“We see a lot of challenges ahead, especially for the US consumer,” Howard Penney, managing director and consumables analyst at Hedgeye Risk Management, tells Bloomberg Intelligence. In this episode of the Choppin’ It Up podcast, Penney sits down with BI’s senior restaurant and foodservice analyst Michael Halen to discuss his near-term outlook for restaurant spending and which companies can thrive in a difficult environment. Spoiler alert -– large, franchise chains can outperform. He also commented on stubborn beef inflation, overstated Wall Street sales estimates and turnaround plans at Brinker and Burger King.