News & Insights
Why are you still using cattle prices to forecast graded beef cuts?
“What’s been going on with the beef price forecast?” Sound familiar? Since COVID, pricing models at the cut level don’t seem to work anymore. We know why and we know how to restore accuracy to cut level beef price forecasting. Standard beef cut ratios to cattle price just don’t hold...
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February – Hamburger Index
The 2023 Q1 DecisionNext Hamburger index is 106.5, meaning that the aggregated input costs for a ¼ lb hamburger is expected to be 6.5% higher in Q1 of 2023 than in Q4 of 2022, for a cost of $.65 per unit. This 6.5% increase in input costs for a standard...
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The Risk of Precision
“I’d rather be vaguely right, than precisely wrong” -John Maynard Keynes We think this phrase from the notable 20th century economist and mathematician helps highlight the basis of informed decision making. Survival instincts learned over millennia affect and bias our decision making. While these biases can be both useful or...
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February DecisionNext White Bread Index™
Figure 1. DecisionNext White Bread Index, February to June 2023 Figure 2. February and June 2023 Ingredients Cost for 1,000 lb Dough Batch The DN White Bread Index is 108 (fig. 1) meaning that the aggregated input costs for a 1,000 lb batch of white bread is expected to be...
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Forecasting Soy Oil with DecisionNext
In response to demand from customers in the bakery, retail, foodservice, and distribution sectors, the DecisionNext platform has expanded it’s out-of-the-box modeling capabilities to cover series for various grains and grain derivatives including but not limited to: Soy Beans Soy Oil Red Winter Wheat Corn Etc. Consider soybean oil, one...
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