Darden Restaurants announced its plans to build a spiny lobster farm in eastern Borneo. The Orlando-based company operates several restaurant chains, including Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Capital Grille and Longhorn Steakhouse. The farm is believed to be the world's first commercial lobster facility; the company expects to be producing lobsters by 2017, and the facility will not reach its ultimate size until 2029.Darden plans to work with an unnamed Malaysian firm to build a 23,000-acre lobster farm in the Malaysian state of Sabah at the town of Sempora. The lobsters will be raised in cages in Darvel Bay. The firm says it plans to invest $300 million of its money (out of $450 million total) to develop the facility, which will ultimately em...
Key Takeaways: President Trump announced $8 billion in additional agricultural assistance through the Harvest Fuel Relief Program, as USDA projects farm fuel and oil expenses will increase 28.8 percent in 2026. The package follows $12 billion in earlier relief, while government farm payments w...
Key Takeaways: A student group from the University of Chicago is protesting to bring back onion futures trading. Trading in onion futures was banned in 1958 following a spectacular bout of market manipulation that resulted in a corner of the physical market. The ban on onion futures led t...
Beef packer margins deteriorated to $141/head last week, down $55 from the prior week as fed cattle prices strengthened while the Choice cutout remained nearly unchanged. The cutout held near $373/cwt while fed cattle prices climbed $4/cwt to $224/cwt, narrowing processor profits. Despite the d...
From WPI Consulting
Weighing in on strategic realignment
WPI’s team was retained by the governing board of a U.S. industry organization to review a decision, reached by vote, to invest significant assets into the development and management of an export trading company. WPI’s team conducted a formal review of this decision and concluded that the current level of market saturation would limit the benefits of the investment. Based on WPI’s analysis and recommended actions, the board subsequently reversed its decision and undertook a strategic planning effort to identify more impactful investments. On behalf of numerous clients, WPI has not only assisted in identifying strategic paths but also advised their implementation.