Foodservice News & Operator Intel

The beef index fell 1.0% in September, extending a three-month decline. Operators have a near-term buying opportunity, while broader beef cost pressure remains firmly in place. USDA’s October outlook puts U.S. beef production at 24.8 billion pounds in 2026 and 24.7 billion pounds in 2027, confirming a constrained supply outlook. Early herd-rebuilding will likely tighten […]

USDA’s new SNAP rule comes with a warning for convenience stores: they make up 44 percent of SNAP-authorized retailers, 76 percent of program sanctions, and just 5 percent of SNAP spending.¹ USDA uses those figures to defend a rule that, in its own words, “may render some currently authorized stores ineligible for continued SNAP participation.”…

EPA’s May rule easing refrigerant requirements includes a warning few operators are likely to see. The agency said the relief could increase demand for HFC refrigerants, which “may result in tighter supply and higher HFC prices for downstream consumers, including users of HFCs in subsectors outside the scope of this final rule.” Put simply, the rule helped supermarkets but could raise costs for everyone else […]

Salad and Go appears to have done nothing wrong. It did not serve the lettuce linked to this summer’s cyclospora outbreak and was not named in any related case. Still, the fallout reached the company anyway: on August 5, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, closed all 70 Arizona and Nevada locations, and shut down […]

A Tampa diner noticed a 3% “venue fee” on her bill this summer at RO in Hyde Park, even though the charge did not appear anywhere on the menu. She posted about it on Nextdoor, and restaurant staff reportedly told her other nearby spots were doing the same thing.2 The complaint spread just days before […]