Food Inflation Food Prices See Biggest Jump in Four Months The average cost of food in China rose by 6.2 percent from a year ago in January, marking the third straight month of increases and the highest uptick since last October. Going back to April 2022, food prices in the country have now risen for ten consecutive months. The January number might come as a surprise given the surge in COVID-19 cases and related deaths, but with the Zero-COVID-19 policy essentially set aside, most people gathered with extended family to celebrate the lengthy Lunar and Lantern Festival holidays. The big drivers in January of higher food costs included fresh fruit, pork, vegetables, eggs, and cooking oil, which saw annualized upticks of 13.1 percent, 11.8 p...
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...