Tariffs, Parts, and the Margin Squeeze: Why Maintenance Is the Hedge You Control
Food and beverage operators don’t need another reminder that margins are thin. What’s changed is how many cost drivers have become unpredictable at the same time including ingredients, packaging, equipment parts, and labor. All this making it harder to forecast,...
Is alcohol consumption really “plummeting”? Maybe not.
At a headline level, alcohol use is falling. In the U.S., the share of adults who say they drink at all has dropped to about 54%, the lowest level Gallup has recorded in nearly 90 years. ³ That’s a meaningful shift, not a blip. “Gen Z isn’t drinking less, they’re...
How Coffee Chains Are Positioning Themselves for 2026
Coffee chains are navigating 2026 amid rising commodity costs, on-again, off-again tariffs, volatile supply, and evolving consumer expectations. Recently Starbuck’s CEO, Brian Niccol spoke about his new approach for the brand. Other coffee chains are each adapting in...
A Bite of Relief? What Trump’s Tariff Rollback Means for the Holiday Season
In mid-November 2025, the Trump administration announced a dramatic adjustment in U.S. trade policy: some of the tariffs on imported food and agricultural products will be rolled back. An executive order stated that “certain qualifying agricultural products will no...
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