Food & Drink

Is it strange for a wine writer to cover the topic of alcohol free (or AF) beverages, as in wine, beer and spirits “alternatives”? It may have been strange, a year and a half ago. But today, with the burdens of thirteen-plus months of the global pandemic weighing heavily on us all, the “alternatives” have

Singapore is racing to build a global epicenter of meat alternatives by encouraging more companies from overseas to launch in the city-state with fresh investments.  The alt-protein development has been on local government’s radar after realizing an urgent need to create a more self-reliant food ecosystem as Singapore currently imports over 90% of its food. 

Sometime around Easter, my friends’ questions start to trickle in: Are there any new bourbons this year for the Kentucky Derby? Are there any special limited-release bottles to consider? And my favorite—are there good value buys that I should be thinking about? In short: Yes, yes, and obviously yes. And this year is no different. Everyone wants

As the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to reverberate across the country, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has taken steps to expand food stamp eligibility for those most at risk of hunger. As part of a “profound change” to the federal nutrition programs, the USDA has announced it is now providing $1

For over a year now, major events have been put on hold or altered significantly to meet safety requirements. And the same is true for one of May’s most anticipated affairs: The Kentucky Derby. Though the 147th running will happen on the traditional first Saturday in May this year, the number of reserved seats is

April won’t be the cruelest month if you have these humorous wine books on hand Lots of literary folks know it’s National Poetry Month but who knew it was also National Humor Month? Happily, I did. (LOL!) Any wine writer worth their weight has heavy tomes about the subject—Jancis Robinson’s Wine Grapes, the Oxford Companion

Manny’s Cafeteria & Delicatessen is a Jewish deli in Chicago’s South Loop famous for its corned beef sandwiches. The deli is known for its Jewish food, including pastrami, latkes, and matzo ball soup. Founded more than 75 years ago, Manny’s has been passed down through four generations of the Raskin family, which continues to own

Without champions at the top, game-changing technologies in pricing and promotions may go to waste Planning for the future in CPG and retail can be daunting, particularly after a year that saw unprecedented upheaval in consumer behavior and disruptions in the supply chain. Yet in spite of a global pandemic, certain sectors in CPG and

There’s a lot to say about April. It starts off with a Fools’ Day. Its showers bring May flowers, some prefer to spend it in Paris, 16th-century English composer Thomas Morley saw it in his mistress’ face. And poet T.S. Eliot famously called it the cruelest month. Which brings us to wine and poetry, because

The sub-minimum wage for tipped American workers came under fresh attack Thursday in what may be its biggest and most direct challenge yet. The One Fair Wage (OFW) nonprofit organization has sued the Darden Restaurant group on Constitutional grounds, claiming the pay practices of the company that owns chains like Olive Garden and The Capital

After a health scare in his life, Jason Karp, started to really study the food that he was putting in his body. That led him to start Hu, a better-for-you snack maker that recently sold to Mondelez. In his latest entrepreneurial venture, Jason is the CEO and co-founder of HumanCo, whose mission is to make living

The folks at Miller Lite knew people were missing bars, but they didn’t expect them to miss them as much as they did. Miller Lite sold out its entire line of Bar Smells candles within less than a day. The candles, which were released in early April, were sold to raise funds for the United

Taco Bell announced the opening of its new Cantina restaurant in the heart of New York City’s Times Square this week. On the surface, this may not seem like a big surprise. Times Square is a coveted location for any business, let alone for one of the biggest restaurant brands in the country with a

Online grocery shopping has grown 230% between February 1 through February 21, 2021—and experts predict the category will only continue to grow. But as consumers increasingly move their grocery routine online, their expectations of the overall shopping experience will change, and scrolling through thousands of products to find what they need will start to feel

You still have to wait in line to snag a Levain cookie. It’ll just be at a grocery store. The New York City bakery is the latest cult-favorite to get into retail: Levain announced today it has started rolling out a ready-to-bake version of its iconic colossal cookies at Whole Foods stores nationwide this month

Human-generated carbon emissions are causing the world’s oceans to become more acidic. Since the start of the industrial revolution, when mankind’s emissions began ramping up, the world’s oceans have already become about 30% more acidic. For shell-building animals in particular, like oysters and snails, ocean acidification’s impacts can be devastating. Marine scientists have suspected for

If you haven’t been following the food tech sector in recent years, the idea of slaughter-free meat cultivated from cells might still seem like the stuff of science fiction. But on the other side of the world, it’s already a reality. This past December, the city-state of Singapore granted the company Eat Just permission to

It’s been a difficult time for Champagne producers recently, no doubt due to the COVID crisis. Below average sales across the board have been due to several reasons including restaurant closures around the world, and the uncertain economy in many nations. As Champagne is thought of by many as a celebratory beverage, many consumers have

Constellation’s STZ sell-off of its lower-priced wine brands to E&J Gallo seems to be paying off in terms of promoting their “premiumization” strategy in the wine arena. In an earnings call with investors today, President and CEO Bill Newlands reported, “Our retained wine and spirits portfolio, excluding divested brands, delivered net sales growth of 5%

The vast majority of the billionaires on this year’s Forbes list hail from these 10 sectors. There are a record-smashing 2,755 billionaires in the world, according to Forbes’ 2021 World’s Billionaires list. How did they make their mega-fortunes? By doing everything from starting hedge funds and tech companies to breeding pigs and brewing kombucha.  But