Food & Beverage
March 'roars' in for pizza brands, just not in a friendly way
There was nothing very friendly about the prices that greeted pizza operators at the start of March, both for their companies and the commodities they need to do business.
March 8, 2021 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group
March did indeed roar in a little like an angry lion for pizza operators, who saw commodity prices rise, though the stock value of their brands fell for all but one of the publicly traded brands monitored by Pizza Marketplace weekly.
Domino's Pizza, — a stock that's been sliding lately — racked up another losing week when its share price dropped $16.33 last week to $330.24. Meanwhile, competitor, Papa John's also took a tumble, sliding in value over the week's trading from $90.20 on Feb. 26, to $82.67 last Friday at the closing bell.
Pizza Inn and Pie Five parent company, Rave Restaurant Group, sliced about 6 cents off its share price over the five days of trading, closing Friday at $1.13. In fact, the only pizza company that posted an albeit slight gain in value over the week's activity, was Louisville, Kentucky-based Pizza Hut parent, Yum Brands. That brand actually posted an 80-cent gain in stock value over the week's trading to close at $104.33 Friday.
Cheese
In cheese trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange last week, both barrels and blocks came out gaining overall. The weekly average for barrels popped up nearly 4 cents to nearly $11.45, while blocks gained 6 cents on a average price of nearly $1.67. Barrels closed at $1.51, while 40-pound blocks came in at $1.73 at the close of trading Friday.
Although rare in the past year, foodservice-focused cheese producers received some positive news last week as a growing number of states are lifting, or indicating plans to ease public dining restrictions, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Retail sales are noted as healthy, which has been the case throughout most of the past year, but foodservice sales have been notably more affected. That said, a number of cheesemakers told the U.S.D.A. they received fewer offers last week than in previous weeks.
As cheese market prices met some proverbial "bulls" last week, inventories are growing in a number of locations. As a result, market tones could remain in check.
Wheat
Wheat prices gained moderately last week, up about a half a percentage point overall. May Minnesota Grain Exchange spring wheat futures rose 3¼ cents to nearly $6.47, while in Chicago, May soft red winter wheat futures gained 3½ cents to $6.55.
Global wheat stocks are expected to rise mostly, as well while May Kansas City hard red winter wheat futures gained nearly 6 cents on the week to close at just under $6.27 Friday. May Kansas City HRW futures rose 5.75 cents to $6.2675, and May MGEX spring wheat futures added 3.25 cents to $6.4675.
Auto fuel
It was nice while it lasted, but the days of those fuel prices that at one time approached $1.99 a gallon appear to be gone for the foreseeable future with current gas prices continuing to surge forward. Over the five weekdays last week, the price for a gallon of regular nationally grew by 2 cents to $2.74 on average. The American Automobile Association said that higher crude prices, lower gas supplies, and increased gas demand are combining to create the heftier pump prices.
According to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, total domestic gas stocks decreased by 13.6 million barrels (bbl) to 243.5 million bbl, as demand increased from 7.2 million barrels per day (b/d) to 8.15 million b/d last week. If these trends continue alongside higher crude prices, pizza operators can expect incremental price increases — of at least nickel — at their local gas stations in March, AAA said.
The biggest gas price gains over last week were led by the prices in Utah, where pump prices grew an average of 20 cents over the week. Next steepest weekly increases were see in Colorado (up 13 cents) and then Wyoming, Idaho and Arizona, which all saw prices increases an average of 12 cents on the week.
The average price for a gallon of regular nationally this morning was $2.77, up 5 cents from last week, while mid-grade and premium each gained 6 cents on the week for average prices this morning of $3.09 and $3.36, respectively. Diesel fuel averaged $3.01, up 7 cents, while E85 came in at $2.39, up just 2 cents on the week.
Natural gas
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, natural gas spot prices were relatively flat at most locations for the seven days ending on March 3, with most hubs rising less than 10 cents per million British thermal units (MMBtu), week over week. The Henry Hub spot price rose from $2.75 per MMBtu to $2.84/MMBtu over the same period.
At the New York Mercantile Exchange, the March 2021 contract expired last Wednesday at $2.86/MMBtu. The April 2021 contract price increased to $2.82/MMBtu, up 2 cents/MMBtu. The price of the 12-month strip averaging April 2021 through March 2022 futures contracts climbed 2 cents/MMBtu to $2.99/MMBtu.
The natural gas plant liquids composite price at Mont Belvieu, Texas, fell by 2 cents/MMBtu, averaging $8.03/MMBtu for the period. The price of ethane declined 7%, reflecting lower average natural gas prices, which fell 34% from last week's average. Prices of natural gasoline and propane fell by 1%. The prices of butane and isobutane rose by 8% and 6%, respectively, as a result of strong demand for motor gasoline blending
About S.A. Whitehead
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.
