Jack in the Box Reports Second Quarter FY 2021 Earnings

Jack in the Box reported financial results for the second quarter ended April 11, 2021 and provided fiscal year 2021 financial guidance.

Jack in the Box total revenues increased 19 percent to $257.2 million, compared to $216.2 million in the comparable period ended April 12, 2020, driven by 20.6 percent growth in system same-store sales. Company same-store sales increased 14.5 percent in the second quarter, reflecting average check growth of 19.9 percent and a 5.4 percent decrease in transactions. Franchise same-store sales increased 21.3 percent.

Net earnings more than tripled to $35.9 million, or $1.58 per diluted share, for the second quarter of fiscal 2021, compared with...

Urner Barry Releases May Soy & Wheat Protein Report

In March, farmers experienced a decline in prices for their soybean and all-wheat crops. Average all-wheat prices decreased $0.97/bu from February while average soybean prices declined $4.23/bu. May front month futures increased from April’s rates. CBOT wheat front month futures reached...

Dine Brands Global Announces Executive Appointments

Dine Brands Global, the parent company of Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar® and IHOP® restaurants, announced that Vance Chang has been named Chief Financial Officer, effective June 14, 2021.

Most recently, Vance served as CFO for Exer Urgent Care. Before that, he was CFO at YOGAWORKS. He has also held positions at Pressed Juicery, Moelis & Company, Oracle and Deloitte & Touche. Vance received a degree in accounting from the University of Washington and an MBA from...

Cal-Maine Foods Acquires Remaining Interest in Red River Valley Egg Farm

Cal-Maine Foods announced that the Company has reached a definitive agreement to purchase the remaining 50 percent membership interest in Red River Valley Egg Farm, LLC from Rose Acre Farms, Inc. The entity will become a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. The purchase price is $48.5 million for the balance of the joint venture’s membership interests.

Red River Valley Egg Farm, LLC owns and operates a specialty shell egg production complex with approximately 1.7 million laying hens, pullet capacity, feed mill, processing plant, related offices and...

ANALYSIS: Thigh Meat and Ham Relationship Perseveres Through Thick and Thin

Amidst the various challenges that 2021 has presented so far, market participants are taking notice if not solace in what appears to be...

Two Individuals Charged for Their Roles in Massive Cattle Ponzi Scheme

A federal grand jury in Colorado returned an indictment that was unsealed Tuesday charging an Illinois woman and a Georgia man with running a Ponzi scheme that raised approximately $650 million from investors across the country.

According to court documents, Reva Joyce Stachniw, 69, of Galesburg, Illinois, and Ron Throgmartin, 57, of Buford, Georgia, were charged with running a Ponzi scheme, along with a third co-conspirator, Mark Ray, from late 2017 until early 2019. Ray was previously charged by criminal information for his role in...

Beyond Meat Expands Presence at Walmart with Beyond Meatballs and Summer Grilling Pop-ups

Beyond Meat, a leader in plant-based meat, announced its second expansion of product offerings this year at Walmart. This June, Beyond Meatballs™ will be available for the first time at 2,100 Walmart stores in which Beyond Meat products are already sold across the country. This rollout is the second major Beyond Meat expansion at Walmart in 2021, following the launch of Beyond Sausage® Hot Italian and Cookout Classic™ in stores earlier this year.

As demand for plant-based meat options continues to grow, Beyond Meat has increased retail momentum across the U.S., Europe, Australia and other global markets in an effort to increase worldwide accessibility to delicious plant-based meat products made without GMOs. As the key summer grilling season kicks off, consumers have continued to...

Performance Food Group Company Announces Addition of Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion

Performance Food Group Company announced that Claudia Mills, formerly with Richmond-based Altria Group, Inc., will start as its Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion, effective May 17. She will fill a vital role on PFG’s senior Human Resources leadership team.

“We are excited to bring Claudia’s significant experience and expertise to PFG,” said Chairman, President & CEO George Holm. “PFG has grown over the years by bringing together companies and cultures that share many similarities, but what truly makes us successful is our focus on taking advantage of the different strengths of...

Jennie-O Turkey Store Announces Launch of Jennie-O Turkey Burger Blends

Jennie-O Turkey Store announced the launch of a new product called Jennie-O® turkey burger blends. Made from a combination of white meat turkey, black beans, whole grain rice and pepitas, these carefully selected and nutritious ingredients offer consumers the combined benefits of lean, meat-based and plant-forward protein (15g) and fiber (5g) in one tasty turkey burger.

"We know that people are becoming increasingly interested in adding more plant-focused...

Alpha Foods Introduces Plant-based Breakfast Sandwiches and Burritos

As post-pandemic life becomes more of a reality across America and the demand for on-the-go meals increases, Alpha Foods is elevating breakfast with the launch of five new Plant-Based Breakfast Sandwiches and Plant-Based Breakfast Burritos. The new lineup includes: Alpha® Meatless Sausage, Plant Egg & Cheeze Breakfast Sandwich, Alpha® Spicy Chorizo, Plant Egg & Cheeze Breakfast Sandwich, Alpha® Protein Supreme Breakfast Burrito, Alpha® Bac'n Scramble Breakfast Burrito and Alpha® Rockin' Ranchero Breakfast Burrito - all of which come filled with meatless protein, dairy-free cheese, and plant-based eggs. The new breakfast items will hit the frozen aisle of grocery stores nationwide this June.

As the world settles into the new normal and new routines, Alpha Foods developed this breakfast line with more vital iron and fiber than many other breakfast brands for...

U.S. Restaurant Carry-Out and Delivery Digital Orders Soar During the Pandemic

Digital ordering was a lifeline for consumers and U.S. restaurants, particularly full service restaurants, during the pandemic, reports The NPD Group. In the year ending March 2021, which covers a full year since the start of the pandemic, restaurant digital orders grew +124% compared to prior year. Digital orders for carry-out, which represented 62% of all digital orders, increased by +130%, and digital orders for delivery grew by +142% in the period compared to year ago and held 38% share of total restaurant digital orders, according to NPD’s ongoing foodservice market research, CREST®.

Digital ordering offered full service restaurants, which operated under varying degrees of mandated dine-in restrictions throughout the pandemic, much needed...

Grubhub Unveils Grubhub Direct, a Commission-Free Platform

Grubhub announced Grubhub Direct, a platform to help independent restaurants better compete online through commission-free online ordering and access to their customer data. With nearly 10 years building branded ordering and loyalty experiences for large restaurant chains, Grubhub is leveraging its expertise to help independent restaurants develop their own customized ordering websites, empowering them to market directly to their diners, receive their diner data and manage their branded website—all without any marketing fees.

"We're constantly listening and learning from our independent restaurant partners, and we've heard them. Restaurants want more options to build their brands online and maintain a loyal base of diners through their own channels," said Matt Maloney, founder and CEO of Grubhub. "That's why we're opening...

Agrimoney Week – Open Access to Agrimoney Services on May 10-14

For 5 days, the award-winning Agrimoney website offering insight agricultural commodity markets, will open up its coverage to non-subscribers, alongside special webinars, live videos and white papers.

For the second time, and back by popular demand, the Agrimoney team will on May 10-14 offer a special week of exclusive content stretching across the agricommodities markets, including coffee, palm oil, grains.

These will cover the US Department of Agriculture’s May Wasde report, the first to offer...

Wendy's Reports First Quarter 2021 Results

The Wendy's Company reported unaudited results for the first quarter ended April 4, 2021.

"We are increasing our 2021 financial outlook meaningfully across all key financial metrics, driven by an outstanding first quarter that underscores our continued momentum and the overall strength of our business," President and Chief Executive Officer Todd Penegor said. "The robust growth in our business continued in the first quarter of 2021 as sales significantly exceeded our expectations and fueled our restaurant economic model, leading to...

Cultivated Meat Likely to Make Up 40% of Future Meat Intake 

According to research published by the journal Foods, cultivated meat is likely to make up a major part of consumers' future diets. The study showed patterns of greater openness to trying such products by younger generational groups: 87-89% of Gen Z adults, 84-85% of Millennials, 76-77% of Gen X, and 70-74% of Boomers were at least somewhat open to trying cultivated meat.

Led by Keri Szejda, Ph.D., the researchers surveyed a large, representative sample of 2,018 US and 2,034 UK consumers, assessing indicators of adoption among the general population, and...

Retail Looks Forward as the US Emerges from the Pandemic

As the United States emerges from pandemic rules in the coming months, there will be changes, large and small, fo