Survey: More Than Half of Consumers Are Supporting Local Restaurants Over Chains

More than two years after the initial COVID-19 lockdown measures, many small business restaurants are getting back to business as usual with in-person dining in full swing. According to a new survey by NEXT Insurance, a leading digital insurtech company transforming small business insurance, consumers are eager to cast their delivery apps aside in support of local Main Street restaurants: data shows 64% of consumers have gone out of their way to support local restaurants over larger chain restaurants during the pandemic. Additionally, 29% of consumers...

NCC Response to House Committee Report on COVID-19 Workplace Safety

Attributable to National Chicken Council (NCC) President Mike Brown:

“NCC member companies have long been committed to protecting and enhancing worker safety, a commitment that well predates the COVID-19 pandemic. But when the COVID-19 pandemic reached American shores, it was immediately clear that worker safety would be paramount.

“As a critical infrastructure sector staffed by essential workers, the chicken industry was presented with a seemingly impossible task – keep food on the tables and keep workers safe, all in the face of a highly transmissible and all-but..."

Worker Health and Safety is First Priority in Meat and Poultry Industry

The North American Meat Institute, the nation’s trade association for meat and poultry packers and processors, today said the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis’ partisan report distorts the truth about the meat and poultry industry’s work to protect employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The following is a statement from Julie Anna Potts, President and CEO of the North American Meat Institute:

“The Meat Institute and its member companies voluntarily provided hundreds of thousands of pages to the Committee..."

Foodservice Update Q2 2022: Foodservice in Troubled Times - Impact of the War in Ukraine

This is a special edition focusing on the impact that the war in Ukraine may have on the foodservice industry in the immediate and the longer term. Food and energy prices were already rising before the war began, and this conflict has amplified the trend, making clear that high prices will not revert any time soon. Also, foreign brands operating in Russia are exposed to reputational risks, which might have consequences in long term strategies.

Report summary
The consequences will differ, depending on the market and...

Tyson Foods CEO: Beef Prices Driven by Strong Demand, Constrained Production and Record Inflation

“It’s a question of basic supply and demand,” says King.

A combination of market forces, including consistently strong demand for finished beef, constrained production due to labor shortages caused by the global pandemic, and record inflation, have been driving current beef prices, Tyson Foods President & CEO Donnie King says in prepared testimony delivered to the U.S. House Agriculture Committee. The testimony was presented in advance of a hearing on Wednesday.

King makes the following points in his testimony:

- As with nearly...

As Soon As Pandemic Restrictions Lifted, Canadians Flooded Back Into Restaurants 

One of the most predictable behaviours that emerged over the past two years of the pandemic is Canadians will flood into restaurants as soon as restrictions lift, which happened in February, reports The NPD Group. Online and physical visits to Canadian restaurants and foodservice outlets increased by 17% in February compared to February 2021, when traffic declined by 23%. Despite the double-digit increase in visits, commercial foodservice traffic remains -9% below the pre-pandemic level in February 2020, according to NPD’s continual tracking of the Canadian foodservice industry...

CEOs Get Personal on Industry Challenges of Past 2 Years

Over the past two years, there have been a lot of essential discussions about the shopper journey and the important ways that grocery workers’ lives were impacted by pandemic-fueled changes and challenges at work. Industry leaders have also been in the fray to steer their companies ahead in a challenging era with hits from all sides.

“It was like getting a curveball every single day.” That was one remark from an executive who took part in the 56th Annual Food Marketing Conference in Grand Rapids, Mich., presented...