Article

An egg-cellent pre-Easter week for pizza brands

Cheese, wheat and natural gas prices fell last week in the run-up to Easter, while only one of the pizza brands monitored here dropped in value.

April 22, 2019 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

The Easter bunny laid a profitable egg last week for pizza restaurateurs when all the major commodities, aside from vehicle fuel, were down in price and three of the four publicly traded brands monitored by this site trended upward. 

Cheese

On the U.S. cheese markets Friday, Northeast and Midwest cheese demand reports were stable to improved this week, while Western cheese outfits said sales were mixed and specialty cheese producers are seeing some seasonal ordering pushes, according to the U.S.D.A. Agricultural Marketing Service's Dairy Market News. 

Milk is available to fulfill cheesemaking needs nationwide, although Midwest sources tell the U.S.D.A. it's not as plentiful as in years past. Cheese production is generally steady throughout the country, but Western producers are aware of long inventories and have made plans to reduce output. 

Cheese markets were a bit shakier last week. Block prices were generally positive, while barrel prices on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) slipped,reintroducing market participants to a growing price gap.

On the CME, the weekly average barrel price was $1.58, down from $1.60 a week earlier. The weekly average block price was $1.66, compared to $1.65 the previous week.

Wheat

Compared to last week, cash bids for wheat were 5 to 20 cents lower. Export sales for week ending April 11 totaled 11.7 million bushels of wheat, according to the U.S.D.A. Missouri Department of Agriculture Market News Service. 

Kansas City U.S. No. 1 Hard Red Winter, ordinary protein rail bid was 15 1/2 cents lower, from $5.50-$5.60 per bushel. Kansas City U.S. No. 2 Soft Red winter rail bid was not quoted.  

St. Louis truck U.S. No. 2 Soft Red Winter terminal bid was 15 to 16 cents lower, from $4.76-$4.81 per bushel. Minneapolis and Duluth U.S. No. 1 Dark Northern Spring, 14.0 to 14.5 percent protein rail, was 15 to 20 cents lower, at $6.38 1/4 per
bushel. Portland U.S. Soft White wheat rail was 5 to 15 cents lower, from $5.85-$5.90 per bushel.

Vehicle fuel

The national average for vehicle fuel this morning was $2.84, according to the American Automobile Association, which said nationally, retail prices for the commodity ranged from $2.93 to $4.03, with those in California paying the most they've paid for auto fuel in five years. 

Nationally, the average price of gas this morning was $2.84, which is up a penny from last week and 22 cents from last month. In fact, that's 8 cents more a gallon than we paid a year ago. 

For diesel fuel, the average price per gallon was $3.08, just 4 cents higher than this time last year. Meanwhile, E85 fuel showed some of the steepest differences in price from last year with the average price per gallon today at $2.43, which is 12 cents higher than the price paid one year ago. 

Natural Gas

Natural gas spot prices fell at most locations for the seven days  ending April 17.  Henry Hub spot prices fell from $2.69 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) last Wednesday to $2.56/MMBtu yesterday, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

At the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), the price of the May 2019 contract decreased 18 cents, from $2.700/MMBtu to $2.517/MMBtu over that same period.  The price of the 12-month strip averaging May 2019 through April 2020 futures contracts declined 15 cents/MMBtu to $2.726/MMBtu.

Net injections to working gas totaled 92 billion cubic feet (Bcf) for the week ending April 12. Working natural gas stocks are 1,247 Bcf, which is 4% lower than the year-ago level and 25% lower than the five-year (2014-18) average for this week.

The natural gas plant liquids composite price at Mont Belvieu, Texas, rose by 21 cents/MMBtu, averaging $6.15/MMBtu for the week ending April 17. The price of ethane, propane, butane, isobutane, and natural gasoline all rose, by 7, 4, 2, 2 and 1%, respectively.

According to Baker Hughes, for the week ending Tuesday, April 9, the natural gas rig count decreased by five to 189. The number of oil-directed rigs rose by two to 833. The total rig count decreased by three, and it now stands at 1,022

Pizza company stocks

On the stock market last week, the world's largest pizza company, Domino's managed to score a $10 hike in its value over the week to land at $267.61 Friday at the close of the New York Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, Yum Brands also coaxed a little more out of stockholders last week ending the week's trading at $103.51, up $2.11 from the previous week's close. 

Over on the Nasdaq, Papa John's was actually down in value to close the week at $49.26, down 93 cents from a week earlier. Papa Murphy's, remained flat at $6.44, after its spike last week on news that MTY Foods would acquire it.

Photo: iStock

About S.A. Whitehead

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Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.