Firm Markets, Funky Consumers

Firm Markets, Funky Consumers

From The Commodity Kitchen with David Maloni by David

February 11, 2026 · 13 min

About this episode

David Maloni discusses the latest trends in commodity markets, highlighting price movements in various food products.

In this episode, I break down the latest moves across the commodity markets, and we’re continuing to see firming conditions in several key areas. The Datum FS Commodity Index moved higher again, soybean oil climbed to six-month highs, and dairy markets strengthened with cheese and butter both trading higher on solid volume. In proteins, chicken markets are rising even with year-to-date production up, egg prices have doubled since our last episode, and pork bellies hit 11-week highs. Beef remains a major story — year-to-date slaughter is down sharply, and the latest annual cattle report shows the smallest U.S. herd since 1951, with inventory down year over year and herd rebuilding expected to be slow, especially with drought in the Southern Plains. I’m then joined by Jonathan Maze , Editor-in-Chief of Restaurant Business Magazine , to talk about the consumer and the foodservice industry. As he puts it, the consumer is “weird” right now — very price sensitive, yet still spending on delivery and rushing to try viral menu items. We discuss how social media is accelerating trends and driving sudden traffic swings, while heavy discounting continues as the industry works through ongoing…

People in this episode

Host: David Maloni

Topics covered

  • commodity markets
  • food prices
  • agriculture
  • market trends
  • dairy
  • proteins

Keywords

  • commodity markets
  • soybean oil
  • dairy prices
  • chicken market
  • egg prices
  • pork bellies
  • beef prices

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Datum FS Commodity Index

Products: soybean oil, cheese, butter, chicken, egg, pork bellies, beef

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