With brief, occasional, italicized and sometimes gratuitous commentary…
• The Wall Street Journal this morning reports that "American farmers are paying significantly higher prices for their weed-killing chemicals, crop seeds, fertilizer, equipment repairs and seasonal labor, eroding some of 2021’s windfall from rising crop prices. Higher farm costs could help push up grocery bills further in 2022, analysts say, following a year in which global food prices rose to decade highs."
The story goes on: "Supply-chain constraints and staffing problems are leading to higher prices for products and supplies across a variety of industries, especially food. U.S. inflation hit its fastest pace in nearly four decades last year. Food prices surged 7% in January, the sharpest rise since 1981, the Labor Department on Thursday said, as meat and egg prices continued to climb at double-digit rates.
"A rally in prices for agricultural commodities such as corn and soybeans, which kicked off in mid-2020, pushed up incomes for U.S. farmers and led them to spend more freely on farmland and machinery. In 2021, U.S. farms’ net income was estimated to be about $117 billion, up 23% from 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"Even as crop prices remain high, supply costs are expected to outpace the price of agricultural goods in 2022, according to a January report from the Federal Reserve Board. Net income for farmers in Kansas is estimated to fall 65% from a year ago, according to a January study from Kansas State University."
• From the Washington Post this morning:
"As Americans assembled their ingredients for Super Bowl guacamole over the weekend, troubling news emerged from the U.S. Department of Agriculture: Avocado imports from Michoacán, Mexico, had been suspended.
"The import suspension comes as avocado prices hit record highs, 100 percent more expensive than they were a year ago, according to David Magaña, a senior analyst for RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness.
"'In a few days, the current inventory will be sold out and there will be a lack of product in almost any supermarket,' said Raul Lopez, Mexico manager of Agtools, which conducts market research of agricultural commodities. 'The consumer will have very few products available, and prices will rise drastically.'
"The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is working with Customs and Border Protection to allow avocados that were inspected and certified for export on or before Feb. 11 to continue to be imported. After that, there will be no more avocados until further notice."
• Eater Seattle reports that workers at the Starbucks Roastery in Seattle - a format that when it opened in 2014, a first for the company, designed to pilot an entire fleet that would focus on a high-end coffee and food experience - have filed for a union election.
The story notes that "it is the 81st store in the country, and the fifth in the Seattle area, that has plans to unionize, joining a wave of Starbucks workers across the country seeking higher wages and better benefits." However, successful unionization of this particular unit "would be a symbolically important win for Starbucks Workers United."
Somewhere in Seattle, an appalled but energized Howard Schultz may be practicing his "I have returned" speech.
• The Boston Globe has a story about a local business that has developed what is described as "the Keurig of ice cream," raising "$27 million in funding and planning "to launch commercial sales of its make-them-at-home frozen treat machine."
Here's how the Globe describes the gizmo:
"ColdSnap’s single-serve aluminum pods are each roughly the size of a Red Bull can, and deliver a variety of frozen treats, including dairy and non-dairy ice cream, frozen smoothies, frozen cocktails, and more. The recyclable pods are shelf-stable for nine to 12 months.
"Once the pod is inserted into the top of the ColdSnap machine, a camera inside reads the pod’s QR code to determine exactly how it should be frozen. Then, using what (company founder-president Matthew) Fonte calls 'a compressor-condenser-evaporator technology,' the machine pulls heat from the pod to flash-freeze the ingredients inside. All of this occurs inside the pod so there’s no cleanup necessary, he added.
"After 60 to 120 seconds, the machine dispenses the smooth frozen concoction. Fonte said he has over 30 issued patents related to ColdSnap’s proprietary freezing process, and another 65 to 70 pending … The ColdSnap system also aims to disrupt the ice cream industry’s standard cold chain. Manufacturing and shipping ice cream typically requires keeping it frozen at all times, an expensive and environmentally taxing process. But a machine that freezes pods on-demand changes the equation."
