Jelly Belly Founder Gives Away Candy Factory In Golden Ticket Treasure Hunt
David Klein, the candymaker who named Jelly Belly jelly beans, has announced a series of scavenger hunts with Golden Tickets, like Willy Wonka’s, and a chance to win the key to a candy factory. A spot in the hunt costs $49.98, which buys you a riddle to help locate the golden tickets that are strung onto necklaces hidden throughout each state in the country. Registration is at www.thegoldticket.com, and each state has been limited to 1,000 participants. California’s registration is already sold out. “You will be looking for a Gold Ticket in the form of a necklace with a tag that includes a code you need to use to verify your find,” said Klein. Winners receive $5,000 and the chance at the grand prize of owning a candy factory. “Our goal is to get people out and about with their families.” The candy factory in the hunt is not the Jelly Belly Candy Company (which is unaffiliated with the contest) but one of Klein’s Candyman Kitchens located in Florida. The grand prize also includes an all-expenses paid trip to a candy-making university.
World’s Most Expensive Sheep Sells For $490,000 In Scotland
A ram sold for the equivalent of $490,000 US dollars in Scotland has broken the record for the world’s most expensive sheep. The Texel breed of sheep named Double Diamond was bred via artificial insemination with another champion ram and a ewe. The father ram was valued at $86,000, and the mother ewe was valued at more than $46,000. The Texel breed is known for its fast growth and ideal musculature that makes it easy on butchers preparing the animals for sale. The previous record of more than $300,000 was set in 2009, according to the BBC.
Amazon Opens First Physical “Fresh” Grocery Store
Last week, Amazon did a soft open of its new in-person grocery store called Fresh. The e-commerce company invited select California customers to test drive the store’s features, including Amazon Dash Cart, which allows customers to skip the checkout line, and Alexa AI to keep customer shopping lists in order and to help shoppers navigate through the aisles. The store will also be offering same day delivery and pickup. Amazon hasn’t released the exact date the store will open to the general public but has confirmed that there will be at least three more locations opening in California and Illinois. Amazon will be implementing strict COVID-19 related safety measures throughout the stores.
Bon Appetit Names Book Publishing Veteran Dawn Davis As Editor In Chief
The food media outlet Bon Appetit has named Dawn Davis as the new editor-in-chief after facing racial conflicts with former editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport, who resigned in June. Bon Appetit’s parent company, Conde Nast, announced that Davis is expected to begin her new role on November 2nd. The position gives Davis editorial control of Bon Appetit, Epicurious, Healthyish and Basically, the company’s food outlets, across all media, including print, digital, social media, and video. Ms. Davis is currently a vice president at Simon & Schuster, where she founded and publishes 37 Ink, an imprint emphasizing marginalized voices. Davis also wrote “If You Can Stand the Heat: Tales From Chefs and Restaurateurs,” a book including chef profiles such as Anthony Bourdain.
Library of Congress Includes AmazingRibs.com In Foodways Archives
The United States Library of Congress has picked AmazingRibs.com to be added to its historic Food and Foodways Web Archive. Only 43 other websites are currently archived at the Library of Congress, including sites such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, James Beard Foundation, Southern Foodways Alliance, Grub Street, Jose Andres, Pioneer Woman, and US Food & Drug Administration. The Library of Congress is the country’s oldest federal cultural institution, a national library that maintains important “cultural artifacts” and gives US citizens access to them. Entirely independent, AmazingRibs.com has no corporate parent and has been in the barbecue game for more than 15 years. AmazingRibs.com began in 2005 just as a hobby and has grown into a professional website with an experienced staff and a Pitmaster Club that has more than 16,000 members.
Netflix Queues Up The Competition With American Barbecue Showdown
Netflix is launching a new video series, American Barbecue Showdown. The food competition show will follow some of the country’s best backyard competition pitmasters as they vie for the title of American Barbecue Champion. The eight-part show begins airing on September 18th and will be hosted by popular NASCAR host Rutledge Wood. BBQ judges include Kevin Bludso, founder of L.A.’s always-busy Bludso’s BBQ, and Melissa Cookston, owner of Memphis BBQ Company and 7-time world barbecue champion. “Competition doesn’t get more delicious than in the world of barbecue,” said the show’s producer John Hesling, “especially when it comes to our eight hopeful pitmasters as they stoke their flames against each other, and the clock, to be crowned American Barbecue Champion.”
Without Stimulus Checks, Americans Are Spending Less At The Grocery Store
While grocery spending has generally soared during the pandemic, it shifted rapidly when $600 in additional weekly unemployment pay from the U.S. government expired in July. According to market research firm IRI, sales growth in August fell in several grocery categories compared to July and the months prior. Frozen dinners, for example, averaged only 9% growth in the first three weeks of August, compared to around 17% growth for the previous two weeks in July. In August, cereal sales averaged only 2% growth while they had seen 6% growth in the latter part of July. Gordon Reid, president of grocery chain Stop & Shop, said he anticipates that consumers will feel the pinch of high grocery prices during the last quarter of the year and continuing into next year. Walmart US Chief Executive John Furner said, “People perceive they’re spending more money on food, despite eating out less. So we’ll be thoughtful about the way we plan the rest of the year and react to changes in the trends we see from our shoppers.” The typical pandemic grocery bill has dropped enough that stores have begun offering additional discounts to attract shoppers. President Trump signed an executive order in early August authorizing an additional $400 in weekly stimulus pay, but payments have been delayed by state unemployment systems that required reconfiguring for the new payment. Only three states are currently distributing the new stimulus payments.
DoorDash Launches Grocery Delivery Service
Restaurant delivery platform Doordash is partnering with regional grocers to offer on-demand grocery delivery. Partner grocers currently include Smart & Final, Meijer, and Fresh Thyme. In the next few weeks, D’agostino, Gristedes and Hy-Vee will join DoorDash as well. Other grocery chains, including Wegmans and Gelson’s, will give DoorDash customers access to their apps, which customers can use to order prepared foods.
Prior to the pandemic, the market for online grocery shopping was growing, but slowly. Delivery demand has since shot through the roof in all sectors. During a recent call to discuss second-quarter results, Amazon/Whole Foods CFO Brian Olsavsky, reported that “online grocery sales tripled year-over-year.” Other players in the grocery delivery market are capitalizing on changing consumer habits, including market leader, Instacart, which announced a partnership with Walmart that allows customers same-day delivery from Walmart locations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Tulsa. Not to be outdone, DoorDash pledged that groceries from its providers will be ready for “Dasher” pick up within the hour. DoorDash charges a $3.99 delivery fee for each order unless customers are members of its $9.99/month subscription service, DashPass.
Company Offering Home Cooked Meals Delivered On Demand Raises $8.8 Million
As tens of thousands of restaurants remain partially or fully closed due to the impact of COVID-19, food delivery has dominated the restaurant industry. A new home-cooked meal delivery platform, Shef, recently raised $8.8 million in funding to expand its network of chefs who prepare home cooked meals for delivery. Chefs who apply to the Airbnb-like platform must have their home kitchens certified and inspected to meet food safety laws. “Shefs” then set up a profile and a menu, and each dish has a detailed ingredient list. The company’s co-CEOs Alvin Salehi and Joey Grassia prioritize immigrant cooks, first-generation cooks, and newly laid-off restaurant workers, and they currently have more than 4,000 pending “Shef” applications. The platform offers home cooked meals in a wide variety of cuisines, including Shanghainese, Bangladeshi, and Maldivian, and the company estimates that some “Shefs” earn up to $1,000 a week. Shef currently operates in areas of California and New York, and Salehi regularly lobbies other state governments to ease restrictions on selling food prepared in certified home kitchens.
Chocolate “Snow” Dusts Swiss Town After Lindt Factory Malfunction
The Swiss town of Olten was treated to a light dusting of chocolate “snow” after the ventilation system malfunctioned at a local chocolate factory. Leading Swiss chocolate maker, Lindt & Spruengli, which also owns Ghirardelli, Whitman’s, and Russell Stover chocolate brands, said that the ventilation issue occurred during the production of roasted cocoa nibs. Strong winds that day, combined with the malfunction, caused a fine chocolate powder to lightly blanket the area surrounding the factory. Many locals in Olten reacted positively to the malfunction, saying things like, “2020 is turning around” and “My dream come true.”