Since it's the final day of 2017 Veeky Forums I thought I'd compile the most significant food/industry news items of the year for your enjoyment. I did this thread around the same time a year or two ago and it went over well.
theverge.com/2017/11/15/16657010/amazon-prime-whole-foods-price-cuts-member-discounts Starting off, arguably the biggest Veeky Forums story of 2017 might be Amazon’s June acquisition of Whole Paycheck for $13.7 billion. It immediately began cutting grocercy prices for everything from eggs to milk in-store, and followed with special discounts for Prime users. The company has already started selling its line of Echo speakers and Fire tablets in stores and sees it as a potential distribution network for its Amazon Fresh grocery delivery service.
thedailymeal.com/eat/applebee-s-ihop-may-close-160-restaurants-across-us/081117 >Applebee’s and IHOP announced they may close 160 restaurants >30 Pollo Tropical locations closed, >55 Noodles & Company locations closed, and Bloomin’ Brands announced that they’d be shuttering 43 of their restaurants (which include Outback and Carrabba’s).
Thanks.
Samuel Moore
youtube.com/watch?v=8KDrDpnMp8Q nbcnews.com/news/us-news/meet-salt-bae-turkish-chef-whose-signature-move-made-him-n716406 >A Turkish chef named Nusret Gökçe became an Internet phenomenon in early 2017 after he posted an Instagram video of himself stripping and slicing a steak and then fancifully throwing salt onto it. Since then, he’s been dubbed "Salt Bae" and video of him dusting the cut of meat has been transformed into gifs. More than 10 million people have watched his Instagram video. "I’m the happiest man in the world," Gökçe told NBC News from Dubai. "So far, we’ve been the conversation."
>He’s even caught the attention of Leonardo DiCaprio. Gökçe, 34, owns a chain of steakhouses called Nusr-et in Turkey and in the cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. He has also started construction in Riyadh, and plans to open up more locations in London, Berlin and New York. He said he purposely put the hyphen in his name for “et” to highlight the word for "meat" in Turkish. "Nusret" means victory.
The arm-salting technique itself is also surprisingly not a meme for even seasoning distribution.
Christian Hernandez
>joes crab shack I still have fond memories of the entire staff being forced to do a congo line to that stupid train song.
Carter Martin
Of course a major theme of 2017 was powerful people being exposed for sexual misconduct, which also hit the food industry hard. ny.eater.com/2017/12/11/16759540/mario-batali-sexual-misconduct-allegations >An Eater report found via interviews that celebrity chef Mario Batali groped and generally harassed at least four women over a span of two decades. The four women, who were not identified in the report described behavior that included breast groping and being grabbed from behind. In one instance, a woman said she was compelled to straddle Mr. Batali to get past him as he sat blocking an exit.
nytimes.com/2017/12/11/dining/mario-batali-sexual-misconduct.html >The celebrity chef Mario Batali, one of the country’s most high-profile restaurateurs, is stepping away from the daily operations of his businesses and the daytime program he co-hosts on ABC, “The Chew,” amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
Asher Kelly
He's unfortunately not the only one either. nola.com/business/index.ssf/2017/10/john_besh_restaurants_fostered.html nola.com/dining/index.ssf/2017/12/after_john_besh_sexual_harassm.html >In a months-long investigation published Oct. 21 by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune, 25 current and former Besh Restaurant Group employees alleged sexual harassment flourished in the company's restaurants and corporate office. Nine women spoke on the record, and many claimed owners John Besh and Octavio Mantilla were both perpetrators and enablers. In just one EEOC complaint, a former employee said Besh "continued to attempt to coerce (her) to submit to his sexual overtures" during a months-long sexual relationship when she worked for him, and that some BRG employees engaged in "retaliation" when she sought to end the relationship.
>In admitting to the relationship but saying it was only consensual, Besh said "I have been seeking to rebuild my marriage and come to terms with my reckless actions" Those allegations caused Besh to lose his job as CEO of the Besh Hospitality Group, as well as distribution of his TV programs on PBS stations. Besh, a frequent guest chef on Bravo's "Top Chef," was also edited out of an upcoming episode of the cooking series' 15th season. Surprised me since the dude has a wife and 4 kids. His cooking show on PBS were really great and wholesome too, sort of a quieter country-fied Emeril Lagasse.
Robert Reyes
Continued (sadly) eater.com/2017/12/12/16768790/johnny-iuzzini-sexual-harassment-jean-georges >Weeks after Mic published its first report on sexual harassment allegations against pastry chef and TV host Johnny Iuzzini, four more women have come forward to Mic to allege sexual harassment and abuse — and they say management at Jean-Georges, the acclaimed New York City restaurant where the abuse took place, was aware of Iuzzini’s inappropriate behavior as early as 2004. The sources said it was common knowledge that Iuzzini arranged sexual performances at the restaurant.
mobile.nytimes.com/2017/12/12/dining/ken-friedman-sexual-harassment.html >Ken Friedman, the restaurateur behind New York City restaurants the Spotted Pig, the Breslin, and others, has been accused of sexual harassment by multiple women.Ten women have come forward to say Friedman subjected them to unwanted sexual advances, including public groping, lewd text messages, and daily unwanted touching. Some of the women also say they endured catcalls and gropes from Friedman’s friends while working at the Spotted Pig, the West Village gastropub known for its V.I.P. clientele. In a statement provided to the Times, Friedman says, “Some incidents were not as described, but context and content are not today’s discussion. I apologize now publicly for my actions.”
>Friedman is now taking an indefinite leave from managing his restaurants.
Hudson Bailey
On the lighter-side now, in what will either excite or horrify various al/ck/ posters, America passed 6,000 total breweries—the most in the country’s history in 2017. For its annual Craft Beer in Review report, trade group the Brewers Association led with that record-shattering number. Though the exact total has yet to be revealed, it’s at least 700 more breweries than the U.S. had in 2016 and over double the number from as recently as 2013. Having that many breweries brings with it a number of intriguing side effects, according to the BA. First, 83 percent of drinking age adults now live within 10 miles of a brewery. foodandwine.com/news/breweries-craft-brewing-milestone
Michael White
Nothing but despair for al/ck/ here though: foodandwine.com/news/napa-and-sonoma-county-fire-updates-wineries >Fires that started around 10 P.M. on Sunday night, October 8, continue to burn across thousands of acres in northern California’s wine country, destroying homes and businesses and covering the entire area in a blanket of smoke. As of Tuesday, October 10 at 3 P.M. PST, the following is confirmed. More than 100,000 acres of land have been affected, including large parts of the city of Santa Rosa, and at least 15 people have died. More than 20,000 people have had to evacuate their residences and over 1,500 homes and businesses have been destroyed.
>In Napa Valley’s Stag’s Leap District, White Rock Vineyard and Signorello Estate are confirmed to have burned; near Santa Rosa in Sonoma, Paradise Ridge has also been destroyed.
>However, other wineries that were reportedly destroyed have turned out to have sustained only moderate damage. Examples include Darioush Winery and William Hill Winery. Both are in the area along Napa’s Silverado Trail and were rumored to have burned completely, but evidently have not. Jennifer Scott, Director of Communications for Chateau Ste. Michelle’s luxury wines division, which owns both the historic Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and Antica on Atlas Peak, both in affected areas, reports that “Fortunately all of our employees are safe, and our wineries have been minimally affected.”
Of soot and sauvignon blanc...
Tyler Hernandez
Beyond Meat's next-gen "bleeding" plant-based Impossible Burger which launched in 2016, made it big in 2017 foodandwine.com/news/where-eat-impossible-burger foodandwine.com/news/beyond-meat-sysco-distribution Seeing adoption in many restuarants across the countyr, they also partnered with SysCo for new expansion which will see the Beyond Burger expand its reach from over 3,500 stores, restaurants, and food service establishment, the company said in press release.
Evan Adams
2017 also saw the crowning of the new world's hottest pepper dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/-hottest-chili-world-killer-anaesthetic-13042313 >Mike Smith of Tom Smith’s Plants developed Dragon’s Breath, in honour of its Welsh beginnings. The 2.48m Scoville heat units (SHU) the chilli registers dwarfs its nearest rival, the Carolina Reaper, which measures around 2.2m.Mr Smith added that the chili - created in partnership with Nottingham Trent University - has a medicinal use. He said: “This was developed because a lot of people are allergic to anaesthetic, and this can be applied to the skin because it is so strong it numbs it.”
thrillist.com/news/nation/hottest-pepper-world-pepper-x >Smokin' Ed Currie and his PuckerButt Pepper Company who developed the Carolina reaper has a new pepper he's calling Pepper X (at least for now) which has been in development for 10 years, and he claims this level-10 villain lands at 3.18 million Scoville units. Unlike dragon's breath, which isn't available commercially, you can already get a little taste of this instant intestinal horror show. It's the pepper behind the new hot sauce from "The Hot Ones," The Last Dab. The sauce is a collaboration between First We Feast's "The Hot Ones" show, New York's The Heatonist, and Smokin' Ed.
foodandwine.com/news/unicorn-frappuccinos-are-driving-starbucks-baristas-insane >In 2017, foodies on Instagram were obsessed with 'unicorn' food - essentially normal meals dyed with food colouring to make them brightly coloured driven by the introduction of the Unicorn Frappuccino at Starbucks which was so popular a 19-year-old Starbucks barista from Colorado, Braden Burso made a video pleading with customers to stop ordering the difficult to make drink. Did you try one Veeky Forums?
Daniel Johnson
they were out and we had to settle for pegasus frappucinnos
they were godly and probably the only thing I've felt was worth the money from starbucks (they were $7 cad)
Hunter Cooper
Good thread
Wyatt Collins
Glad it worked out. For 2018: businessinsider.com/hampton-creek-lab-grown-meat-2017-6 >Hampton Creek — the Silicon Valley startup known for its vegan mayonnaise — says it's working on growing meat in a lab. The food startup revealed to The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that it plans to get its meat to stores by 2018 — long before the competition.
>Clearing a path to market for Hampton Creek's meat so quickly seems ambitious — it's hard to nail the texture and taste of meat grown in a lab, and getting prices down to consumer-friendly levels could be difficult — but the startup told Quartz it will meet that timeline. The Good Food Institute (GFI), a food-tech nonprofit that has worked with Hampton Creek, is also confident that Hampton Creek can get its meat to supermarkets by 2018.
>"It's an ambitious goal for sure, but yes, with the right resources, it should be achievable," Bruce Friedlich, GFI's executive director, told Business Insider. "Hampton Creek has gone beyond expectation with everything it has set out to do — it went from founding to unicorn status in about five years. [CEO] Joshua Tetrick appears to be committed to moving fast and breaking things."
and that's all the major 2017 news items of I've readily found. Feel free to discuss and post others I might have missed.
Austin Howard
I was there making these drinks. It was hellish, exactly as described in the article. It was a majority of orders for that day.
Thankfully I didn't have people over reacting to is not having it tho, that sounded annoying
One of my coworkers personally made 400+ of them. I made at least 200
It honestly wasn't really that good. It was a pretty sour drink, which is unusual for Starbucks, but it really wasn't something I need to have again.
This sounds cool as fuck, I wonder how it will taste
Carson Ramirez
>One of my coworkers personally made 400+ of them. I made at least 200
Ryder Richardson
I think mario took over emeril for top living chef
Jaxon Jenkins
>growing meat in a lab >vegan Malnourished hypocrites. You can't refuse the byproducts of an animal but grow parts of them for sustenance.
Hudson Jenkins
I thought the same thing, but don't care about vegans enough to worry about them eating it. maybe it will bring them back to the meat eating side
Parker Ward
Happy New Year Veeky Forums! Make your roast meats be succulent and golden brown and your cakes light and tender.
Nicholas Gomez
Dope Dummies youtube.com/watch?v=wmin5WkOuPw Jesus fucking christ Dumb shits, doesn't beat the exploding phones Good riddance Oh yeah, can't wait to see what changes are made to Buffalo Wild Wings. I don't even care much for the place in the slightest, but damn, a fast food chain buying that joint out? I bet there's a very interesting backstory to that.
Aiden Rivera
Happy New Year everyone.
Austin Gray
Even if Stags Leap is barely affected I guarantee those fuckers will jack the price up on their shitty overpriced vintages. Screw them.
Michael Roberts
I'm sorry but I still think he's in the closet.
Benjamin Perez
>cherry coke and nasty vanilla smell in everything >this is our entry level wine, that will be $120 The California wine industry is dragging us down as a country, maybe this will shake them up enough to actually start producing good wine Jesus man, did you even read? He said Stag's Leap not Stags Leap
