THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIME

Taco Meat Tuesday | October 6th, 2026

HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Taco Meat Tuesday, October 6th. From The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: Ohhhhh yeahhh! Macho Man Randy Savage was selling Slim Jims before we started putting protein on just about everything. Today meat sticks are competing for that same protein dollar with shakes, bars, yogurt and foods that have protein added to them. We already sell the real thing. That alone doesn't mean we get the sale. FATTY is growing while Slim Jim is working to regain momentum. The appetite for protein is there. Consumers still choose the product, not just the category. There is an opportunity to earn more eating occasions outside breakfast, lunch and dinner. We spend plenty of time on the price of beef. We should also ask how to make meat an easier choice when someone reaches for protein between meals.

HOST: Last week's cattle kill recovered to five hundred forty-eight thousand, sixty-four thousand more than the week before. Monday Choice cutout three seventy-eight twenty-six, up four dollars. Select three fifty-eight fifty-seven. Fresh nineties four oh two. Eighty-fives three twenty-seven. Fifties ninety-six cents, from October 2nd. Ribs are still the tight item. Loins and rounds are where the negotiating room is. South American nineties three oh five to three twelve, free on board Philadelphia, for late October and November. Australia and New Zealand cow three thirty-seven to three forty-two. November Oceania around three twenty, cost insurance and freight. Nearby coverage and forward replacement are on different tracks.

SHAWN: Chicken breast one nineteen, wings one oh nine, both softer. Thighs one sixty-seven, firmer. Pork cutout recovered to eighty-six cents, led by loins, picnics, ribs and bellies. Weekly hog kill two point five five three million, nearly unchanged. China's Golden Week runs through October 7th. November West Texas Crude closed at eighty-nine forty-three, down a dollar sixty-eight, and diesel futures did not follow crude lower. Recovered processing has shifted some leverage toward beef buyers. Light ribs are the exception. If sellers clear the extra production without more concessions, that leverage narrows. Stay disciplined.

HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Shawn Sparks, The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: Stay disciplined.