[VenTatsu]

Not all market transactions are done to make money on the trade itself, many are done to protect a larger business interest. This is very uncommon on stock markets, but is very common on commodity markets. You don't generally hear much discussion of commodity markets because they are not the big way (at least not today) for people doing trading to make it rich quick.

Most consumer level goods have become insulated from price fluctuations in commodity markets, but there is still some variation at the consumer level in the price of fresh fish and meats, and sometimes fresh fruits and vegetables.

At the scale restaurants buy, and especially large chains or higher scale restaurants, price fluctuations can make a big impact on profitability. Getting tipped off early to a situation that might impact prices can allow a company to lock in a futures contract at the current prices for delivery later on when prices have risen before the people selling know that prices are about to go up.

The result is that the people gathering the data and producing information may not be in a position to get value directly, they are not already trading in those commodity, but people already doing that trading may get value from better or faster information on the market.