Dear Friend,
I don’t remember when my father handed me a fishing rod for the first time. It was likely when I was first able to walk, on my own, to the end of our 20-foot dock on a lake in Northern Minnesota. We were attempting to land small panfish that rested in the calm, sheltered water below our family pontoon. While I cannot remember my age at the time, I still vividly remember catching my first sunfish. At nearly 4.5 inches long with the neighbors hooting and hollering on my behalf, I was convinced it was a trophy fish and I couldn’t wait to hold it. Handing it to me, my father was the only person on that popular shoreline that was happier and more proud than me.
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Roll forward some 60 years and I still love to fish, including fishing for panfish on that same shoreline but under a different pontoon at the end of a slightly longer dock. And even more so now having moved to the Carolinas this year, fishing on the weekends has taken me to an entirely new outdoor life. In the Low Country, we do not have docks at the ends of which are simple family pontoons. Rather, we have very long piers where fancy, technology-enabled center counsel boats anxiously wait for us where the final pillar meets the effervescent waters. And these southern coastal waters are not as static and pure as calm, fresh lake waters. Rather our rivers are filled with aggressive tidal flows and waters that are as salty as the rim of any margarita glass in most any dive bar described in any great Hemingway novel. And the bait? Well, when off-shore, it is about the size of that first “trophy fish” that I “landed” in the early 1960s.
Americans live and love to fish. It is, along with baseball, our “OG“ American pastime. And it is a GIGANTIC business and an industry I love to serve. When you add up all aspects of it, the ASA states that it is expected to contribute nearly $150 billion to the US economy this year, as detailed in our first article.
This week’s newsletter gets even better with our second story. Most of you experienced your Super Bowl weekend several weeks ago. For others of us, our super-event is this weekend when the 56th Bassmaster Classic kicks off on the Tennessee River in Knoxville. Fifty-five of the world’s best anglers will go head to head for the Bassmaster Classic Trophy, named after Ray Scott, the founder of the world’s largest fishing organization. Sadly, after 88 years of life and vision, the industry lost Ray this past May. I can personally attest that he lived up to his legendary reputation.
And a Porsche-designed Airstream? You can bet a silver bullet that such is true. Please see the story within. Also, this week we are finally able to tell you egg prices are falling, DoorDash is making bundled orders mandatory for multi-restaurant orders, and that inflation is simultaneously driving both premium product innovation and private label growth.
Please see these and other stories as well as our Thinking Green stories in this week’s edition.
Please have a wonderful weekend. I now need to ready for the weekend by finding great recipes for buffalo fish-n-chips and salty dog daiquiris. “Catch” you in a few weeks.
Be Well and Be Outdoors,
Jim D'Aquila
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- The American Sportfishing Association released its 2023 Economic Contributions of Recreational Fishing: U.S. Congressional Districts report.
- According to the report, America’s 52.4 million anglers contribute $148 billion in economic output and support 945,000 jobs across the country.
- They also contribute $1.8 billion toward conservation.
- Jobs supported include the manufacturing and sales of fishing equipment and gear, charters, hotel lodging, restaurants and more.
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- The Bassmaster Classic, widely considered to be the Super Bowl of bass fishing, will be held March 24-26 in downtown Knoxville and on the University of Tennessee campus.
- The prestigious tournament pits 55 of the best anglers in the world going head to head on the Tennessee River. The iconic Bassmaster Classic Trophy is to be named after BASS founder Ray Scott.
- Scott, who passed away in May at the age of 88, founded the first national professional bass fishing circuit, the Bassmaster Tournament Trail in 1967 and the following year founded BASS, which became the world’s largest fishing organization.
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- The Tennessee Valley Authority and B.A.S.S., in conjunction with local authorities and the Knoxville Utilities Board, are partnering to make venues for the 2023 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Toyota carbon-neutral.
- While hosting 100,000 or more enthusiastic fishing fans, TVA’s renewable programs will allow the event to match 100% of their electricity usage with renewable energy and create the first-ever carbon-neutral Classic venues.
- Yamaha Rightwaters and Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful are teaming up with anglers Ish Monroe, Bobby Lane and Bill Lowen for a community litter clean-up event on Tuesday, March 21 near Fort Loudoun. Last year, volunteers from communities in Tennessee, New York and Wisconsin pulled just under 18,200 pounds of trash from the ramps and shores of Chickamauga Lake, Pickwick Lake, Oneida Lake and the Mississippi River as part of the 2022 Bassmaster Lake Clean-Up Challenges sponsored by AFTCO and Yamaha Rightwaters.
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- When Airstream’s designers sought a “beautiful piece of industrial art” that was also “sleek, easy to tow, lightweight, low profile, and garage-able,” they decided to outsource some help. Apply most of that jargon to a sports car, and the smooth, soft lines of a Porsche stand out right away.
- It prioritizes all that drag reduction for one main reason: so you can tow it with a small car or EV. That’s also the reason some parts are fabricated with weight-saving carbon fiber.
- Airstream says the camper’s got generous windows and a rear opening system that “melds” the indoors with the great outdoors.
- The 16.4-foot, single-axle trailer sleeps two and comes with one available floorplan.
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- Upping its investment in private brands, Dollar General Corp. has reformulated and rebranded its dog and cat food line, Nature’s Menu. The company is now touting the line as a premium-brand pet food available at a value price.
- This summer, Nature’s Menu will debut a newly reformulated wet pet food, made in the United States
- Dollar General also recently launched an exclusive new home scent assortment, Koze Place.
- Developed by Maesa Inc. LLC, Koze Place features products designed with world-renowned perfumers to create fragrances inspired by and extracted from nature to bring sensorial experiences into the home.
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- In February, egg prices fell 6.7% compared to January, according to seasonally adjusted data released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Groceries rose 0.3% in that time, while menu items got 0.6% more expensive, for overall food inflation of 0.4% in February.
- Egg prices have been astronomically high, fueled by short supply caused by the deadly avian flu, high input costs and egg producers increasing their own profits. Some of those constraints have eased, sending wholesale prices down earlier this year.
- In the 12 months through February, egg prices rose 55.4%.
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- A new report from ButcherBox, a direct-to-consumer meat and seafood brand, found that social media has positively affected consumers' culinary exploration over the last few years, as more than half of Americans (56%) reported increased confidence in the kitchen thanks to these platforms.
- Of the 88% of people who use social media for food inspiration, more than half (52%) of those respondents depend on it weekly as they plan their meals.
- According to the report nearly three-quarters of respondents (72%) say they use social media for tips outside of cooking and recipes, for things like cooking techniques, skills and kitchen hacks.
- Nearly half of Americans (46%) credit social media for changes to their food shopping habits, and more than 75% of those respondents said it influenced them to buy a new ingredient they wouldn't normally buy.
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- Mars Inc. and Conjure Inc. are teaming up to provide Mars ice cream brands to customers in real-time, according to a press release.
- The partners are piloting on-demand mobile ice cream stores offering M&M's, Snickers and Twix options, according to a press release.
- The pilot will equip Conjure's fleet of mobile stores with offerings and customers can order from their smartphones and have it delivered to their location in minutes.
- The partnership will initially launch in Hollywood, Los Angeles this spring, with plans to expand to more locations later in the year.
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- Restaurants that use DoorDash are being automatically added to its DoubleDash program, which allows customers to order from two businesses in one delivery.
- It works like this: After a customer completes a delivery order from a participating restaurant, a pop-up appears asking if they want to add items from another nearby business, like a convenience store. These get added to the same order for no additional fee.
- Specifically, DoorDash said more than 40% of DoubleDash orders are from customers who are new to the second business, and that 14% of those customers order again within four weeks.
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- The global botulinum toxin market (the ingredient inside of the injections) is anticipated to reach $15.4 billion by 2030, and nearly 3.6 million people received cosmetic injections in 2021 – the year of the post-pandemic botox boom.
- According to the latest CivicScience data, 8% of U.S. adults have tried non-invasive cosmetic treatments, such as botox injections, dermal fillers, and enzyme peels (excluding those unaware of these treatments).
- Gen Z adults report the highest levels of usage than any other age group (15%), but Millennials are slightly more likely than Gen Z to want to give these procedures a shot (14%).
- CivicScience data show that over half (55%) of those who pay for non-invasive treatments typically spend more than $1,000 annually.
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In the time fraught with environmental issues that pose a potential threat to humanity, natural ecosystems as well as, our businesses and clients, we want to call to attention to those developing and embracing green strategies to reduce energy, water and paper consumption in order to protect our home, Earth.
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- Customers in the U.S. can return old, unwanted and non-functioning Hydro Flask bottles, tumblers and stainless steel products in exchange for redeemable store credit for use exclusively on the company’s website.
- Customers who participate in the program receive a promo code for $5.00 for each used Hydro Flask product returned to apply toward a new Hydro Flask product purchase exclusively on Hydroflask.com, including its MyHydro personalization program.
- Customers are requested to keep caps, lids, boots, or reusable straws to use with their next bottle purchase but could return them to the company via the trade-in program.
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- The company ranked No. 23 on the prestigious list, which is the sixth ranking by Barron's of the 1,000 largest publicly traded companies across 200-plus environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance indicators.
- In 2022, Hormel Foods supported food-security programs and disaster-relief efforts with partners such as World Central Kitchen, Feeding America, Conscious Alliance and Convoy of Hope.
- In addition, the company supported equity in education and continued its groundbreaking Inspired Pathways program that provides a free two-year-college education to the dependent children of its team members.
- Additionally, Hormel Foods has an ambitious set of corporate responsibility goals that it will strive to achieve by 2030 (its 20 By 30 Challenge). The 20 by 30 Challenge includes initiatives surrounding climate leadership, including matching 100% of the company's energy with renewable sourcing and the establishment of science-based targets for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
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- The main by-product of mussel farming, empty shells, may fight climate change by locking up carbon.
- Along with Chilean varieties, various mussel species appear in dog and cat foods or treats featured in Petfood Industry’s Product Database. These products include functional joint and mobility pet food formulations, as well as treats and supplements.
- Since mussel production uses only sea water, it doesn’t compete for fresh water as cows, pigs and poultry do.
- Raising mussels ends up pulling more greenhouse gases from the environment than it releases.
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Lazard Private Market Advisory Consumer, Food & Retail Team
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Lazard has financial advisory specialists throughout the world with experience and relationships in the consumer, leisure, food/agriculture, and e-commerce/retail industries. These bankers have played key advisory roles in some of the most important, complex and industry-defining transactions. For more information, contact one of our senior team members.
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Jim D'Aquila
Co-Head of Consumer, Food & Retail
612 371 6581
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Adam Wieden
Co-Head of Consumer, Food & Retail
612 371 6536
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References to "Lazard" include Lazard Frères & Co. LLC, and other subsidiaries of Lazard Ltd
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