Welcome to The Lempert Report LIVE
Welcome to The Lempert Report LIVE
Welcome to the Lempert Report LIVE. A programming note,The Lempert Report LIVE will not broadcast on Monday, December 26th, or on New Year's Day, January 2nd, 2023. Our regular programming will resume on Monday, January 9th, but be sure to check out SupermarketGuru.com as we will be posting new stories there throughout the holidays. Today, Sally and I will be sharing what each of us think will be the most important issue to be watching in 2023, and why what Generation Z ranks as their top New Year's resolution. A look at Amazon's Inspire, a new after hours restaurant in Vegas that only has two more days before it closes, but may start a whole new trend. GrubHub's top food orders in 2022 list and the number one may surprise you. Be sure to check out Food News Today on SupermarketGuru.com for the most up to the minute newsfeed courtesy of our partnership with Cision. Let's get started. So, Sally, this new report that has just come out, I find scary. When we look at Generation Z, it's a Forbes Health and one poll survey of over a thousand US adults was conducted November 18th through November 22nd. And top line is they found that 45% of respondents noted an improvement in mental health as one of their top New Year's resolutions compared to 39% who said, improve fitness, 37% who wanna lose weight, and 33% who cited improved diet. What's scary is, you know, when you bring it down, not to all adults, but 18 to 25 year olds, 49% of those cited, you know, improved mental health is their top resolution that compares to 33% of 18 to 25 year olds and 30% of 26 to 41 year olds. The World Health Organization reported back in March that in the first year of covid, global prevalence of anxiety and depression spiked by 25%. Do we have a problem?
Sally:We do, Phil. And you know, the great thing I, I believe is that we are talking more about mental health, and that is a huge win. It is no longer stigmatized as much as it has been in the past. So it's a good thing that we're talking about it, and maybe that's why that those numbers have increased. You know, we also went through a pandemic, which con, which contributed to that, and we are looking at anxiety and depression increasing in children ages eight to 18 as well. In fact, there has been a special task force under the Biden administration to address screening for this. So, as far as being in the food world, you know, we are talking a lot more about foods that serve our mental health needs. But yes, I think I see this as, you know, going into the year, something that we all need to, to make a high priority.
Phil:Absolutely. And, and when I look at, especially for school-aged kids, that in some cases weren't in school for a year, some cases, two years, they haven't had the social interaction with their friends in order to have fun to relax. So all that has been taken away from them. So I really think that this is a very serious issue and we all need to address it, whether we're parents, grandparents, people who who are very anxious. We just need to ratchet it down a little bit to all get on the same playing field. Amazon has announced a new TikTok like shopping experience. It's called Inspire. I went on my app, it's not there. It's only for a limited number of people so far. So I wasn't able to see it. But basically what they're doing is, you know, they're gonna have videos and images, so you can then press a button and you could buy whatever that product is. This article's really interesting to me because of one of the things they say at the end of it, most of Amazon's takes on social media tend to be fairly bland as the content only exists to push products. People browse social sites for more than just ideas about things to buy. They want to engage with creators, learn new things, laugh and be entertained. So, you know, we've seen Amazon come up with a whole bunch of things with live videos and so on, but I think this article really points out very clearly what Amazon's problem is, that they're just focused on selling things versus really trying to be a social media channel.
Sally:Yes. And I think that this is a really cool step in the right direction as far as trends are going with people getting engaging in social media. You know, it does sound a lot like scrolling through TikTok, like scrolling through Instagram Reels and Stories. This is gonna be videos that customers can actually contribute. So it's not just the brands, it's customers, it's influencers. So there is more of a connecting with real people using these products and talking about them. Hopefully that's what they're planning on.
Phil:Do you think Amazon can pull it off?
Sally:I think they definitely have the opportunity. You know, a lot of people wanna shop on Amazon because we can get anything there and we can get it quickly. Seeing those stories about those products will make it even more intriguing.
Phil:Yeah. So we just found out about this, which is why we're telling you there's only two days left, that if you're in Las Vegas between now and December 21st, Doritos has opened up Doritos after Dark. So these are people who get hungry who want late night bites delivered straight to their hotel doors. Dorito says when they want it the most, Dorito's flaming Hot, Cool Ranch corn puppies, Dorito's nacho average Nachos, Dorito's spicy Sweet Chili Chicken Bites and Dorito's Cool Ranch loaded pita. So what's interesting to me is why Doritos chose just to do this from December 16th through December 21st. Number one, maybe there's something going on in Las Vegas, I didn't check, that's really important, that's gonna have all these people do it. But I think it's a really interesting idea, and if in fact it has been successful, I think that not only Doritos, but other brands might try the same thing, but not just temporarily for a week, but, you know, open up after dark places. I know here in Santa Monica there's a bunch of the bars that have late night menus for those people who, you know, I guess are drinking all day and then want a late night menu from one to three o'clock in the morning.
Sally:Yes. It's one of the things I miss the most about living in LA is being able to order food whenever I want, because we don't have that luxury here in Tennessee. Yeah, and you know, this, this whole Doritos after Dark and Doritos recipes, Doritos dishes, it makes me wonder what they're doing on TikTok and what they're doing on social media to really hype up this idea, this concept, because it sounds like a TikTok trend. A TikTok recipe.
Phil:Yeah, it does. And talking about delivery, GrubHub has come up with the top trends in delivery for 2022. What's interesting and what they do is they analyze millions of, so these are what people actually bought. So 4 million times burritos were bought, and that makes it the number one top order of the year. That's a little surprising to me. I wouldn't expect a burrito to be number one, would you?
Sally:Well, I wouldn't expect it to be number one but I get it. You know, you can put anything in a burrito, you can be a vegetarian and eat a burrito. You can eat meat and eat a burrito. So that doesn't surprise me. What I love about reading about how GrubHub is saying burritos were number one. I like how Chipotle got involved in this as well in celebrating the burrito being so big. They're such a smart brand when it comes to interacting with their consumers digitally. And so they're offering$5 off orders,$20 or more from GrubHub during the month of December to celebrate the burrito.
Phil:Yeah. And just to give you some other ideas of the top dishes, number two is cheeseburger, three cheese pizza, four padThai, five chicken quesadilla. The top breakfast order was sausage, egg and cheese sandwich. Thank you McDonald's for introducing us to that. Top late night orders, talking about orders 10:00 PM and later, number one is a chicken quesadilla, fried chicken sandwich cheeseburger, mozzarella sticks and cheese pizza. The top dessert was tiramisu. The top alcohol was beer, followed by margarita. And hot sake, I'm surprised at the hot sake. Top coffee order was iced coffee, not hot coffee. Hot coffee was number two. The top milk alternatives I found really interesting, and we've seen this at at Starbucks as well. Number one is oat milk, thanks Oatly and all their advertising, I guess. Almond milk number two, coconut milk number three, soy milk number four, cashew milk number five. The top trending cuisine I found really odd, number one was Australian. What kind of cuisine does Australia have? I mean, Australia is like America, you know, so I don't know what Australian cuisine could be.
Sally:I'm very curious. When I read this, I was surprised. And now I am so curious. I'm gonna research what the Aussie's eat
Phil:Yeah, we have to find that. Also, if you're a prime Amazon member, don't forget, you can still sign up for one year GrubHub trial membership for free for a year. Just go to amazon.com/grubhub. So thank you GrubHub for sharing those with us, and we're gonna find out what Australians are eating. So Sally, what's the trend that you're watching closely for 2023 and why?
Sally:Phil, I put some thought into this, and I think what, what I'm looking at is what companies, what brands, what kind of karma they have, their company karma, what their story is and how they're communicating that to their shoppers. So when we talk about karma in the spiritual sense, it's the Buddhist and the Hindus believe that it is the sum of a person's actions in this existence. And what that decides their fate in future existence is. So if we apply that concept to companies, what we're talking about here is, are you making it a top priority to treat your employees fairly, making them feel appreciated, inspiring them to believe in your brand? Are you taking a serious look at the urgent T L C that our planet needs? And how is your company being a better steward to the environment? Are you contributing or providing resources to fight food insecurity and food equity? Your shoppers want to connect with your story, and they want to feel virtue in their purchases so much that they wanna publicly share it on social media. What brands and products resonate with their own values. Now, as we look at Gen Z, they're growing up, and this, this coming year, the oldest Gen z Gen Zer is gonna be 27, and they are shaping digital interactions with authenticity. So it's time to put away the smoke and the mirrors, because we want the raw feed, we want the emotional connection and the relatable qualities. I wanna know that my money is not spent in vain, but it contributes to a higher result, a higher purpose that I'm a part of. So tell me your story, brands and retailers, but tell it to me in less than three minutes with humor, creativity, music, and pop culture themes.
Phil:Yeah, I, I think that your point about karma is just so important. And, and to build on that, For me, what’s keeping me up at night is labor. We’ve talked over the past couple of years about the shortages of truck drivers, poultry and meat processing workers, supermarket and restaurant workers and even how some cities like NYC are pushing to make the minimum wage for food delivery workers at$23/hr. We are seeing workers at Starbucks, Amazon, Hershey’s, Chipotle, Dollar General, Walgreen’s pushing to unionize. In fact, over the past 12 months ending October 2022 workers have filed more than 2,000 requests to hold elections to form labor unions. This is a good thing. Even though there are a lot of tensions at these and many other companies the truth is that many workers are stuck in low paying jobs, often without job security or benefits and can barely make ends meet. The pandemic shone a light on many worker’s substandard conditions and it’s the time– especially as many food companies are reporting record profits to even out the playing field. The average salary of a Fortune 500 CEO is$15.9 million a year and according to the AFL-CIO– the union I belong to through SAG-AFTRA, some of the CEO pay is just downright shameful. Peter Kern CEO of Expedia, the travel site, was paid$296 million in 2021, Andrew Jassy at Amazon$212 million, Rosalind Brewer at Walgreen’s$28 million, at Yum Brands(KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell) David Gibbs got$27 million, Walmart’s CEO got$25 million, PepsiCo’s$25 million, Coca-Cola$$24 million,$20 million each for the CEOs of McDonald’s, CVS, Starbucks$20 million, Kroger’s$18 million, at Dollar General, Hershey’s and Mondelez all around$16 million. By the way I rounded their pay to make it easier and I’ll stop there– but the reality is that as of December 11, 2022, the average annual pay for a poultry farm worker is$32,923 a year– that’s$15.83 an hour. At our supermarkets a cashier gets an average of$11, Deli Clerk$13, and Produce Clerk$13 an hour. What all this points to is added tensions in our workforce that I see playing out in 2023 with more unionizations, more strikes and hopefully a more balanced pay scale. The pandemic gave workers– especially those we dubbed as essential workers, a new transparency for all of us to see what they had to deal with– and permission to speak up. What's on your trend list for 2023 added to our social media feed right under this Lempert Report LIVE, and we'll review them over the next couple weeks and talk about them when we come back. On Farm Food Facts I spoke with Alyssa Cho, sustainability agronomy field team lead at Bayer who’s top priority is advancing the adoption of sustainable systems and maturing the carbon market. For the complete episode just go to USfarmersandranchers.org. Take a look at what she had to share. So what are the biggest challenges for farmers, to meet a successful transition to regenerative practices as part of the foreground by bear?
Alyssa:Oh, that's a complex question. Each grower's gonna have their own set of challenges that they're trying to overcome and their own sets of goals and, and, and challenges and opportunities in their system. There's really not a one size fits all with sustainable agriculture and regenerative practices. So it really does take a kind of custom approach to the grower to decide what's gonna work best for them and the goals that they have for their operation. Ultimately, we're trying to drive improvements in soil health with foreground, and we're trying to connect growers to opportunities where they can benefit both financially and from an environmental standpoint.
Phil:I want you to put on your professor hat for a moment. Forget your role at Bayer. What's the critical role that farmers and ranchers play in climate smart agriculture?
Alyssa:To me, there's no such thing as climate smart agriculture without farmers and ranchers. Ultimately, farmers and ranchers are the ones that are driving climate smart agriculture, and many of them are already doing these practices and doing things that would categorize under this topic of climate smart ag. What I think is incredibly important at this stage is for growers, farmers and ranchers to have a voice and to be expressive in how they want this definition to evolve. And I think it's really important for them to be involved and active in expressing what they want climate smart ag to be defined as, and what practices and programs they believe would support them in reaching those goals.
Phil:On today’s Bullseye– It’s all about those ugly Christmas Sweaters. With a twist. Forget those reindeers and Santas. Major brands and restaurants are getting into the ugly Christmas sweater business. Here are a few you may want to avoid. Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Sleigh Sweater is decorated with snowflakes, lobsters and a sleigh filled with the cheesy biscuits$45. Don’t despair they also have hoodies and beanies. Swiss Miss now has a hot cocoa-scented holiday sweater complete with an insulated zipper pouch you can use to keep your cocoa warm.$60 that also has a reversible sequin pattern that can read“I am hot” or“I am sweet” depending on how you’re feeling. Pearl Milling Company– what used to be called Aunt Jemima created a Family Stack Sweater that comes in two-person, three-person and four-person varieties. Each sweater has oversized pockets that are large enough to fit a bottle of syrup and a spatula, so you can whip up some breakfast treats together. They didn’t sell it– but had an online sweepstakes where you could win one. Pillsbury’s limited edition Doughboy sweater is decorated with a giant picture of the iconic Doughboy himself and comes with a button you can press to play his infectious laugh. The sweater even has a scannable crescent roll on its left sleeve with access to recipes, baking tips and more. Budweiser has of course a holiday sweater with their signature Clydesdale horses but they also sell one that shows cans of Bud and their logo– Just$55. And last but not least is the Taco Bell Christmas Sweater for$47 you can wear a photo of a taco in the middle and several packets of hot sauce in varying degrees of heat- it also has flames embroidered along the top. So, Sally, any Q&A today?
Sally:Yes, we've got Mary Miller wishing us a Merry Christmas. So same back to you.
Phil:Merry Christmas
Sally:And then we have John Pandal who says South Africa has some great hot hand pie type offerings. Bunny chow, anyone? I had to look that up. What Bunny Chow is, do you know, Phil?
Phil:I have no idea. But on, on the GrubHub, just to reinforce how smart John is, week after week, number two, on trending cuisines was South Africa, had a growth of 294% year over year on the GrubHub list. So tell me what it is.
Sally:So it's a loaf of white bread. The middle is hollowed out and filled with curry. Either you can do a vegetarian curry or vegetarian beans or a type of meat.
Phil:So it's just white bread with curry in it?
Sally:That's what it sounds like.
Phil:Okay, well, I'm not gonna try that. So to all of you have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Kwanza and of course all the best from all of us here at The Lempert Report and SupermarketGuru.com for a wonderful, happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. We will see you back here on January 9th to kick off 2023 together! We will be checking emails, social posts and of course posting the latest news on SupermarketGuru.com. Cheers to a great 2023!