TIPP CITY, Ohio – Back in the day, there were hundreds of regional tomato brands across the U.S. Canneries were not giant agribusiness, but were instead closer to the field, family-owned. In Virginia, I can recall Webster’s, who was famous for his Webster’s catchup. Old man Webster lived in aMORE HERE
Hungry for boiled peanuts? Why not try the Margaret Holmes brand, which is sold throughout the Southeast at stores like Publix. The story from the website says that in the early 1930s, Ed Holmes of Sandersville, Georgia, began canning white acre peas and squash in his kitchen, under the watchfulMORE HERE
The drug Vinol often appears in old pictures. But what was Vinol? It was a drug for anemia and general weakness. It was part of the companies Chester Kent and also Drug Inc. Vinol had exclusive relationships with retailers; hence the large signs in places like New York. Main ingredientsMORE HERE
Brand managers and marketers like to think they do it all. But the reality is that adept brand manager of a legacy brand sees forces out there, and takes advantage of the goodwill. It is not always necessary to create demand; instead the best practice for an older product isMORE HERE
In December, US Mills, the former maker of Farina breakfast cereal, sold brands that included Erewhon, Uncle Sam, Skinner’s Raisin Bran (founded 1926) and New Morning to the company Attune Foods, makers of health food bars. (Farina was sold to Malt-O-Meal.) The best known of the brands is Uncle Sam, which isMORE HERE
BRADENTON – Pepsico CEO Indra K. Nooyi appeared on CNBC after Davos, talking about how the company was seeking healthier options for snack foods. Pepsico was going healthy. Really healthy, which would bring to mind new versions of Quaker Oats or some such. But when BrandlandUSA spotted these Tropicana tangerinesMORE HERE
A few bits of stuff we’ve seen in recent days: Tang: What’s the deal with “New” Tang. Granted, we haven’t purchased Tang in years, nor have we actually seen Tang sold. We would submit to our friends at Kraft that if you don’t advertise it, you can’t sell it. AndMORE HERE
CAMDEN – Recently, Campbell’s has been experimenting with different designs on their soup can packages. While Tomato and Chicken Noodle packages seem to be so classic they would never change (perhaps thanks to Andy Warhol), Campbell’s has tested other designs that clearly are made consumers buy more. Put a spoonMORE HERE
HOUSTON -A reader asked about a favorite missing old product. It was the orange drink Orange Plus, which was owned by Birdseye, and a non Birdseye ownership with the Treesweet Corp. Orange Plus was a frozen orange drink that competed against Minute Maid. BrandlandUSA reader Nicholas Chicorikas says that itMORE HERE
CHERRY HILL, N.J. – LEM is a special kind of lemon filling, found in select grocery stores and specialty food shops. Made by Cherry Hill, N.J.-based Serv-Agen, it is quite different than your regular pie filling. It was originally called Mrs. Morrison’s LEM, and was a “one-line item” company. ItMORE HERE