The whole natural food movement has strong roots in religious circles, not only with Kosher food and Mennonite dairies, and natural foods and the Jesus movement of the 70s, but in a new generation of foods and consumer products made on Biblical principles and sold with a religious theme. OneMORE HERE
LE SUEUR, Minnesota – There are few canned vegetable brands that command a premium, but Le Sueur “very young small sweet peas” are one of them. Charging a premium for a straight basic commodity is a challenge. To make a premium brand out of a commodity, you need years ofMORE HERE
When most of the major brands in an industry go to one owner, it should be of major worry to any industry. When brands are owned in the U.S., it is an oligarchy. When owned outside of the U.S., it becomes a cartel. Part of the discussion of the legalityMORE HERE
SARASOTA – A roundup of branding recent items in the news: Big House POS Display of Nabisco: Nabisco, a brand of the oddly named Mondelez International, is receiving a major Christmas push. For this Christmas season, Mondelez has invested in large point of sale displays that push cocktail time crackersMORE HERE
TAMPA – Since 1921, Navier A has been a classic for cafe con leche. It’s named for the shipping line that brought founder Carlos Menendez to the U.S. In 1921, Carlos Menendez, a Spanish immigrant, founded the Naviera Coffee Mills, named for the shipping lines that brought him to America.MORE HERE
CHICAGO – There are some companies that not only own brands that are classics, but are also classic companies in themselves. Companies like Chelsea Milling (maker of Jiffy mixes), C.F. Sauer (maker of Duke’s mayo and Sauer spices) and Gold Pure (horseradish) sell basic, straightforward things, execute them without deception orMORE HERE
RICHMOND – The much beloved Richfood store brand is disappearing. Richfood was, for most of the 20th century, the dominant grocery name in Virginia; its dairy complex along I-95 in Richmond promoted ubiquitous Richfood milk to anyone driving up and down the East Coast. A friend in Richmond tells meMORE HERE
One of the classic American brands of drinking straws was Carnival Flexible Straws. Founded in 1952, Carnival was one of many household brands that have disappeared in recent years. For a time they were made by Clear Shield National, part of Envirodyne. They were also apparently associated with Diamond Brands.MORE HERE
In just about every restaurant kitchen, the decaffeinated coffee pot has an orange band. Ask a person under 30 why that band is colored orange, and they won’t know. They will know that it means decaf, but they won’t know why. The reason, of course, it is orange is becauseMORE HERE
In recent years, there have been a number of retro product re-issues by the original company. But a brand doesn’t have to be from the original company to grab the latent brand equity from a classic product that has been discontinued. One way to grab the brand equity from anotherMORE HERE