Happy Thursday!

Some of our stocked items have become easier to get, and service levels are improving! Certain lines are having more issues than others, but we are moving closer to normal.
This week, there seems to be an industry-wide shortage of cream cheese. Our orders are getting because there isn’t enough product to go around.
Another problem area is blue cheese and gorgonzola. Saputo, the largest producer, is having huge issues. They are asking for a 2 week lead time – and then when the truck shows up, there isn’t any product. This is also compounded by the fact that they aren’t giving us notice of the cuts.

Eggs:
The egg market has been stable. The issue the industry is now facing is the lack of retail packaging. There was such a rush on egg cartons that the producers could not recover quickly. Now more eggs are being packed in foodservice packaging. This will probably drive the market down as breakfast places have not yet recovered.
I don’t think many people are ordering takeout breakfast like they are lunch and dinner.
Quick Serve restaurants are doing o.k., but mainstream breakfast and lunch restaurants are not.

Butter:
The butter market drifted slightly lower this week. We ended up down .05 for the week.

Cheese:
Both the Block and Barrel markets keep rising dramatically.
I am hearing that the block is tight due to the fact that the item actually traded at the CME must be a yellow 40# block that was produced within 3-31 days of the trading date.
With blocks being tight, they are now harder to come by.
This week’s average is somewhere around $2.07 – another substantial jump.
I still feel that there will be a pullback within the next few weeks, but as always, I must state that these are only my opinions and observations and can guarantee no results.

Cream:

With the drops in butter late April and early May, we ended up with a drop in fluid cream pricing. It is the lowest I can remember in years. With the recent increases, I would make a wager that July cream price will bounce back higher.

Honor foods would like to thank all of you for your continued business and support. We hope you have a safe and relaxing weekend. We all deserve it!