00:00Stu, are we expecting people to show up and break out the plastic credit card to load up on beef
00:05and goods?
00:06Or what are we doing? Are we shifting and going vegan for Fourth of July?
00:09You know, it's not that bad, okay?
00:12I mean, when you think about it, I saw your statistic, $73 there, but for 10 people at $7 a
00:20head, you know, you can't go to a restaurant for that.
00:23But anyway, here's really what it boils down to.
00:27The superstar of Fourth of July is this guy right here, your cheeseburger, okay?
00:33Not a hamburger, a cheeseburger.
00:35Is that a brioche bun, Stu?
00:37It's a brioche bun.
00:39And you know what?
00:39The bun price is the same as last year.
00:43The cheese that you see on it is the same as last year.
00:47You know what went from $2.50 to $2.75 is the meat in the middle.
00:53So meat is driving a lot of these costs up.
00:58And the reason is, you know, I talked to our ranchers out in the Midwest.
01:02The herd size is at a 75-year low, okay?
01:07So there's less cattle and there's more demand because everybody wants protein, everybody wants beef.
01:13So, hey, supply is low, demand is high, and prices go up.
01:17And this is really, to me, what's driving inflation.
01:21Tomatoes are down a little bit this year.
01:23Eggs are down this year.
01:25Strubberies popped up a little bit.
01:27We've got really hot weather, which is affecting our farmers.
01:32They're just hoping, you know, things will cool off a little bit.
01:37So it's not that bad.
01:38I'd say it's up a few percent.
01:40Well, Stu, what's going on with vegetables, though?
01:42Every time I feel like I go and buy, you know, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, prices are higher.
01:47And even, like, the supplies at my local grocery store are kind of lacking.
01:51Are people showing up there?
01:53You know what, Bailey, that's what's happening is the fruits and vegetables always change a lot depending on the weather.
02:03And you can see some of the tremendous weather systems that we've had today.
02:07Look at the heat right now.
02:08That's affecting all the growers.
02:10You've got to get people out in the fields right now to even pick all of the corn and blueberries
02:18and everything.
02:19So, you know, the fruits and vegetables is always, you know, you don't know what you're going to happen the
02:27next day.
02:28Same thing with fish a lot of times.
02:31You know, we're up in the Boston, New York area, Montauk.
02:36And, you know, depending on the weather, the fishing boats don't go out.
02:40The lobstermen don't go out.
02:42And the price will fluctuate.
02:45You know, not on a major basis, but day-to-day it will fluctuate depending on those factors.
02:51Well, I am curious, Stu.
02:53Just, I mean, you've been doing this.
02:54I mean, you've been leading this company for more than 30 years.
02:57Obviously, the company predates.
02:58See the gray hair?
02:59I see it, Stu.
03:00You still look great, by the way.
03:02But I am curious.
03:03I mean, you've seen kind of these economic cycles before.
03:05And I am curious, particularly around holidays, whether it's July 4th or Thanksgiving, do you find that people still, even
03:13when times are tough, they still are willing to spend around these holidays?
03:17Well, you know what, Romain?
03:19You know what we're finding now is I just ordered some Chinese food last night, and it was $40.
03:25And all I got was just some loamain and sliced chicken.
03:31You know, and you're talking $7 for a 4th of July cookout.
03:34So, you know, I think people are tending not to eat out as much, and they want to eat in
03:40the store.
03:41They want to buy their own food and cook it.
03:43Now, here's some ways you can save money, okay?
03:46This is, we have people back there cutting, chopping, they're chopping, you know, making guacamole right there.
03:55They're cutting all that, peeling the avocados and everything.
03:58All of that takes time.
04:00If you want to save money, do it yourself, okay?
04:05Because you'll save a lot of money.
04:06You know, I joke a little bit about the mashed potato index, which is, you know, when the economy is
04:12really good, people will tend not to cut and make their own mashed potatoes.
04:19Instead, they'll buy them store-bought.
04:21Yeah.
04:21Most of that stuff is double the price.
04:24So, Sue, I guess the big question I have for you, what are you doing on July 4th?
04:30What's going to be on your grill?
04:32Okay.
04:33First of all, I have a good question, Romain.
04:35You know what's coming on my grill?
04:38This is going to be right here.
04:41Okay.
04:42That's going to be on my grill there.
04:44My son-in-law loves steak, and so do I.
04:48But we're going to grill that up.
04:50And you know what else?
04:52You know, this is like a biggie, obviously, is corn.
04:55Yeah.
04:56You know, it's coming out of Delaware right now.
04:58Everybody's corn, watermelon, you know, the salad, potato mac, and coleslaw.
05:03And then there's going to be a lot of 250-year celebration type things.
05:09This is just some, we took some strawberries, blueberries, and some whipped cream and made a red, white, and blue
05:14type of thing.
05:16And you know what else, Romain?
05:17This is like not even in the books.
05:20I never learned it at school or anything, but TikTok.
05:24Yes.
05:24You won't believe the impact TikTok has.
05:27You know, I'll give you an example now.
05:29You see this?
05:30You see this?
05:31Yeah.
05:32Yes.
05:32It looks just like a...
05:33That's the cake, right?
05:35Exactly.
05:36Yeah.
05:36It's like a cupcake in the container with dots on the top of it.
05:41Yeah.
05:41We're going to sell thousands and thousands and thousands of these this weekend.
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