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By Katie Pyzyk •
July 31, 2024
Author: Ess Seshat
The 25 Most Expensive Bourbons in the World (2024)
If there’s one spirit synonymous with American drinking culture, it’s bourbon — and that’s written into law. America’s native spirit must be produced in the States to officially qualify as bourbon, and while it doesn’t have to be produced in Kentucky by law, 95 percent of it is.
Bourbon is available at a range of price points, but the rarest and oldest bottles of the spirit could set you back by about $55,000. From near impossible-to-find grails like Old Rip Van Winkle to coveted bottles that just hit the market a few months ago, these are currently the most expensive bourbons according to Wine Searcher.
25. John E. Fitzgerald Very Special Reserve 20 Year Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA
- Average price: $6,493
- ABV: 45%
- Tasting Notes: Caramel, dusty cocoa, clove, red fruit, figs
24. A.H. Hirsch Reserve 16 Year Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA
- Average price: $7,145
- ABV: 45.8%
- Tasting Notes: Creamy vanilla, toffee, oak, baking spices
23. Black Maple Hill 16 Year Old Premium Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA
- Average price: $7,690
- ABV: 47.5%
- Tasting Notes: Nougat, honey, brown sugar, marzipan
22. Martin Mills 24 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA
- Average price: $7,725
- ABV: 53.5
- Tasting Notes: Dark fruit, wood, leather, honey, cinnamon, butterscotch, spice
21. W.L. Weller 19 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA
- Average price: $8,457
- ABV: 45%
- Tasting Notes: Oak, caramel, spice
20. Willett Family Estate Bottled Single-Barrel 18 Year Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA
- Average price: $8,748
- ABV: 55.1%
- Tasting Notes: Caramel, vanilla, oak, spice, dark chocolate
19. W.L. Weller Millennium Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA
- Average price: $9,060
- ABV: 49.5%
- Tasting Notes: Caramel, vanilla, toasted oak, dried fruit
18. Colonel E.H. Taylor Warehouse C Tornado Surviving Straight Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA
- Average price: $9,731
- ABV: 50%
- Tasting Notes: Jam-like fruit, vanilla, touches of smoke, tobacco
17. Buffalo Trace Distillery The Sixth Millionth Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA
- Average price: $9,873
- ABV: 45%
- Tasting Notes: Vanilla, toasted oak, cinnamon
16. Elmer T. Lee 90th Birthday Edition Single Barrel Sour Mash Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA
- Average price: $9,858
- ABV: $45
- Tasting Notes: Rye spice, vanilla, fruit undertones
15. Michter’s 25 Year Old Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey, USA
- Average price: $10,126
- ABV: 58.1%
- Tasting Notes: Molasses, holiday spice, chocolate, smoke roasted nuts, dried fruit, melted butter, vanilla
14. A.H. Hirsch Finest Reserve 20 Year Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA
- Average price: $10,166
- ABV: 45.8%
- Tasting Notes: Caramel, orange peel, leather, slight pepper
13. Willett Family Estate Bottled Single-Barrel 16 Year Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA
- Average price: $10,193
- ABV: 50.6%
- Tasting Notes: Pine, eucalyptus, toffee apple
12. Eagle Rare Double Eagle Very Rare 20 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA
- Average price: $10,564
- ABV: 45%
- Tasting Notes: Vanilla, toasted oak, caramel
11. Brown Forman’s King of Kentucky Single Barrel 18 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA
- Average price: $11,143
- ABV: 65.55%
- Tasting Notes: Caramel, dark chocolate, honey, cinnamon, tobacco
10. Weller’s Antique Reserve 10 Year Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA
For the most part, any existing bottles of Weller’s Antique Reserve were produced in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s at the Stitzel-Weller Distillery under the direction of Julian “Pappy” Van Winkle I. Any such bottle from that time is a true relic of bourbon history.
- Average price: $12,358
- ABV: 55%
- Parent Company: The Sazerac Company
9. Hirsch Reserve 15 Year Pot Still, Kentucky, USA
In 1974, a bounty of whiskey from a small distillery in Pennsylvania was sold off after it was decommissioned, and a large portion of the barrels were sent to Kentucky for further aging. 15 years later, Adolph Hirsch discovered the batch, and after realizing its incredible quality, he purchased roughly 400 barrels and bottled them under his own name. And so, the world got Hirsch Reserve 15 Year Pot Still, which is technically a Pennsylvania bourbon despite being aged and bottled in Kentucky.
- Average price: $16,024
- ABV: 47.8%
- Tasting Notes: Toffee, oak, plum, vanilla
8. The Last Drop 1980 Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky, Kentucky, USA
Hailing from the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Ky., The Last Drop 1980 was distilled in — you guessed it — 1980 by then master distiller, Gary Gayheart. Years later, the recipe was uncovered by current master distiller Harlan Wheatley who then aged the spirit for about 20 years before releasing just 240 bottles for sale.
- Average price: $16,209
- ABV: 45%
- Tasting Notes: Figs, dates, maraschino cherries, wood, leather, tobacco, toffee, gentle warming spice
7. Colonel E.H. Taylor Old Fashioned Sour Mash Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA
Colonel E.H. Taylor Old Fashioned Sour Mash was distilled in 2002 as an homage to Edmund Haynes Taylor Jr., who was widely known to have used the sour mash process in the 1800s when he was distilling. Meant to be a new aged bourbon serving as a replication of the historic technique, the grains used in each bottle were set aside to sour naturally to lower the pH prior to distilling.
- Average price: $19,578
- ABV: 50%
- Tasting Notes: Fresh honey, leather
6. Old Rip Van Winkle Handmade Family Reserve 16 Year Old, Kentucky, USA
Originally casked in 1974, this whiskey is rumored to have originated at the Boone Distillery in Boone County, Ky. Two versions of it exist today: this expression that was bottled in 1990 at 16 years, and another bottled in 1991 at 17 years. Both iterations actually replicated Maker’s Mark iconic melted-wax stopper, which Van Winkle claims he got away with using due to the trademark only being registered in the U.S.
- Average price: $19,986
- ABV: 50.5%
- Tasting Notes: Toffee, caramel, nutmeg, vanilla
5. Old Rip Van Winkle Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 17 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA
This is the aforementioned 1991 release of Boone-distilled Van Winkle Reserve whiskey. Both releases were initially intended for the Japanese market, as Americans weren’t as keen on paying premium prices for aged bourbon at the time.
- Average price: $22,664
- ABV: 50.5%
- Parent Company: Buffalo Trace
4. Michter’s Celebration Sour Mash Whiskey, Kentucky, USA
In the 1970s and 1980s, Sour Mash Whiskey was Michter’s top selling product. After being discontinued in 1989, the brand relaunched the product in 2012 as Michter’s Celebration Sour Mash. The whiskey was produced by Micher’s master distiller, Willie Pratt, who blended all of Michter’s best bourbon and ryes aged from young to 30 years old to create just 273 bottles of Michter’s Celebration. Every gold-etched bottle is waxed and sealed, and includes a hand-signed letter from Willie Pratt himself.
- Average price: $22,950
- ABV: 43%
- Tasting Notes: Toasted brown sugar, spiced smoky fruit, candied cherries, honeyed vanilla
3. Old Rip Van Winkle Twisted Spoke 16 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA
The label design on this bottle is admittedly a far cry from most Old Rip Van Winkle releases, but the quality of the liquid has cemented this bourbon’s status as one of the most sought-after bottles in the bourbon space. Released as a one-off in partnership with Chicago bar Twisted Spoke, this bottle contains 16-year-old Stitzel-Weller bourbon.
- Average price: $29,634
- ABV: 52.5%
- Tasting Notes: Oak, cinnamon, cherry, vanilla
2. Old Rip Van Winkle Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Selection 23 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey with Glasses and Decanter, Kentucky, USA
Distilled from a wheated bourbon recipe, Old Rip Van Winkle’s ‘Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Selection’ 23 Year Old set a record in December 2022 as the most expensive bottle ever sold at New York’s Sotheby’s auction house. The bottle, which sold for 17 times the presale estimate of $3,000 to $4,000, fetched an impressive $52,000. Originally released in 2008, each bottle of Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Selection 23 Year Old was sold encased in a luxe black velvet bag.
- Average price: $34,358
- ABV: 47.8%
- Tasting Notes: Candy corn, vanilla, cherry, walnut, dark raspberry, oak
1. Old Rip Van Winkle 25 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA
Launched in 2017, Old Rip Van Winkle 25 Year Old is one of the most sought-after whiskies in the world and was distilled in 1989 at the now closed Van Winkle family distillery in Shively, Ky. There, it was aged from 1989 until 2002 when it was relocated to the Buffalo Trace Distillery after they acquired the label. At Buffalo Trace, it rested in its original casks until 2014 before it was moved into stainless steel tanks to prevent further aging. Just 11 barrels were distilled — amounting to 710 bottles — all of which are packaged in handmade glass decanters packaged in wood from the original oak barrels.
- Average price: $52,888
- ABV: 50%
- Tasting Notes: Predominant oak, sugar, caramel, vanilla
Tyson launches new retail chicken products
SPRINGDALE, ARK. — Tyson Foods Inc. is creating a buzz with the retail introduction of honey-kissed chicken bites and three flavors of foodservice style chicken wings. The 1-lb frozen packages of Restaurant Style Crispy Wings are available in flavor profiles that include Rotisserie Seasoned, Garlic Parmesan and Caribbean Style. Tyson’s breaded Honey Chicken Bites are made from white meat chicken and breading that is infused with honey, capitalizing on the popularity of the flavor at retail and on foodservice menus.
“We’re thrilled to introduce Tyson Honey Chicken Bites and Restaurant Style Crispy Wings to consumers who want convenience without sacrificing flavor,” said Jessica Johnson, managing director at Tyson Foods.
Honey Chicken Bites, which feature 14 g of protein per serving, are available in a 24-oz package and can be prepared in under 25 minutes, either in the oven or using an air fryer.
The three new wing products were developed to mimic restaurant offerings and are fully cooked and rubbed with seasonings, featuring a crispy skin combined with tender chicken meat. Each 1-lb bag contains about 3.5 servings with 15 g of protein per serving.
“These new offerings embody our commitment to innovation and quality, providing delicious options that cater to the diverse tastes and busy lifestyles of today’s consumer,” Johnson said.
Observer Program Failing Australian Sheep
A report released by Australia’s Inspector-General of Animal Welfare and Live Animal Exports highlights ongoing and systemic failures within Australia’s Independent Observer program designed to provide independent reporting of animal welfare at sea.
The program was established after the 2017 death of over 2,400 sheep on the livestock carrier Awassi Express (now Anna Mara). The sheep died of heat stress, and in 2018, television footage aired from this and four other voyages widely undermined public confidence in the treatment of animals in the livestock export trade.
The Inspector-General’s report concludes that the Independent Observer Program, implemented in 2018, does not appear to provide acceptable levels of assurance regarding the health and welfare of livestock.
“This makes a mockery of any claim from live exporters that they’re effectively regulated,” said RSPCA Australia Chief Science Officer Dr Suzie Fowler.
RSPCA notes that available data demonstrates ongoing animal welfare issues including 80% of reports indicating sheep starving on board and at least 60% reporting heat stress.
From April 2018 to May 2023 observers were only present on 53 out of 172 live sheep export journeys.
“To quote the report, the fact that Independent Observers are not being deployed on most voyages that meet the criteria for a deployment is evidence that the program’s assurance objectives are not being met,” says Fowler.
She says the Independent Observer program is failing to provide that much-needed transparency. “For example, Independent Observer footage released under FOI this year from a voyage in 2018 showed several serious sheep welfare issues including indicators of severe heat stress — a very different picture to footage posted on social media by the live exporters at the time from the same voyage.
“Rather than being transparent about this and releasing the Independent Observer footage, the regulator and the live export industry fought tooth and nail to keep the footage secret. It was only after a lengthy battle that the RSPCA won access to the footage, six years later.
Australia has legislated for the phase out the live export of sheep by May 1, 2028, in favor of a chilled and boxed meat trade.
Global study reveals ancient wheat hybridization that shaped agriculture and civilization
Bread has provided delicious doughy calories that have energized populations from some of the first ancient cities. Ten thousand years later, bread wheat helps to sustain a global population of 8.2 billion people.
But what’s considered the ‘rapid’ spread of this iconic crop has long remained a biological mystery.
“Our findings shed new light on an iconic event in our civilisation that created a new kind of agriculture and allowed humans to settle down and form societies,” said Prof Brande Wulff, a wheat researcher at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology).
Prof Wulff is one of the 71 researchers from The Open Wild Wheat Consortium – a collaborative aimed at leveraging the genetic diversity of wild wheat species to improve cultivated wheat varieties – to unlock the secret behind bread wheat.
The birth of bread wheat
The researchers worked back to a chance hybridization that took place in the Fertile Crescent near the southern Capsian Sea between 8,000 and 11,000 years ago, which it claims sparked an agricultural revolution.
Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a hybrid of three wild grasses – made up of three genomes (A, B and D) within a single complex plant. It was a wild grass called Tausch’s goatgrass (Aegilops tauschii) – an otherwise unremarkable weed – that provided the D-genome when it crossed with early cultivated pasta wheat.
The OWWC believes its cultivation subsequently dispersed across the globe ‘within a few hundred or maybe a few thousand years’, with farmers quick to adopt the dynamic new crop. (The new species also spawned a new era for bakers: being high in gluten, which creates a more elastic and airy dough for breadmaking.)
But it’s that ‘rapid’ geographical advance that has puzzled wheat researchers.
Bread wheat doesn’t exist in the wild, and the hybridization event that introduced the D genome into the plant’s existing A and B genomes would have caused ‘a genetic bottleneck’. This refers to the significant reduction in genetic diversity of the new species compared to surrounding wild grasses.
Furthermore, wheat is an inbreeding species – meaning it self-pollinates – which suggests that bread wheat might struggle to thrive outside its original environment. So how did it become so widely cultivated?
Tracking the spread
To solve this conundrum, the OWWC researchers studied 493 unique accessions that spanned the entire geographical range of Ae. Tauschii – from northwestern Turkey to eastern China.
They then selected 46 accessions that reflected the species’ traits and genetic diversity to create a highly detailed genetic map (called a Pangenome) of Ae. tauschii.
Using this Pangenome, the group scanned 80,000 bread wheat landraces (locally adapted varieties) held by International Mazie and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and also collected from around the world.
From this, the scientists figured out that around 75% of the bread wheat D-genome is derived from the lineage (L2) of Ae. tauschii that originates from the southern Caspian Sea. The remaining 25% is made up of lineages from other regions.
And it’s this 25% influx of genetic material that has defined the success of bread wheat.
“Without the genetic viability that this diversity brings, we would most likely not eat bread on the scale we do today,” said Prof Simon Krattinger, associate professor of Plant Science at KAUST.
“Otherwise, bread wheat today would be a regional crop – important to the Middle East – but I doubt that it would have become globally dominant without this plasticity that enabled bread wheat to adapt.”
An earlier study by the OWWC revealed the existence of a distinct lineage of Ae. Tauschii (known as L3 – the best-known gene for dough quality) from present day Georgia, about 500km from the Fertile Crescent.
Using the L3 Ae. Tauschii accessions, the researchers were able to track the hybridizations of bread wheat.
“The data beautifully supports a picture where bread wheat emerges in the southern Caspian, then with migration and agricultural expansion it reached Georgia, where gene flow and hybridizations with the peculiar, genetically distinct and geographically restricted L3 accessions resulted in the influx of new genetic material,” said Prof Krattinger.
“This is one of the novel aspects of our study and it confirms that using our new resources, we can trace the dynamics of these introgressions in bread wheat.”
Bread wheat of the future
In addition to solving this age-old biological mystery, the Ae. tauschii open source Pangenome and germplasm made available by the OWWC are already being used by researchers to discover new disease resistance genes that will protect wheat crops against threats like wheat rust. Breeders are also mining this wild grass species for climate-resilient genes that can be bred into elite wheat cultivars.
“This has been a wonderful collaborative effort by the OWWC, an international cross institute enterprise that has produced the best sequenced resource of a wild wheat relative in the world,” said Prof Wulff.
“Wild relatives such as Aegilops tauschii offer amazing genetic diversity that breeders can exploit with the tools we have now created and which have not been exploited in landraces, there is so much more potential that is untapped.”
Study:
Origin and evolution of the bread wheat D genome.
Authors: Cavalet-Giorsa E, González-Muñoz A, Athiyannan N, et al.
Nature (2024). doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07808-z
Former ‘Balmuccino’ Lip Balm Heads Sue Starbucks AgainDaily Coffee News by Roast Magazine
Representatives of a former Los Angeles company called Balmuccino are suing Starbucks for a third time, claiming that the coffee giant stole confidential product development details for coffee-themed lip balms.
Previous versions of the suit have been dismissed on procedural grounds, yet the Balmuccino lawyers continue to claim Starbucks poached private product details prior launching “The S’mores Frappuccino Sip Kit,” a line of Frappucino-themed lip balms, in 2019.
Incidentally, the 2019 Starbucks launch came just a week after Dunkin’ launched a lip balms designed to look and smell like its donut hole products, Munchkins.
The Balmuccino lawsuit, filed last week in a U.S. District Court (New York Southern District), repeats past claims regarding a 2017 meeting between the Balmuccino heads and former Starbucks executive in charge of product development.
The suit says the meeting was arranged by longtime former Starbucks CEO and President Howard Schultz and television personality and former Pennsylvania senate candidate Mehmet Öz, a.k.a. “Dr. Oz.” One of Balmuccino’s managing members was Oz’s sister-in-law, according to the complaint.
Lip Balm. Stock photo.
The suit claims that the Starbucks representative “refused to enter into a Non-Disclosure Agreement, essentially promising that Starbucks could be trusted because Starbuck’s CEO had facilitated the meeting.”
The complaint notes that the Starbucks executive from the meeting left the company shortly thereafter.
“Then, in 2018, Balmuccino learned that Starbucks Research and Development personnel had contacted one of Balmuccino’s suppliers to create prototypes for Starbucks-branded lip balm-type products and lip balm cases, using specifications the potential manufacturer had received that matched those which Plaintiff had provided to Mr. Gelman during the Meeting,” the complaint states.
Starbucks has repeatedly stated that the claims in the previous Balmuccino lawsuits were without merit. “We look forward to presenting our case in court,” the company told DCN prior to the previous lawsuit being dismissed.
Comments? Questions? News to share? Contact DCN’s editors here.
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Carl’s Jr. expands value meal to more than half of its locations
Carl’s Jr. has expanded its “More Bang, Less Buck” value meal to more than half of its more than 1,000 locations, the quick-service burger chain said Wednesday, adding that it plans to introduce it to more locations in the autumn.
The menu, which offers 10 items, each for less than $4, was offered at a few select restaurants earlier this summer, a company spokesperson said.
The menu includes the Spicy Chicken Sandwich, six Chicken Stars (Carl’s Jr’s version of nuggets), a small drink, small fries, chocolate chip cookie, and shake, as well as four small burgers:
Cali Jr.: Beef patty, American cheese, grilled onions, Classic sauce, lettuce, and tomato on a toasted four-inch bun
Jalapeño Jr.: Beef patty, pepper Jack cheese, pickled jalapeños, Santa Fe sauce (a creamy Southwestern-inspired sauce with cumin, chile, and paprika), tomato, and lettuce on a toasted bun
Bacon Cheese Jr: Beef patty, American cheese, two strips of bacon, tomato, lettuce, and mayonnaise on a toasted four-inch bun
Guac Jr.: Beef patty, guacamole, Swiss cheese, mayonnaise, tomato, and lettuce on a toasted four-inch bun.
Additionally, the chain, a subsidiary of Franklin, Tenn.-based CKE Restaurant Holdings, is allowing guests to add an extra beef patty to any burger for 99 cents, although participation in that may vary.
“Carl’s Jr. guests won’t settle for any old value meal – they want bold, craveable flavors, all without breaking the bank,” vice president of brand marketing Anthony Nguyen said in a statement. “‘More Bang, Less Buck’ offers the bold ingredients Carl’s Jr. is known for, like crispy bacon, fresh guacamole, and fiery jalapenos, and we’re really proud to deliver a budget-conscious menu that doesn’t sacrifice on adventurous flavors.”
The “More Bang, Less Buck” meal joins another Carl’s Jr. value offering, the 2 for $6 Double Take, which offers customers a choice of any two of the following: French Toast Dips, small Hash Rounds, a Spicy Chicken Sandwich, a six-piece order of Chicken Stars, a small order of fries, a small cheeseburger, or a Spicy Lil’ Cheeseburger.
This is the latest in a flurry of value menus that have been introduced recently as customers, particularly low-income ones, have been pulling back on their spending, resulting in declining sales at most restaurant chains across the country, according to recent earnings reports.
CKE is privately owned, mostly by private equity firm Roark Capital, based in Atlanta.
Quick-service chains McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, Jack in the Box, Taco John’s, KFC, and Carl’s Jr.’s own sibling brand, Hardee’s, have all introduced value menus since May.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]
USDA finalizing study of retail food pricing amid campaign clash over inflation
The Agriculture Department is working on a study of retail food pricing that is likely to raise questions about industry practices, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Thursday.
The study comes as Republicans continue to hammer Vice President Kamala Harris over the food inflation that has taken place since she and President Joe Biden took office in 2021. Harris on Friday is expected to discuss an economic plan that includes cracking down on what she says is price gouging by food companies.
Vilsack, speaking to reporters at an American Coalition for Ethanol conference in Omaha, declined to address the Harris plan, citing Hatch Act restrictions on political activities of federal employees. But he said the USDA study would “be coming out very soon.”
“I think it’ll raise some some valid questions and issues about practices within the industry that ultimately impact and affect the price that people pay that bear some examination,” Vilsack said.
Vilsack sad he believes the USDA’s current partnership with the Department of Justice has been beneficial for ensuring competition across the food and agriculture sectors.
“We’ve been pleased with the work that the Department of Justice has made in terms of cracking down on potential antitrust violations,” Vilsack said.
The Federal Trade Commission issued a report earlier this year that said large grocery chains used their size to get a leg up on their smaller competitors as the pandemic disrupted supply chains.
The companies “used policies that imposed strict delivery requirements on their upstream suppliers and threatened fines for noncompliance. Walmart even tightened the delivery requirements its suppliers had to meet to avoid fines as the pandemic went on,” the report said.
Coming out of the pandemic, Vilsack also has been trying to expand meatpacking options for livestock producers by funding new processing capacity. USDA announced last month that a fresh round of grants, totaling $110 million, for projects in 30 states.
The Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program provides funding for building or expanding of processing facilities, installing new equipment, ensuring they are meeting packaging and labeling requirements, and helping companies meet staffing goals.
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Food prices rose sharply starting in 2020, before Biden took office, but inflation has slowed considerably over the past year. The Consumer Price Index for food eaten at home rose 3.5% in both 2020 and 2021 and then jumped 11.4% in 2022 and 5% in 2023., but the index for grocery prices has risen just 1.1% since July 2023.
USDA’s Economic Research Service is forecasting that grocery prices will be up 1% in 2024 over 2023 and only 0.7% in 2025. The 20-year average inflation rate for food eaten at home is 2.7%.
Grocery prices fell slightly, 0.2%, in 2017, the first year of the Trump administration, and rose just 0.4% in 2018 and 0.9% in 2019 ahead of the pandemic.
Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics for the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, responded on X to reports of Harris’ economic plan by citing a New York University survey showing the grocery industry had a 1.18% net profit margin last year.
Last year’s profit margins for farming and food processing were 7.12% and 6% respectively, according to the NYU data.
Julie Anna Potts, president and CEO of the Meat Institute, which represents meat processors, said the federal ban on price gouging that Harris wants “does not address the real causes of inflation.”
“The Harris campaign rhetoric unfairly targets the meat and poultry industry and does not match the facts. Food prices continue to come down from the highs of the pandemic. Prices for meat are based on supply and demand. Avian Influenza, a shortage of beef cattle and high input prices like energy and labor are all factors that determine prices at the meat case,” Potts said in a statement.
Sodium reduction of 20% proposed by FDA
SILVER SPRING, MD. — The US Food and Drug Administration on Aug. 15 issued draft guidance for its Phase II approach on sodium reduction, which includes reducing sodium intake among Americans by 20% over a three-year period to an average of 2,750 mg per person per day. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends limiting per-capita sodium intake to 2,300 mg per day for consumers age 14 and older, but intake was about 3,400 mg prior to 2021, according to the FDA.
The Phase II voluntary sodium reduction goals are intended to balance the need for gradual reductions in sodium and what is known about technical and market constraints on sodium reduction and reformulation, according to the FDA. The draft guidance provides goals that include both a target mean concentration and an upper-bound concentration of sodium for various food categories. Sodium intake reduction should progress at a pace that allows consumers to adjust to the lower amount of sodium in their food, according to the FDA.
The FDA’s Phase I approach was issued in October 2021. Preliminary data from 2022 showed about 40% of the Phase I targets “are very close to or have already been reached,” the FDA said. The Phase I approach encouraged the food industry to reduce sodium levels in a variety of processed, packaged and prepared foods since over 70% of sodium intake in the US population comes from sodium added during food manufacturing and commercial food preparation. The Phase II approach will do the same.
“Reducing sodium in the food supply has the potential to be one of the most important public health initiatives in a generation,” said Jim Jones, deputy commissioner for human foods at the FDA. “The early successes we’re seeing with sodium level reduction in certain foods is encouraging and indicative of the impact we believe our overall nutrition approach can have on the well-being of society.
“In addition to our sodium reduction efforts, the FDA is also actively working on a forthcoming final rule updating the definition of the claim ‘healthy,’ a proposed rule for front-of-package nutrition labeling and exploring ways to reduce added sugars consumption. The FDA’s sodium reduction and other nutrition initiatives are central to a broader, whole-of-government approach to help reduce the burden of diet-related chronic diseases and advance health equity.”
The FDA will accept public comments on the draft guidance for sodium reduction until Nov. 14, which is 60 days after its Aug. 16 publication in theFederal Register.Electronic comments may be sent to regulations.gov. Written comments may be sent to Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
Völur brings on new chief commercial officer
Völur, a protein processing optimization software company, has announced the appointment of Michael Farrand as the new chief commercial officer effective Sept. 1, 2024. In this role, Farrand will oversee the company’s commercial strategy, driving growth and strengthening relationships with key stakeholders.
Farrand brings over 30 years of experience in the food and agriculture space, along with a proven track record of implementing SaaS solutions globally. Prior to joining Völur, he served as global head of food and agriculture at DecisionNext, where he levered his decades of leadership at Hormel Foods Corp. to drive growth and refine product offerings to the food and agriculture supply chain space.
“Michael’s broad food and agriculture background, and his experience in Sales, Management and Strategy, will build upon the experience and depth of the team,” said Anna Turvoll, CEO at Völur. “We are confident that Michael’s expertise and leadership will be instrumental in driving our commercial initiatives forward.”
In his new role, Farrand will be responsible for leading the product application and customer development efforts for the company.
“I am thrilled to join Völur and lead the commercial team during such an exciting and transformational time in the protein space,” said Farrand. “I look forward to building on the company’s success and driving new opportunities for growth.”
Source: Völur