Best of Pax Westona: May 2019

• Walgreens could use a prescription for ailing drugstore business (Bloomberg)
• H-E-B runs True Texas BBQ, the best barbecue chain in Texas (Texas Monthly)
• The raisin situation (NYT)
• Dim sum is dead. Long live dim sum (Airbnb Magazine)
• A second look at the tuna sandwich's all-American history (Taste)
• A hunger for tomatoes (The Bitter Southerner)
• The question of dinner (Oxford American)
• The price of plenty: How beef changed America (The Guardian)
• Dixie vodka (Oxford American)
• Sears' seven decades of self-destruction (Fortune)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• A town in Newfoundland drowned in the smell of fish sauce (Eater)
• Canada's syrup cartel challenged by Vermont's 'Maple on Steroids' (Bloomberg)
• Craft breweries lighten up and take aim at the 'sweaty customer' (NYT)
• That's not sand, it's superfood (WSJ)
• From the archives (2013): Squeezing Heinz (Fortune)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Jellyfish supper delivered by drone? Radical future predicted for food (The Guardian)
• Amazon is poised to poised to unleash a long-feared purge on small suppliers (Bloomberg)
• Can J Crew find itself - and its customers - again? (Vanity Fair)
• It's expensive, bland, and eaten all over Southeast Asia (Taste)
• Many in Chinatown have never tried its most popular food - so I brought it to them (LA Times)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Food delivery apps are drowning China in trash (NYT)
• IKEA to revamp app as store strategy shifts (Reuters)
• How working parents can make family meals happen (HBR)
• Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal are winning digital payments where Apple couldn't (Barron's)
• J.C. Penney and Kohl's have failed their most loyal customers: Middle-aged moms (Washington Post)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Amazon, Walmart, and other stores have too many options (The Atlantic)
• Nestle still committed to global confectionery (Reuters)
• DoorDash's valuation soars to $12.6 billion as money rushes into delivery (WSJ)
• Joe Beef and the excesses of restaurant culture (The New Yorker)
• Ontario to end Beer Store deal, paving way for beer in corner stores (CBC)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• Hamburger helpers: The history of America's favourite sandwich (History)
• Finally an IPO to stock the shelves (WSJ)
• The future of work in retail automation (McKinsey)
• There's a multi-billion dollar race to replace the chicken egg (Bloomberg)
• How 3G and a $50B buyout fund turned Kraft Heinz upside down (Pitch Book)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• How celery became the unlikely star of the produce aisle (LA Times)
• Pret a Manger to buy rival Eat in veggie push (FT)
• M&S food push gives some investors indigestion (Bloomberg)
• Future of driverless deliveries depends on large automakers (WSJ)
• From the archives (1985): New Coke vs. classic: The verdict is still out (NYT)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Can CBD really do all that (NYT)
• Just Inc considers IPO after Beyond Meat success (Bloomberg)
• In plastic bag wars, industry fights back (WSJ)
• The startups building 'dark kitchens' for Uber Eats and Deliveroo (FT)
• Walmart to make first direct pitch to big corporate ad buyers (Reuters)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Sears could've been Amazon. Here's how it blew its chances (Fortune)
• Meat prices are set to climb as swine fever claims China's hogs (WSJ)
• Amazon's priorities over the years, based on Jeff Bezos's letters to shareholders (HBR)
• How Aldi is beating Walmart on low prices (CNN)
• How CPG leaders are using M&A to bolster growth (BCG)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Sears' seven decades of self-destruction (Fortune)
• Riding the M&A wave in consumer goods (BCG)
• How Aldi turned a local grocery into a $38 billion fortune (CNBC)
• Amazon gets a leg up on local rivals (WSJ)
• Amazon leads $575 million investment in Deliveroo (Tech Crunch)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• The dubious management fad sweeping Corporate America (WSJ)
• Nestle makeover advances with $10 billion sale of skin health care unit (Reuters)
• A kingdom from dust (California Sunday Magazine)
• Dixie vodka (Oxford American)
• From the archives (2014): Procter and Gamble to streamline, drop 100 brands (NYT)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• The mighty pea is everybody's favourite plant-based protein (Bloomberg)
• You can now pay with cryptocurrency at Whole Foods (MIT Technology Review)
• 'Breakfast food' is a lie (The Atlantic)
• Rotting teeth and sour organs turn Australians sour on sugar (Bloomberg)
• Impossible Foods raises $300 million with investors eager for bite of meatless burgers (Reuters)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Power partnerships: Manufacturer-retailer partnerships that  work (McKinsey)
• Walmart confirms it's 'seriously considering' IPO for Asda (Bloomberg)
• Walmart expands next-day delivery (WSJ)
• The humble receipt gets a brilliant redesign (Fast Company)
• Nivea owner buys Coppertone sun care for $550 million (Bloomberg)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• I'm not 3G's man, says new Kraft Heinz executive (FT)
• Amazon, in need of drivers, turns to its employees (WSJ) 
• The price of plenty: How beef changed America (The Guardian)
• A transformation in store (McKinsey)
• Food's funny-looking future: Ugly produce delivery (WSJ)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• Chick-Fil-A's lean menu helps chain bulk up (WSJ)
• Dr. Bronner's in the age of wellness and wokeness (Vox)
• How America became a nation of snackers (The Atlantic)
• Shaving startup Harry's to be sold to maker of Schick for $1.37B (NYT)
• Sobeys doubles down on e-commerce with robotic warehouse in Montreal (Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• Dim sum is dead. Long live dim sum (Airbnb Magazine)
• A second look at the tuna sandwich's all-American history (Taste)
• A hunger for tomatoes (The Bitter Southerner)
• The question of dinner (Oxford American)
• From the archives (2006): Mark Foote takes over as Loblaw president (Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• The raisin situation (NYT)
• Struggling discount grocer Save-a-Lot to seek buyer or investor (Reuters)
• How the new plant-based burgers stack up to beef (CBC)
• In search of water-boiled fish (Eater)
• The FDA says it's safe, so feel free to say 'yes' to MSG (WSJ)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Big vegan brands snag loyal customers in undergrad (Bloomberg)
• Dean Foods falters in more concentrated milk market (WSJ)
• Syrup is as Canadian as the maple leaf. That could change with the climate (NYT)
• Amazon and Target race to revolutionize the shipping box (Fast Company)
• How America almost banned chained grocery stores (The New Food Economy)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• How a Canadian chain is reinventing book selling (NYT)
• Lab-grown meat is coming, but the price is hard to stomach (WSJ)
• Walmart's new workplace: 'Gold stars', 'attitude cards', and cheers (Bloomberg)
• Mission actually impossible (Eater)
• Pineapple pizza is easy to hate, at least in theory (Washington Post)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• Retailers are tracking where you shop - and where you sleep (Bloomberg)
• From apples to popcorn, climate change is altering the foods America grows (NYT)
• H-E-B runs True Texas BBQ, the best barbecue chain in Texas (Texas Monthly)
• How the Ikea effect explains today's startups (Fast Company)
• How Amazon created the Prime membership program (Vox)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• From Publix to H-E-B, Americans are obsessed with grocery stores (Eater)
• Low ABV, fruit-flavored beers are having a moment (Fortune)
• Germ-killing brands now want to sell you germs (Bloomberg)
• Here's Soylent's new product. It's food (NYT)
• From the archives (2014): My no-soap, no-shampoo, bacteria-rich hygiene experiment (NYT)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Walgreens could use a prescription for ailing drugstore business (Bloomberg)
• Coffee prices plunge even as we can't stop drinking the stuff (WSJ)
• 4 questions retailers need to ask about augmented reality (HBR)
• In automation, the 'last motion' will come before the last mile (Wired)
• He built, then nearly broke a successful beauty startup. Can it go on without him (NYT)

Best of Pax Westona: April 2019

• Meituan and Alibaba have reshaped food delivery in China (Bloomberg)
• The great sriracha battle is coming to America (Bloomberg)
• How Asian-American farmers shape what America eats (Eater)
• The age of robot farmers (The New Yorker)
• 5G-connected cows test milking parlor of the future (Reuters)
• Inside the fake Amazon review complex (The Hustle)
• Warby Parker had a message. It's customers didn't care. Here's how it changed its message (Inc)
• The ever-changing store (McKinsey)
• Why is Wegman's so great? Inside America's favourite grocery store (Bloomberg)
• Meet the woman behind Amazon's explosive growth (Fast Company)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Amazon's Alexa team can access user's home addresses (Bloomberg)
• How French's ketchup took a bite out of Heinz (CBC)
• Is that chic toothpaste worth the price (NYT)
• Raising wages is good for your workers, and doesn't have to hurt your bottom line (HBR)
• Walmart unveils an AI-powered store of the future, now open to the public (Tech Crunch)