DELCO FOODS
FEBRUARY 2021 VOL. 26, NO. 2
BELLISSIMO PREMIUM SOUPS & CHILI Bellissimo is proud to have added a delicious line-up of soup & chili to its great selection of products. The soup & chili line consists of 11 premium, custom flavors that have been crafted to uncompromising standards using the highest quality ingredients. Every item is full-strength and ready to use... this is not canned, condensed soup & chili.
GOOD NEWS: HARD TO COME BY! By Peter Thor, President, Bellissimo Foods Company
If our “tea-leaves” read of industry sentiment is accurate, people are tired and news “fatigue” has set in. People are tired of the constant barrage of bad news and the up-one-day and down-the-next whiplash of restrictions, ingredient pricing, and estimates of when we will exit this dark tunnel.
The process of bringing this line to life began by selecting flavors with the most universal appeal and utility. Once selected, our chef went to work developing the recipes and selecting each ingredient for its quality.
Let’s focus on some good news and bright spots which will give us encouragement to go forward. Let’s begin taking positive actions. Of course many pieces need to come together, but it’s starting to look like improvement and “normal” are just a few months away. As an example of good news, the Food and Environmental Reporting Network has reported that the Covod-19 illness rate in December amongst meat, poultry, and dairy workers dropped by 80% since May to just 20 cases per 100,000 workers. This means that the production side of our industry is stabilizing and the shortages and price volatility will moderate and continue to improve into the Spring and Summer of 2021. Offsetting this is the disturbing increase in cases amongst the general population which hopefully will decline as vaccination rates increase. The restaurant industry provides an amazing # of jobs in our economy, totaling 15.6 million people and roughly 10% of all payroll jobs. That’s incredible! So too were the losses in jobs as the pandemic hit. Since March more than 110,000 restaurants have closed, either temporarily or permanently. Since May, about 3 million of the laid off restaurant workers have been rehired. Recent state by state lockdowns have reversed the trend but there is incredible political pressure now to enable at least partial reopening. The current situation as of the end of December is that jobs in the “eating and drinking sector” have partially recovered but are still 2.5 million jobs or 20% below pre-pandemic levels. Government programs can have costs as well as benefits. The good news of government direct to consumer payouts is that lower income level persons are likely to receive $2000 each in cash payments. The negative aspect for our industry is that Farm to Family type food box programs tend to spike food costs. Since mid-December, wholesale prices for meat and cheese have increased: Cost Increase: Pork +15%, Beef +33%, Cheese +21%. (continued on page 2) A PROUD DISTRIBUTOR OF BELLISSIMO
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MARKET UPDATE Dairy
PRICE
LAST MONTH
DIFFERENCE
Cheese Blocks $1.7790 $1.6055 $0.1735 The USDA is forcasting Q1 milk output to be 1.5% more than a year ago which is adequate for pending cheese and butter production. Still, cheese prices may be tempered with solid exports.
Beef
PRICE
LAST MONTH
DIFFERENCE
50% Trimmings $0.3470 $0.3960 ($0.049)
Pricing across the rib cuts have been down, they remain modestly above year ago levels, but further weakness is likely into early February. The lackluster food service demand may keep a lid on the fat trim markets.
Poultry
PRICE
LAST MONTH
DIFFERENCE
Wings(Jumbo) $2.2720 $2.3370 ($0.065)
The white meat complex remains mixed, with breast meat prices running below a year ago while wings and tender prices are holding firm over last year. Breast meat prices are expected to head higher, seasonally into late winter to early spring while the wing markets should soften from recent record levels.
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