TOP STORIES

Six Chicken-Industry Officials Indicted for Price Fixing -- Update

Six current and former chicken-industry executives have been indicted on price-fixing charges, according to court documents, expanding the U.S. government's antitrust prosecutions in the $65 billion poultry industry.

The charges target executives from six different chicken companies, including Pilgrim's Pride Corp., and provide new details about the alleged conspiracy. Prosecutors alleged the price-fixing took place from 2012 into early 2019, a longer period than the Justice Department previously had alleged.

Fast-Casual Dining Chain Ruby Tuesday Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday said it has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in a bid to reduce its liabilities as it works to recover from reduced business brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Maryville, Tenn., casual-dining chain on Wednesday said it has reached an understanding with its secured lenders to support its restructuring through financing and an agreement on terms of a plan that Ruby Tuesday said will provide a sustainable path forward.

Just Eat Takeaway Shareholders Reject Grubhub CEO's Remuneration Supplement

Just Eat Takeaway.com NV said Wednesday that shareholders have rejected a proposed supplement to its management-remuneration policy in respect of Grubhub Inc.'s Chief Executive Matthew Maloney.

Shareholders in the European food-delivery group approved the combination between the Amsterdam-based company and Grubhub, as well as the appointment of Mr. Maloney to the management board, and those of Lloyd Frink and David Fisher as members of its supervisory board.

STORIES OF INTEREST

Winter Threatens End to Outdoor-Dining Honeymoon -- Market Talk

09:19 ET - Lamb Weston's sales to restaurants have gradually recovered since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, but the company warns that colder weather could freeze that momentum. Outdoor dining thrived at full-service restaurants over the summer months, but options are guaranteed to become more limited as fall and winter set in across the US. Meanwhile, Covid-19 looks sure to be a menace through the remainder of the year. Potato shipments to restaurants could soften once more as venues give up outdoor dining, Lamb Weston says. Shares climb 2.6% pre-market as the company beats analysts' 1Q profit estimates. (matt.grossman@wsj.com, @mattgrossman)

Rave Restaurant Group Shares Jump in Premarket Trade

Rave Restaurant Group Inc. shares more than tripled to $2.01 in premarket trading Wednesday in heavy trade.

Volume for Wednesday's premarket session was 1.2 million shares, compared with its 65-day average volume of 374,000 shares. The stock ended Tuesday up 9% to 51 cents a share.

Sysco Tests All-Electric Truck

Sysco Corp. is testing an all-electric truck for its distribution operations, the Houston-based food-service company said Wednesday.

The truck, a Freightliner eCascadia made by Daimler Trucks North America, would run daily operations from Sysco's San Francisco site through January, Sysco said. Data gathered during the trial will be used to improve future iterations of the Freightliner design.

FUTURES MARKETS

Livestock Futures Follow Cutouts Higher -- Market Talk

14:53 ET - Livestock futures trading on the CME finished higher - with live cattle futures trading up 1% to $1.131 per pound, while lean hog futures rose 1.1% to 64.575 cents per pound. It's the third consecutive day that livestock futures have risen. Lean hog futures appear to have followed pork cutouts higher today, with the carcass price up $3.68 per hundredweight to $96.23 per cwt, according to the USDA. Meanwhile, national daily boxed beef cutouts are at $217.13 per cwt, up 89 cents per cwt from yesterday. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

CASH MARKETS


 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Oct 7 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
Oct  7       +$ 59.83            +$ 74.50 
Oct  6       +$ 53.94            +$ 69.42 
Oct  5       +$ 54.52            +$ 74.41 
 
* 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  101.5 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)      Select  109.9 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 
 

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Wednesday rose 64 cents per hundred pounds, to $216.88, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell $1.26 per hundred pounds, to $205.58. The total load count was 159. Wholesale pork prices rose $2.36, to $93.72 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-07-20 1658ET