TOP STORIES

More Restaurants Resist Indoor-Dining Bans as Restrictions Remain

Dean Pappas's family has been running the Glen Oak Cafe in Glen Ellyn, Ill., for 43 years. Thanks to carryout and a $57,000 federal loan, he managed to avoid going out of business when pandemic lockdowns forced him to suspend indoor dining from March to June. The construction of a tent helped him regain a sizable amount of business over the summer. But business plunged in October when the state ordered restaurants in his county to stop offering indoor dining for a second time; it was banned statewide the following month. Mr. Pappas ignored the mandates and kept serving customers indoors at his 160-seat breakfast and lunch restaurant.

Nonetheless, sales remain 60% lower from last year.

Beyond Meat Plans Move to New Los Angeles-Area Offices

Beyond Meat Inc. will shift its headquarters to a newly developed office building in El Segundo, Calif., the maker of plant-based meats said Friday.

Beyond Meat signed a 12-year lease at 888 North Douglas St., in a building adjacent to Los Angeles International Airport that its developer expects to complete this year.

STORIES OF INTEREST

France Blocks $20 Billion Takeover of Carrefour by Canada's Couche-Tard

PARIS -- The French government shot down an offer from Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. to acquire hypermarket chain Carrefour SA, according to people familiar with the matter, saying the move threatened jobs and France's food security amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Couche-Tard's offer to buy Carrefour for 16.1 billion euros, equivalent to $19.66 billion, would have created the world's third-largest grocery retailer, behind Walmart Inc. and Lidl owner Schwarz Group. But French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told Couche-Tard Chairman Alain Bouchard in a closed-door meeting in Paris on Friday that he was opposed to the takeover, according to people familiar with the matter.

Conagra Stock Is Slumping, but Chairman Richard Lenny Scooped Up Shares -- Barrons.com

Packaged-foods giant Conagra Brands has seen its shares slumping in January, and non-executive Chairman Richard Lenny bought the stock.

Conagra (ticker: CAG), owner of iconic brands including Peter Pan, Duncan Hines, and Orville Redenbacher's, reported a strong second quarter in early January. But analysts worried the company wasn't spending enough on advertising and promotion to retain new, younger consumers who have bought Conagra products during the pandemic. Conagra stock sank in the wake of the report, and has now lost 6% in the first two weeks of 2021. The drop wipes out a 5.9% rise in 2020.

FUTURES MARKETS

Hog Futures Ride Cutout Momentum -- Market Talk

15:14 ET - Hog futures on the CME closed higher today making up for some ground shed this week, with the most-active contract closing up 2.5% to 67.925 cents per pound Friday. The movement of hog futures seemed to follow pork cutout prices up today, with pork cutouts overall rising today. Ham and butt prices in particular rose - adding $7.62 per hundredweight and $7.79 per cwt, respectively. Meanwhile, live cattle futures closed up 0.8% to $1.182 per pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

CASH MARKETS


 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Jan 15 
 
Source: USDA, based on Wall Street Journal calculations. 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
Jan 15       +$ 47.49            +$ 39.51 
Jan 14       +$ 47.71            +$ 40.41 
Jan 13       +$ 40.76            +$ 35.00 
 
* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production. 
A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of 
production of the animals. 
 
Beef-O-Meter 
This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite 
values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices. 
 
                                  Beef 
          For Today              Choice  100.2 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)      Select   96.9 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Friday fell 45 cents per hundred pounds, to $212.92, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices rose $2.01 per hundred pounds, to $203.08. The total load count was 140. Wholesale pork prices fell 42 cents, to $78.78 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-15-21 1716ET