Brandon Gomez
Brandon Gomez connects the business of food with consumer wellness, showing how corporate decisions, regulation and shifting habits shape what people eat, drink and buy every day. He is a Food & Wellness Reporter at CNBC, covering the business, policy and competitive forces across food, grocery and consumer health, with a beat that runs from big-box grocers and fast-food chains to fitness platforms and telehealth providers. His reporting draws on years of work covering alcohol, cannabis and fitness, supported by deep sourcing in those sectors, and appears across the network’s digital, television, streaming and social platforms. He frames stories around prices, safety, consolidation and innovation, tying executive strategy and regulatory action back to the practical impact on consumers.
Food prices, grocery chains and consumer behavior
Gomez’s food coverage gives close attention to how pricing strategies and grocery competition play out in consumers’ weekly shopping and dining decisions. He has reported on Americans paying record prices for steak, using that staple to illustrate how inflation and supply dynamics test demand and shift purchasing patterns at the meat counter. He covers large grocers such as Walmart and Kroger as they cut prices on beef and other summer essentials, linking those moves to intensifying competition and political pressure for lower grocery bills. In his work on Americans buying fewer groceries, he tracks how trimmed baskets are changing the winners and losers in the food aisles, emphasizing which categories and brands lose share as shoppers seek value.
Gomez regularly ties corporate earnings to consumer behavior in the food economy.
He reports on Costco’s results when the warehouse chain beats earnings estimates, connecting performance to member traffic, food sales and pricing decisions. His coverage of General Mills, alongside Kroger’s acquisition of Giant Eagle, shows how packaged-food demand and supermarket consolidation interact as consumers continue to eat at home. He also examines how artificial intelligence tools are giving grocery chains like Kroger an edge in price wars and helping curb food waste, explaining how platforms such as Flashfood analyze demand, shelf life and optimal discounting to protect margins while offering lower prices on perishable items.
Across these stories he frequently incorporates executive interviews, investor commentary and consumer sentiment data, including work on sliding optimism amid worries over rising prices and jobs.
Food safety, major suppliers and regulation
Food safety and the structure of supply chains are central themes in Gomez’s beat. His reporting on Taylor Farms details how one of the world’s largest producers of fresh-cut vegetables and salads has become integral to America’s food supply system, supplying major grocery chains such as Walmart, Kroger, Whole Foods and Target, as well as restaurant customers including McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Chipotle. He explains how that scale magnifies the impact of foodborne illness, noting that Taylor Farms products account for roughly 40% of salad kits sold at grocery stores and describing the breadth of recalls across retailers and restaurant chains during a historic cyclospora outbreak.
He traces the company’s growth through acquisitions and vertical integration, showing how its control over processing, packaging and distribution makes it a crucial link between farms and large food brands, and raises questions about whether consolidation increases systemic risk when something goes wrong.
Gomez also takes a broader view of the U.S. food safety apparatus and regulatory response. In video and digital pieces on why the country struggles to control food safety, he explores how recurring outbreaks challenge both private companies and public agencies, drawing on experts who point to gaps in oversight and industry practices. He covers policy moves such as the Department of Health and Human Services tightening oversight of food ingredients amid mounting safety concerns, connecting regulatory scrutiny to industry standards and consumer trust.
His reporting on what investors need to know about cyclospora highlights how outbreak investigations and recalls factor into risk assessments for food producers, distributors and retailers, underscoring that safety issues are both public-health and market events.
Consumer wellness, telehealth and fitness businesses
Gomez’s consumer wellness coverage follows how technology, platforms and regulation reshape the business of health. He reports on Grindr’s expansion beyond dating with a $250 million telehealth acquisition of PurposeMed, detailing how the deal brings HIV prevention services into the app’s ecosystem and how executives expect it to add about $240 million in annual revenue. He has also covered Grindr’s investment in artificial intelligence and the performance of its higher-priced subscription tier, tying these initiatives to user growth and monetization in a crowded digital health and lifestyle market. In fitness, his work on Peloton’s revamp of its treadmills examines new hardware features, AI-powered training and the role of equipment upgrades in the company’s broader turnaround plan.
Regulation and wearables are another part of this beat. Gomez has reported on connected-fitness company Whoop pushing back on Food and Drug Administration scrutiny of its blood pressure monitoring technology, setting the dispute in the context of how agencies define and police health claims for consumer devices. His broader description of his role as a business-of-food and consumer wellness reporter matches a portfolio that spans companies such as Starbucks, McDonald’s, Walmart, Costco, Peloton and Life Time Fitness, reflecting a focus on the intersection of everyday brands and health-focused offerings.
On social platforms, he flags upcoming coverage of names including Hims, Cava and Brinker, reinforcing his interest in emerging consumer-health, restaurant and wellness chains alongside legacy players.
Alcohol, cannabis and emerging categories
Before concentrating his beat on food and wellness, Gomez built experience on alcohol, cannabis and fitness, and he continues to fold those sectors into his current coverage. His author biography emphasizes years of reporting across these industries and the deep sourcing he has developed with executives, investors and regulators in them. In his work on THC drinks, he explains how congressional delay of a hemp ban could make cannabis-infused beverages harder to find, drawing out the regulatory uncertainty that hangs over manufacturers and retailers.
That story sits alongside his coverage of food and consumer health companies facing evolving rules, illustrating a consistent interest in how shifting legal frameworks and social attitudes reshape what products reach store shelves and how businesses position them.
Gomez’s career at the network has included producing and reporting for its “Squawk on the Street” program, where he handled breaking news and tracked real-time changes in consumer behavior. That experience informs his current reporting style, which balances live coverage of earnings and market moves with deeper pieces on structural trends in food, wellness and regulation.
Across topics, his work is distinguished by its combination of corporate strategy, regulatory detail and consumer impact, making the business of how Americans eat, drink and live his constant frame.
4 more food journalists.
Aaron Guerrero
Aaron Guerrero is head of the digital department at Miami’s Community Newspapers, where he pairs restaurant coverage with community-facing content. He focuses on how Miami-area restaurants evolve, celebrate, and experiment through new concepts, menus, and neighborhood-focused dining experiences. He reports on restaurant openings, such as an Italian food hall at Plaza Coral Gables, new executive lunch menus, and wood-fired Latin steakhouse brunches, explaining what sets each venue apart. He also covers awards, like a Wine Spectator honor for an Italian chophouse, and events that turn dining rooms into social hubs. His bylines extend to features on sports-themed gatherings, civic renamings, local visits to restaurant programs, sponsored community pieces, and official notices. His work is straightforward and descriptive, helping readers and local businesses connect around specific openings, promotions, and dining experiences.
Aarron Fleming
Aarron Fleming reports on how courts, jails and public safety systems work over time. He is a reporter at The Daily Memphian covering public safety, the local court system, suburban news and business developments in North Mississippi. His work follows trials, sentencing, appeals, plea deals and judicial decisions, including major cases tied to Tyre Nichols and rapper Young Dolph. He also covers jail conditions, inmate deaths, crime data, prosecution units, trafficking, shootings and public-order incidents. His suburban reporting examines cannabis businesses, restaurant openings and how commercial growth affects communities such as Olive Branch. Fleming previously covered education in the same newsroom. He uses clear, unadorned prose to explain legal steps, deadlines, institutional problems and the political, commercial and community effects of public-safety decisions.
Alana Al-Hatlani
Alana Al-Hatlani is a food writer and editor who treats recipes, restaurants, and food features as ways to explore culture, community, and the business of eating. She works on the food team at Southern Living, overseeing and contributing to print recipes and reported features. Her pastry-focused, restaurant-tested perspective comes from time in restaurant and bakery kitchens. She helps plan and write monthly food packages, including “The South’s Most Treasured Desserts,” and wrote “8 Summer Recipes Our Editors Make Every Year.” She also writes recipe tips, ingredient explainers, restaurant guides, and reported stories about workers, owners, and communities. Her subjects include regional specialties, dining scenes, kitchen basics, and food industries. Her work has appeared with OpenTable and Yahoo. She reports on the ground, explains techniques clearly, and connects specific dishes and places to larger stories about food and livelihood.
Alana Edgin
Alana Edgin is a business reporter whose strongest focus is food, restaurants and consumer-facing businesses. She works at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal and has also had work syndicated across AOL and Yahoo News. She covers new openings, closings, expansions and franchise growth, along with retail, health, services, corporate news, data incidents, business support programs and sponsorships. Her reporting includes detailed roundups of new restaurants and businesses, coverage of El Pollo Loco’s opening, and stories on burger trucks, dessert shops, Vietnamese sandwich restaurants and gourmet markets. She also contributes to food and drink reviews, including fall coffee and jerky comparisons. Edgin reports with practical “what, when, where” details, structured comparisons and clear explanations of how offers, partnerships and business changes affect consumers and the local economy.