The 270th birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was commemorated by the Mozarteum Foundation with 320 golden statuettes, each 50 centimeters tall, depicting the composer with his dog. Within two weeks, 80 of them were stolen, and as of now, 210 have been stolen. The artist believes that it’s the work of organized thieves, though it’s easy to see why some might think visitors are just pinching the figures as souvenirs. Hear me out: Salzburg needs to be on the look out for a 50-centimeter tall Antonio Salieri. 

Stocks finished up on the day after inflation data came in merely lukewarm.

It's been about a month since the multi-state outbreak of the parasite Cyclospora began and some businesses are feeling the hurt of our lettuce anxiety. 

Fast casual salad chain Sweetgreen saw its stock drop 29% over the past month despite not having direct ties to the contaminated greens. In July, the company cut its full year outlook over the widespread consumer anxiety over fresh produce. Taco Bell’s parent company Yum! Brands have fallen 8% and foot traffic fell 20% even before the CDC’s official announcement linking Taco Bell’s contaminated lettuce to parasite outbreak.

Meanwhile, salmonella-tainted jalapeños have begun making headlines. This week, the CDC flagged the outbreak coming from Mexican-grown jalapeños which has spread across 27 states. Chains like Chipotle Mexican Grill and Qdoba pulled the peppers from their menus but are still taking losses — Chipotle’s shares fell nearly 10% on August 4 after Bloomberg News reported the chain removed the jalapeños. 

Food-borne outbreaks hurt sales, eroding consumer trust in brands. In earnings calls over the past several weeks, even chains that weren’t initially directly affected by cyclospora had to answer questions from analysts. “We're not impacted, or we are impacted from a sales perspective, but we're not involved in the Cyclospora conversation today,” said Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright in July. 

“Exiting Q2, we saw near-term sales impacts related to broad concerns around lettuce and fresh produce consumption due to the Cyclospora outbreak,” said Brett Schulman, co-founder and CEO of Cava, who added the company is not directly affected by the recent Salmonella outbreak. “We have since seen same-restaurant sales begin to rebound, a testament to the underlying strength of our long-term brand proposition.”

Despite concerns over produce, Cava was the breakaway winner of the fast casual chains this earnings season, bucking the trend. The chain saw guest traffic increase by 5.3% over Q2 and adjusted EBITDA climbed 30% to $54.7 million.

“We know consumer trust in the food system does not come easy right now, and it should not be taken for granted by anyone in this industry.”

— Paige Oamek