Stouffer’s Pizza. The pizza that’s not always in the pizza aisle. The pizza that’s not really a pizza. The pizza that has the weirdest and most precise directions ever, namely “Pour ingredients left in wrap onto pizza.” That’s right, Nestle, those little droppings of shaved cheese and quartered pepperoni, areMORE HERE
Leaf Brands is the maker of a number of revived brands, including Farts Candy, Astro Pops, tart n’ tinys , Wacky Wafers, Bonkers! and David’s “Beyond Gourmet” jelly beans. It is a tiny company compared to Mondelez, which is the successor company to RJR Nabisco, the maker of Oreos.
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SMITHFIELD, Va. – Yet another bit of appalling news from the world of conglomerate brands. This morning, The Washington Post reported that the now-Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods has stopped making hams in Smithfield. Of course, if you make ham in the most famous ham capital in the world, and you makeMORE HERE
There are few things more satisfying, food wise, than putting good cream on the top of fruit, or adding sour cream, or whipped cream, or coffee with cream, or tea with milk, or bread with butter, or cold or hot cereal with milk. Cream on top, buttered bread, ice cream,MORE HERE
ASTORIA, QUEENS – After the bankruptcy of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, yearly customers of the company’s Jane Parker fruitcakes were left bereft of their favorite holiday treat. However, two Long Island food entrepreneurs, brothers Alex and Chris Ronacher, have revived the historic brand, which was nearly asMORE HERE
PLEASANTON, Calif – House brands seem to be all the rage these days. They go in and out of favor at grocers; these days national brands seem to be the brands that are on the outs. Apparently, part of the acquisition value of Whole Foods for Amazon was their experience withMORE HERE
Perhaps this sounds a bit churlish to see cultural downfall in a child’s lunch. And to churlish, you might generously say inconsistent, as the vile concoction of items in a current Lunchables was something that was purchased by me in a fit of hurry and laziness. After I had purchasedMORE HERE
Perhap’s we should be writing about Bell’s Seasoning around Thanksgiving time, but the brand, founded in 1867, is a useful product all year round. At one time there were dozens of such regionally popular brands; one by one they have been shut down, repackaged, reformulated or forgotten. Bell’s, which isMORE HERE
WEST CONSHOHOCKEN – The Ritz cloth brand was originally founded in 1892 by the John Ritzenthaler Company. This lower Manhattan (aren’t so many great brands founded there?), was started by John Ritzenthaler, a German immigrant, who gave the products the name Ritz Cloths. In 1970, Howard Steidle bought the company, andMORE HERE
MONTVALE, N.J. – A&P, one of the greatest brand names in the history of the United States, is up for auction, along with all the assets of the annoyingly mismanaged and bankrupt Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company. Joan Verdon of The Bergen Record reports on the upcoming sale, whereMORE HERE