Eating and drinking out hasn't grown in 25 years. Here's why.

Everyone says going out to eat and drink is a long-term growth market. Fifty years of official data say otherwise. Adjusted for inflation, we spend about the same on these activities as we did in 1997, and with a bigger population, that's less per head. The culprit isn't food. It's the pub: drinks bought out are down about 30% since 2001, while drinking at home is up by half. This week's briefing has the numbers.

And in the US tariffs are now landing on distributors as a cash bill due before the load leaves the dock, and one container of Spanish olive oil arrived with a $68,000 demand. My friend Steve Strasser, who runs a SaaS business for foodservice distributors, put it best with a story about his UPS driver collecting $123 in duty on his doorstep. The cost is painfully visible at the dock, yet it disappears into menu prices by the time it reaches the diner. That matters for operators already repricing faster than before covid, and for the customers who skip dessert to make up for it.

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