Stephan's Monday Picks

• Dates are suddenly on track to become a $55 billion market (Inc)
• Big box retailers have a new strategy of breaking into urban markets (NYT)
• How Aldi is taking on US supermarkets with its $4 almond butter (BBC)
• Why are berries everywhere, in every season? Driscoll's (NYT)
• Michael's goes form 'grandma's store' to unlikely success under Apollo (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Tesco explores sale of European business (FT)
• Why Smucker's $5 billion bet on the Twinkie flopped (WSJ)
• Sven Smit: In an AI world, the fastest learner will win (McKinsey)
• Germans don't love Budweiser. It won't take no for an answer (NYT)
• From the archives (2012): The $1.6 billion flop. Tesco poised to exit the U.S. (WSJ)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• More Americans than ever are taking weight-loss drugs (NYT)
• Food and beverages have gone bananas (NYT)
• Wild coffee swings usher in new era of market volatility (Bloomberg)
• Walmart announced price cuts. Trump tried to take credit (NYT)
• White House pressures top US grocers on beef prices (WSJ)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Bath & Body Works is on a quest for the next billion dollar scent (NYT)
• Walmart lowers prices of thousands of items, including beef and Coca-Cola (WSJ)
• Seven & i's former supermarket unit may acquire more under Bain (Bloomberg)
• Limited construction of new retail space in Canada is giving landlord RioCan an edge (Globe and Mail)
• Inside the food truck mafia wreaking havoc around the National Mall (Washingtonian)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: When less is more (Substack)
• South Africa's grocery war shifts from search to AI conversation (Bloomberg)
• Consumers shun mid-sized packs amid price squeeze, Nestle says (WSJ)
• Liquor stocks are priced for a Big Tobacco moment (WSJ)
• Ocado paves way for exit of CEO Tim Steiner after succession clash (FT)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• The pursuit of hungriness: 250 years of American food innovation (NYT)
• Nestle to change KitKat recipe in Europe to make it crispier (Bloomberg)
• California bans 'sell by' labels, hoping to cut food waste (NYT)
• What Big Food did to ice cream (Medium)
• Big brewers are making outsized bets on tiny cans of beer (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• America's most talented nepo baby has two Michelin stars to prove it (GQ)
• The State of Grocery in North America (McKinsey)
• Tom Colicchio's final service (Esquire)
• In new luxury kitchens, everything is hidden (NYT)
• From the archives (2018): Paul Bocuse, celebrated French chef, dies at 91 (NYT)