darden Restaurants (DRI), and more. …

Food Industry Financials: Inflation, KR, and more

Here are trending economic and food industry data points, as well as major economic and company earnings releases for the coming week: inflation analysis, food commodities outlook, The Kroger Co. (KR) earnings digest, and more. …