TOP STORIES 



  Pandemic Coincides With Shift to Delivery-Only Ghost Kitchens -- Market Talk 


  0824 ET - Muscle Maker, parent of a group of health-focused restaurant chains, reports lower 2Q revenue, citing store closures and reduced hours during the pandemic. But the pandemic has been a period of growth for the company's ghost kitchens: commercial kitchens that only prepare food for delivery. The company has launched five such sites in Chicago, with plans for more: "These ... allow the company to cover the entire Chicago market at a fraction of the cost it would take to build out traditional locations for the same geographical coverage," the company says. Each kitchen can make food for a variety of brands under the Muscle Maker umbrella, improving efficiency, the company says. (matt.grossman@wsj.com; @mattgrossman) 


  Taco Bell Rolling Out Store With Two Drive-Through Lanes -- Market Talk 


  0834 ET - Taco Bell developed a new store format that emphasizes to-go sales and digital ordering. Taco Bell says its "Go Mobile" restaurant will cover about 1.3K square feet, down from 2.5K square feet at a traditional store, and feature two drive-through lanes when it makes its debut in 1Q next year. One of the lanes will be for customers who order ahead using the brand's app, while the other will offer the traditional style of ordering. Shake Shack plans on opening its first restaurant next year with a drive-through, while Chipotle Mexican Grill is pushing to open stores with lanes for customers who've placed digital orders. Analysts at Cowen said they expect Chipotle to have 1,000 locations with such lanes by 2025, up from 100 with them today. (micah.maidenberg@wsj.com; @MicahMaidenberg) 


  STORIES OF INTEREST 


  Soybean Sales Don't Meet Trader Expectations -- Market Talk 


  08:48 ET - Export sales of soybeans were strong for the week ending August 13, totaling 2.56 million metric tons. However, this is a far cry from the high end of trader expectations, with traders surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expecting as much as 3.9 million tons. Soybean sales for 2019/20 were actually negative 12,700 tons, due to cancellations of 342,800 tons set for unknown destinations and another 32,800 tons for China. Soybean futures on the CBOT are down overnight, falling 0.6%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais) 


  A2 Milk Offers NZ$270M for Mataura Valley Milk Stake 


  WELLINGTON, New Zealand--Infant formula marketing company a2 Milk Ltd. said it has conditionally offered 270 million New Zealand dollars ($177 million) for a 75.1% stake in Mataura Valley Milk so it can expand into manufacturing. 


  The acquisition, which is subject to due diligence and regulatory approvals, would give a2 Milk infant nutrition production capacity to support the growth of its infant-formula business in China, the New Zealand company said Friday. 


  Cargill Tears Down Historic Lake Office -- Market Talk 


  1143 ET - Cargill is demolishing its historic "Lake Office," the French-style mansion that housed the agricultural conglomerate's senior executive team for decades. Cargill CEO David MacLennan and other company leaders moved out of the sumptuously appointed, nearly 90-year-old house in the woods in 2016, relocating to the company's more traditional offices nearby in the Minneapolis suburbs, to be closer to corporate office workers. A spokeswoman says Cargill considered making it a library or museum, but a massive revamp was needed to comport with various safety and disability access codes. The demolition earlier was reported by Minnesota's City Pages. (jacob.bunge@wsj.com; @jacobbunge) 


  FUTURES MARKETS 


  Hog Futures Finish 5% Higher as Export Sales Favorable -- Market Talk 


  15:07 ET - Lean hog futures trading on the CME finished trading Thursday up 5%, to 55.175 cents per pound. It's the highest that hog futures have traded in over two months, driven largely by higher pork cutout prices - with the carcass price up $2.53 per hundredweight mid-day to $77.52 per cwt, according to the USDA. Export sales are also higher, the USDA says - totaling 20,600 metric tons for the week ending August 13, up 97% from the previous week. Meanwhile, live cattle futures finished down 1% to $1.09775 per pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais) 


   CASH MARKETS 

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Aug 20 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
Aug 20       +$ 69.70            +$ 29.57 
Aug 19       +$ 66.22            +$ 25.92 
Aug 18       +$ 71.34            +$ 25.29 
 
* 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   93.2 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)      Select   95.6 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 
 


  Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Thursday rose $2.34 per hundred pounds, to $225.38, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices rose 66 cents per hundred pounds, to $206.31. The total load count was 150. Wholesale pork prices rose $1.70, to $75.49 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes. 


  (MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires


  08-20-20 1728ET