News & Insights
The Challenging Environment of Retail Ad Planning
Today, there is a lot more riding on the ability to effectively execute in retail ad planning. For example, the years since the Covid pandemic have seen the average price of a cut of beef rise dramatically while consumer preferences have changed, making ad planning harder and raising the stakes...
Read More »
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...
Read More »
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...
Read More »
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...
Read More »
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...
Read More »
