Ground beef hit a record $6.90 a pound this spring, up 19 percent from a year earlier. Steak prices are not far behind, up 17 percent to $13.02 a pound. This is not a temporary spike. The U.S. cattle herd has fallen to its smallest size in 75 years, driven by drought, rising land and labor costs, and slow herd rebuilding.

Analysts do not expect meaningful relief until at least 2027, since rebuilding a cattle herd takes years, not months. Consumer demand for beef has stayed surprisingly strong despite the price, which means the pressure on your supply chain is not going away just because guests keep ordering the burger.

Barbecue and steak-forward concepts are getting hit hardest. Some operators are already seeing $40-a-pound brisket, a number that would have looked like a typo two years ago.

What This Means For You:

Do not wait for prices to come back down. They likely will not for at least a year. Lock in supplier contracts where you can, rework portion sizes on beef-heavy dishes, and look hard at menu items where a protein swap protects margin without losing the guest. If beef is more than a third of your food cost, this is the week to run the numbers on what a 2-ounce portion change actually saves you over a quarter.

Read the full beef price breakdown →

The headline commission numbers from DoorDash and Uber Eats run 15 to 30 percent depending on tier. That is not the real number. Once you add packaging costs, payment processing fees, promotional spend, and menu price adjustments needed to stay competitive on the platform, the true effective cost climbs to 35 to 45 percent of that order's revenue.

Do the math on your own margin. The typical independent restaurant runs a 3 to 9 percent net profit margin. If your operating margin is 8 percent and a delivery app takes 25 percent off an order, you are not making less money on that order. You are losing money on it, every single time.

More operators are starting to notice. Some are pulling back from third-party platforms entirely, others are capping how much volume they let flow through them.

What This Means For You:

Pull your actual per-order margin on third-party delivery this week, not the commission rate, the real number after every fee. If you are losing money on those orders, you have two choices: raise delivery-specific menu prices to cover the true cost, or shift volume to a direct ordering channel you control. Operators who cap third-party at 20 to 40 percent of total order volume and route the rest direct are protecting real margin without walking away from delivery entirely.

Read how operators are pulling back →

Superior Star LLC, a Phoenix-based operator running 59 Hardee's locations across nine states, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 10. The filing centers on a dispute over seller financing tied to its 2023 acquisition of the restaurants, with assets and liabilities each estimated between $10 million and $50 million.

This is the second major Hardee's franchisee bankruptcy this year. ARC Burger LLC, which operated 77 locations across nine states, filed for Chapter 7 liquidation in April with more than $29 million in debt.

Neither collapse is really a story about burgers. Both are stories about acquisition debt and financing terms that did not leave enough room for a bad year. That is a structural risk, not an operational one, and it applies just as much to a single independent location financed on tight terms as it does to a 93-unit franchise group.

What This Means For You:

If you took on seller financing, an SBA loan, or any acquisition debt in the last few years, pull the terms and stress-test them against a genuinely bad quarter, not your best one. The operators who survive shocks like beef prices and delivery fees are the ones whose debt structure had room to absorb a bad stretch. If yours does not, this is worth a conversation with your lender or accountant now, not after the next cost spike.

Read the Superior Star bankruptcy filing details →

• The US and EU struck a trade deal setting a 15% tariff ceiling on most imports. Some agricultural exemptions offer limited relief, but most food and beverage tariffs remain in place. Do not expect a meaningful price break yet. NRA statement →
• 90% of full-service operators have already raised menu prices this year. 63% sought alternative suppliers and 60% cut items from the menu entirely. If you have done none of the three, you are behind most of the industry. Restaurant Economic Insights →
• New restaurant development is concentrating hard in the Sun Belt. 76.9% of tracked openings are in the Southwest, Southeast, and West, with independents and casual dining leading volume and Houston the top city for new units. If you are expanding, know your regional competition. This week's openings →