TOP STORIES

 

From Beans to Burgers, Food Is Getting More Expensive

Soup, Spam and Shake Shack burgers are all getting more expensive as food companies pass along higher costs to consumers.

General Mills Inc., Campbell Soup Co., Unilever PLC, and J.M. Smucker Co. are among food makers raising prices at supermarkets. Restaurants including Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. and Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. have raised menu prices. Executives say they expect more price increases this summer as costs remain elevated for labor, commodities and transport.

"We're in a period of unprecedented commodity inflation," Unilever Chief Executive Officer Alan Jope told investors Monday. He said Unilever would recover some of those costs in part by selling smaller packages of some foods at the same price as a larger size.

 

JBS Paid $11 Million to Resolve Ransomware Attack -- WSJ

JBS USA Holdings Inc. paid an $11 million ransom to cybercriminals who last week temporarily knocked out plants that process roughly one-fifth of the nation's meat supply, the company's chief executive said.

The ransom payment, in bitcoin, was made to shield JBS meat plants from further disruption and to limit the potential impact on restaurants, grocery stores and farmers that rely on JBS, said Andre Nogueira, chief executive of Brazilian meat company JBS SA's U.S. division.

"It was very painful to pay the criminals, but we did the right thing for our customers," Mr. Nogueira said Wednesday in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. He added that the payment was made after the majority of JBS plants were up and running again.

 

STORIES OF INTEREST

 

Dave & Buster's Says Revenue May Return to Pre-Pandemic Levels in 2Q, But Margins Face Pressure

Dave & Buster's Entertainment Inc. believes it may get back to 2019 revenues during its current quarter but faces profit-margin pressure amid high expenses for workers and other costs.

The entertainment-venue chain on Thursday said it expects to generate $335 million to $350 million in revenue for its fiscal second quarter, compared with $345 million for the same period in 2019, before the pandemic.

 

Smucker CFO Weighs Additional Price Hikes if Inflation Exceeds Forecasts

J.M. Smucker Co. is looking at another round of potential price increases on top of hikes planned for July if inflation outpaces the food maker's current forecasts.

Smucker is facing higher costs for ingredients such as coffee, peanuts, soybeans and animal fats, as well as for packaging and transportation, making it necessary to pass some of these on to consumers, Chief Financial Officer Tucker Marshall said.

 

FUTURES MARKETS

 

Cattle Futures Higher on Strong Demand -- Market Talk

15:05 ET - Live cattle futures finish trading higher Thursday, with the most-active contract closing up 0.2% to $1.1855 per pound. Driving this turnaround is strong demand for meat, says the American Farm Bureau Federation. "So far, 2021 has been a story of rising beef prices supported by extremely healthy demand for beef," says the AFBF. "There are a variety of factors contributing to this, ranging from government stimulus to economies reopening. Grocery stores, food service and exporters are all competing for product." In its WASDE report today, the USDA raised its outlook for beef exports based on stronger Asian demand. Lean hog futures finished down 0.1% at $1.21325 per pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

 

CASH MARKETS

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Jun 10 
 
Source: USDA, based on Wall Street Journal calculations. 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
Jun 10       +$  9.85            +$131.39 
Jun 9        +$ 14.53            +$132.25 
Jun 8        +$ 22.66            +$134.07 
 
* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production. 
A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of 
production of the animals. 
 
Beef-O-Meter 
This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite 
values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices. 
 
 
                                  Beef 
          For Today              Choice  136.9 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)      Select  136.2 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Thursday fell 40 cents per hundred pounds, to $338.25, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices rose $2.53 per hundred pounds, to $310.40. The total load count was 110. Wholesale pork prices fell 40 cents, to $132.18 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 10, 2021 17:39 ET (21:39 GMT)

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