The National Restaurant Association Research Group conducted a survey of 4,200 restaurant operators between July 14 and August 5, 2022. This report contains the key findings of the survey.​Click here to read  more.

Even as restaurants and fast-food chains hike menu prices, customers aren’t pulling back on tips for wait staffs and cashiers, according to a new report.
Diners tipped an average of 19.6% at full-service restaurants and 16.9% at quick-service eateries during the second quarter, which was roughly in line with a year ago, according to sales data from software provider Toast. In-person diners typically were more generous, tipping an average of 19.7%, according to the report. Delivery or takeout customers tipped an average of 14.5%. Click here to read the article. 

Food inflation might still be on an upswing, but at least chicken wing fans currently have something to celebrate. The Department of Agriculture says the price of the popular food item remains at a low, which it has been sitting since July and, at $1.68 per pound, the item is the cheapest it has been since 2018, per News on 6.

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Macro-economic pressures and a complex consumer landscape continue to afflict the restaurant industry. Sales and traffic growth face difficult laps from 2021’s release of pent-up demand and stimulus.
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Still, a view into three-year sales and traffic growth patterns reveals segment-specific resiliency. Click here to read the full article. 

Global consumer concerns about climate change and food shortages are increasing, according to a new report from Mintel.
The research firm’s second annual sustainability barometer found that the percentage of global consumers concerned about climate change rose to 46% from 39% one year ago, while concern about potential food shortages climbed to 23% from 17% reported in the previous study. In the wake of extreme weather events and the conflict in Ukraine, consumer concerns about climate, food and water shortages increased the most among sustainability issues over the last 12 months, Mitel reported.
Climate change remained the highest environmental priority with nearly half of consumers globally (46%) citing air quality and plastic pollution among the top three environmental concerns, according to the study. Nearly three out of five global consumers (58%) agree that extreme weather events such as floods and heatwaves where they live encourage them to do more activities to protect the environment. Meanwhile their sustainability efforts remain focused on such simple and frugal activities as using recycled packaging, planning meals to reduce food waste and reducing their clothing purchases, the study found.
Mintel’s research involved a survey of 1,000 Internet users over the age of 18 across 16 countries in April 2022, the firm noted.

Unlike pork markets in 2021, when higher prices were largely attributable to pandemic-related changes in consumer demand, this year supply factors appear to be supporting prices of both hogs and pork, USDA said in its August "Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook."
Lower numbers of slaughter-ready hogs clearing the market at higher year-over-year prices, leading to reduced pork supplies with continued sharply higher pork prices, are likely to continue for the balance of 2022, the report from the agency's Economic Research Service (ERS) said.
The July 2022 cutout reached an average value of $120.60 per cwt — the highest level since June 2021 — jumping more than 10% from its average value in June after averaging about $105 per cwt from February through May, the report said.
Slaughter down
Lower year-over-year monthly hog slaughter numbers were the most important factor driving January-to-July hog and pork prices, according to the ERS. The lower numbers are in line with information reported in successive Quarterly Hogs and Pigs reports since March 2021.
Although carcass weights have averaged higher since February of this year, lower slaughter numbers kept production below year-earlier levels through April. From May through July, however, higher carcass weights offset lower slaughter numbers, nudging pork production just over year-ago levels, after adjusting for slaughter-day differences.
USDA's forecasts for 2022 pork production and hog prices continue to support the scenario of reduced production and higher hog prices, the report said. In 2023, first-quarter production is expected to increase more than 1% to about 7 billion pounds, with hog prices also rising about 1% from year-earlier prices to $66 per cwt.
Second-quarter production is expected to be lower, based on the 1% year-over-year reduction in producer intentions shown in the June Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report, the ERS said. Second-quarter pork production of about 6.5 billion pounds is anticipated, along with hog prices of $74 per cwt.

Supply chain issues and bird flu are making it harder for consumers to find turkey at grocery stores. “I would say over the past two or three weeks here they’ve had a sign up saying there’s a shortage,” Lisa Andersen said of her recent shopping trips. “We’ve had some off-brands they don’t normally carry. Sometimes they are completely out.” ​Some smaller companies can pivot from one supplier to another when supply gets low, but even so, it’s become a day-to-day guessing game. Click here to read the full article. 

By Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist
Drought advanced rapidly across Oklahoma in July. At the end of June, the Drought Monitor showed that 30.76% of the state was in some stage of drought (D1-D4) with another 15.15% abnormally dry (D0). Four weeks later, the July 26 Drought Monitor map showed that 100% of the state was dry with 99.81% in some stage of drought. In fact, 92.11% of the state was Severe drought (D2) or worse. ​

School nutrition professionals are gearing up for more supply chain challenges this upcoming school year, a new report by the School Nutrition Association reveals.
The report compiled findings from a series of listening sessions held this spring with school nutrition professionals, food distributors and state agency staff.
During the sessions, participants revealed their current supply chain struggles and anticipated another hard year for school foodservice. Click here to read the full article. 

Three months ago, Wingstop put a shocker in its earnings release: It was seeing DEFLATION in bone-in chicken wing costs. The chicken chain reiterated the trend with its latest results Thursday morning and its stock rallied 20% on the news.
“We are benefiting from meaningful deflation in bone-in wings,” CEO Michael Skipworth said. At a time when many consumers may have forgotten what deflation is, Wingstop explained that bone-in chicken wing prices have plunged 19% year-over-year in the latest quarter. Click here to read the full article. 

The US is poised to deliver a bumper spring wheat crop in the upcoming weeks, which if realized could help relieve global shortfalls caused by turmoil in the Black Sea.
Fields in North Dakota, the top producing US state, are forecast to yield a record high 49.1 bushels per acre of the grain, according to the final estimate of a three-day crop tour led by the Wheat Quality Council. North Dakota makes up about half of the US’s spring wheat crop. Click here to read the full article. 

U.S. trucking CEOs expect to maintain pricing power even with volumes softening in the second half of 2022 as retailers, manufacturers and consumers adjust to disruptions from Covid lockdowns, the Russia-Ukraine war and inflation.
A recent survey of customers by SAIA, a trucker for Starbucks, Home Depot and Lowe’s, found the majority of companies are still working to figure out their next step and what the “new normal” is for their business, according to CEO Fritz Holzgrefe. Click here to read the full article.