Food Financial News

US consumer inflation eased slightly in July, according to government data published Wednesday, its smallest 12-month increase since March 2021 and a positive sign for the Federal Reserve as it weighs cutting interest rates. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.9 percent last month from a year ago, the Labor Department said in a statement, while a measure that strips out volatile food and energy costs cooled to an annual rate of 3.2 percent. This was slightly lower than the median forecast of economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

Swiggy has started charging its service fee on the gross order value, which includes GST and packaging charges too, from restaurants outside metro cities as well. This will effectively increase the commission its restaurant partners in such markets pay. Previously, the service fee — or commission — was levied on the net value for restaurants in smaller cities and towns, while those in large cities were already charged on the gross value. “Effective 14 August (Wednesday), we shall be charging service fee on the gross value of each order as defined under our merchant terms. This change is being implemented across the platform for all our partners to ensure uniformity in our commission structure. This change will marginally increase the service fee payable to us,” Swiggy said in a letter to its restaurant partners. ET has seen a copy of the letter.

Prataap Snacks Ltd.(up 5.75%), Sheetal Cool Products Ltd.(up 3.80%), LT Foods Ltd.(up 3.00%), Hindustan Foods Ltd.(up 2.36%), Bajaj Consumer Care Ltd.(up 2.30%), Mrs. Bectors Food Specialities Ltd.(up 1.83%), Heritage Foods Ltd.(up 1.53%), Honasa Consumer Ltd.(up 1.09%), Gillette India Ltd.(up 0.99%) and Colgate-Palmolive(India)Ltd.(up 0.33%) stood among the top gainers.

The UK’s image as a multicultural country is the obvious loser from the far-right violence of the past fortnight, but in time these tragic events may have wider implications for the policing of social media everywhere. The role of X in disseminating often-false information and lionizing rabble-rousers, as well as X owner Elon Musk’s provocative tweets and irresponsible retweets, are all under the microscope.

inflation gauge declined below the mandated 4% target for the first time in five years, with economists attributing the fall to a statistical base effect and might not indicate a durable victory against sticky prices just yet. Most of the experts that ET spoke with said rate cuts could be pushed to the next fiscal year. In the recently concluded monetary policy review, central bank governor Shaktikanta Das maintained that future interest rate decisions will depend on food price movements and that it cannot overlook inflation pressures.

Narendra Modi is planning to visit Poland and Ukraine between August 21 and 23 with a message of dialogue and diplomacy amid intensification of Russia-Ukraine conflict. It comes just over a month after Modi visited Russia and Austria. This will be an Indian PM's first visit to Warsaw in over four decades despite Poland being India's largest trading and investment partner in central and eastern Europe. From Warsaw, Modi is expected to go to Kyiv on a half-day visit, ET has learnt.

Consumers spent more at small businesses in July, a rebound fueled by strong sales of general merchandise and health and personal care products

Americans are showing more interest in owning miniature cows, miniature goats, miniature donkeys and other diminutive farm animals

Brian Niccol, the chairman of Chipotle Mexican Grill, has been appointed as the new CEO of Starbucks as of August 13, 2024. Niccol will conclude his tenure as CEO of Chipotle on August 31, 2024. Howard Schultz, the former CEO of Starbucks, expressed his support for Niccol’s appointment, stating that Niccol has his “respect and full support.” Laxman Narasimhan, the outgoing CEO of Starbucks, will be leaving both his position and the Starbucks board after joining the company in 2023. During Narasimhan's time, Starbucks experienced a 3 percent decline in global sales at stores open for at least a year, according to a CNN report. In contrast, Chipotle saw an 800 percent revenue growth while under Niccol's leadership, as highlighted by the same report.

Stocks rose and bond yields fell after the latest US inflation data reinforced speculation the Federal Reserve will be able to deploy its widely anticipated interest-rate cut in September.

Nakoda Group Of Industries Ltd.(up 4.33%), Hatsun Agro Products Ltd.(up 3.37%), Honasa Consumer Ltd.(up 2.97%), Marico Ltd.(up 2.47%), Varun Beverages Ltd.(up 1.11%), Emami Ltd.(up 1.10%), Nakoda Group Of Industries Ltd.(up 1.09%), Patanjali Foods Ltd.(up 0.85%), Tata Consumer Products Ltd.(up 0.69%) and Nestle India Ltd.(up 0.47%) stood among the top gainers.

Tamil Nadu Cabinet on Tuesday gave its approval for 15 investment proposals of a total value of Rs 44,125 crore that are expected to generate over 24,700 jobs in the state. The 16th cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister M K Stalin at the secretariat here also granted its nod to three renewable energy policies as part of a goal to achieve 20,000 MW power generation by 2030, according to Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu here.

India's July retail inflation slowed to 3.54%, its lowest in nearly five years, on the back of a sharp decline in food inflation, data released Monday showed. Economists struck a note of caution, pointing out that the drop was largely due to the base effect of high inflation last year and that it could head back up in the coming months. Retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in July 2023 was 7.44% while that in June this year printed at 5.08%. Food inflation eased to a 13-month low of 5.42% in July from 9.36% in June, taking overall inflation below RBI target rate of 4% for the first time since September 2019.

It’s getting harder for young Canadians to find a job. A post-pandemic influx of cheap foreign workers in restaurants and retail stores may be making it tougher.

But India has made a strong comeback in Sri Lanka, wresting significant advantage from China. And going by the grammar and tone of S Jaishankar's just-concluded visit to Maldives, Muizzu, too, seems to be course-correcting. So, there's more than what meets the eye — a fresh dynamic that reflects changing geopolitical and economic realities. Take the Maldives. In May, IMF warned the country against a ballooning Chinese debt folio. A month later, Fitch downgraded its rating on grounds of 'increased risks associated with the country's worsening external financing and liquidity metrics'. It assessed that weakening foreign-reserve buffers and rising external government debt 'increase the challenges for the new government to meet its substantial upcoming external debt-servicing obligations and keep the currency peg to the US dollar'.

ITC Hotels said on Monday it had signed a Welcomhotel property with SRK Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. in Pushkar. Expected to open in 2026, it will be spread across nearly three acres. Located 50 kilometers from the Kishangarh airport, Welcomhotel Pushkar will offer 96 guestrooms, with banquet facilities and various food and beverage offerings including an all-day dining restaurant, lobby lounge, a specialty restaurant and bar. Recreational spaces include a swimming pool, fitness center, spa and a kids’ club. Anil Chadha, Chief Executive, ITC Hotels said the Welcomhotel brand continues to grow under the asset right strategy. «We recently opened the 25th Welcomhotel in Belagavi (Belgaum) Karnataka last month. Pushkar, located close to Ajmer and Jaipur, is one of Rajasthan’s most visited leisure destinations for its versatile offerings. Welcomhotel Pushkar shall showcase the legacy of this charming region,» he added.

Gurucharan Singh, best known for his role as Roshan Singh Sodhi in the hit comedy series ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’, has recently spoken about his financial struggles and debts. His sudden disappearance earlier this year had alarmed fans. In April, reports surfaced that Gurucharan was missing, but after 26 days, he returned to his home in Delhi, explaining that he had gone away to follow a spiritual path. In a conversation with Siddharth Kannan, Gurucharan mentioned that he is currently seeking work. He believes that people still appreciate him and want to see him, and he needs to earn money to cover his expenses, support his mother, and pay off his debts.

Patna Airport, where a snake faced off against three mongooses. The confrontation, captured on video, shows the snake initially engaging in a one-on-one battle with a mongoose. However, the situation escalates as two more mongooses join in, turning the fight into a three-on-one struggle.

PM Narendra Modi on Sunday released 109 high-yielding, climate-resilient and bio-fortified varieties of 61 crops at the India Agricultural Research Institute. These included 34 field crops and 27 horticultural crops. An announcement in this regard had been made last month by the finance minister in the budget speech. Modi also interacted with the farmers and scientists discussing the importance of these new crop varieties and stressed on the significance of value addition in agriculture, according to a government statement. He discussed the importance of millets and underlined how people are moving towards nutritious food. He also spoke about the benefits of natural farming and the increasing faith of the common man in organic farming and organic foods. The PM suggested that the krishi vigyan kendras (KVKs) should proactively inform farmers about the benefits of the new varieties being developed every month.

U.S. health officials have approved the first nasal spray to treat severe allergic reactions, offering an alternative to injectable products like EpiPen

Analysts are expressing shock at a decision by Mexico’s central bank to cut interest rates on the same day that official figures showed a sharp rise in domestic inflation