Chicken might need a production cut

Inexpensive chicken was supposed to be the pick of the proteins in the pandemic. But suppliers with a greater focus on beef are outperforming those that rely more on poultry.

U.S. and Brazilian chicken producers have been struggling amid oversupply, weak prices and sluggish consumption, with analysts saying a production cut may be needed to prop up prices and defend margins. Beef suppliers have benefited from comparatively stronger demand and prices.

In the U.S., meat production has recovered from virus disruptions, meaning supplies are outstripping demand amid still sluggish food service sales. With beef output back to normal, the red meat is likely to compete with chicken for grocery store sales. from and where they were roasted and even can get brewing tips from baristas, said Michelle Burns, the company’s senior vice president of global coffee, tea and cocoa. A reverse code will be given to farmers so they can track their produce.

The new tool, powered by Microsoft Corp., uses blockchain technology and will allow Starbucks to share with its customers the traceability data the world’s largest coffee shop chain has been collecting for more than a decade.

It also will help the company attract sustainably minded young consumers, many of whom had been flocking to small craft shops where coffee is roasted at the back of the store. has returned to nearly 90 percent of its level in last year’s fourth quarter, before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

The gain in July was well short of economists’ predictions of 4 percent or more. The reading was “certainly disappointing,” said Thomas Strobel, an economist at UniCredit bank in Munich.