KANSAS CITY – Among the family owned businesses that thrive in niche markets is Colonial Patterns, maker of Aunt Martha’s sewing transfers. Still family owned, they are in most major national retailers, including Walmart, Michaels and Hobby Lobby. Like the brands Coats & Clark thread, Wrights trimmings and The companyMORE HERE
Occasionally, it is helpful to look at newer regional and national brands. One such standout is Hoboken Farms, which got its start in 1992 when founder Brad Finkel began selling at farmers markets in the New York area. Today, the company operages out of 30 or so markets across NewMORE HERE
It has now been just over two years since Land O’ Lakes announced the removal of its Indian maiden logo. The move turned the what was a grand symbol of American agriculture into a minimalist red O-hole. Dairy sales are down since the decision, though to be fair it shouldMORE HERE
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA – Many well-known brand leaders in food categories have degraded ingredients and changed formulas, leaving openings for newcomers. Enter Good Culture cottage cheese. For cottage cheese fans, store offerings in recent decades had become cheapened; not only dripping in a goop of watery liquid, but bland and milky.MORE HERE
The last time Americans saw mass shortages of multiple products at retailers was World War II, when U.S. manufacturers concentrated on munitions and war production. Consumers saw the result of a command economy firsthand, as ration books became the second currency of the land. The idea of having nothing toMORE HERE
WINONA, Minn. – There are few products more quintessentially American, and rural, than the galvanized washtub or bucket. A key maker of these products is Behrens, founded in 1911. Today, the metalmaker offers a wide variety of pails, washbuckets, and watering cans, all with the distinctive feel of a vintageMORE HERE
In the last decade, the owners of the Nabisco brand have played with the idea of taking the familiar red corner off of their packaging. This is unfortunate, as the Nabisco name is one of the nation’s best known, and best-trusted grocery brands. And the red corner is as wellMORE HERE
Goodbye, frozen vegetable brick. In spite of the recent explosion in frozen foods, changing consumer habits have meant the loss of one of the best known types of frozen food, the frozen food block. In the photo above, the sole remaining frozen vegetable brick at a Super Target is spinach,MORE HERE
Kraft Old English spread is one of a number of jarred, shelf stable cheese products sold by Kraft. Other varieties include pimento and roka.MORE HERE
SIMPSONVILLE, KENTUCKY – There were once dozens of regional sausage brands. One standout among the independents still remaining is the Old Folks brand, founded in 1944. Old Folks is actually the nickname for founder F. B. Purnell. Their archived website has a history of the brand: Old Folks was accustomedMORE HERE