Papa Johns, inflation, Portillo’sPapa Johns, inflation, Portillo’s

Papa Johns CEO Todd Penegor is hoping to course correct the company after multiple quarters in a row of declining sales. At the ICR Conference, he talked about shifting the marketing strategy from national back to local.

The price gap between groceries and restaurants continued to narrow in December, according to the latest Consumer Price Index released Wednesday. CPI data for December indicated that prices for food-at-home (groceries and supermarkets) rose by 1.8%, up 20 basis points from November’s increase of 1.6%.

Portillo’s share price jumped by double digits on Tuesday. Why? At the ICR Conference, the company outlined a robust plan to bolster traffic, margins, and returns through investments in loyalty and drive-thru technology, as well as a sharpened focus on a smaller prototype.

Chipotle announced its latest minority investments as part of its Cultivate Next Venture Fund. They include Plantible, a Texas-based biology company that uses duckweed to create a plant-based protein, and CH4 Global, an Australian-based company that scales production of Asparagopsis seaweed to reduce enteric methane emissions of cattle.

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