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Orville Redenbacher and the Case of the Exploding Popcorn Bag
from Nashville Scene, Posted August 19, 2008 at 04:53:47 PM by Caleb Hannan
Orville Redenbacher: Delicious and deadly?
You never know when someone's going to save your life. One day you're just minding your own business, when suddenly someone shoves you out of the way of the proverbial bus. So if you're a lover of all things warm, salty and kernel-based, this is your warning.
Your savior is a man who calls himself "Orville Red." Last year, a bag of Mr. Red's beloved Smart Pop caught fire, ruining his microwave. Mr. Red asked for a new microwave. What he got instead was a $30 gesture of "goodwill." With his compensation denied, Mr. Red did what any aggrieved consumer would do: He brought his case to the people...
OrvilleRedenbachersux.com is Mr. Red's magnum opus. The result of "a year of frustration, conversations and general disregard for corporate responsibility" on the part of Redenbacher-brand owner ConAgra.
"The broader purpose is to warn people that they can't put popcorn bags in their microwave and not monitor them," says Mr. Red. "Your house or dorm room could burn to the ground."
Which all sounds a bit funny until you realize we're dealing with ConAgra, producers of salmonella-infected Peter Pan, E. coli-infected ground beef and, worst of all, Slim Jims (shudder).
Could exploding popcorn bags be its next big-money lawsuit?
http://blogs.nashvillescene.com/pitw/2008/08/orville_re... from Nashville Scene, Posted August 19, 2008 at 04:53:47 PM by Caleb Hannan Orville Redenbacher: Delicious and deadly? ... more -
Yes, We Will Have No Bananas
By DAN KOEPPEL
"ONCE you become accustomed to gas at $4 a gallon, brace yourself for the next shocking retail threshold: bananas reaching $1 a pound. At that price, Americans may stop thinking of bananas as a cheap staple, and then a strategy that has served the big banana companies for more than a century — enabling them to turn an exotic, tropical fruit into an everyday favorite — will begin to unravel.
The immediate reasons for the price increase are the rising cost of oil and reduced supply caused by floods in Ecuador, the world’s biggest banana exporter. But something larger is going on that will affect prices for years to come.
That bananas have long been the cheapest fruit at the grocery store is astonishing. They’re grown thousands of miles away, they must be transported in cooled containers and even then they survive no more than two weeks after they’re cut off the tree. Apples, in contrast, are typically grown within a few hundred miles of the store and keep for months in a basket out in the garage. Yet apples traditionally have cost at least twice as much per pound as bananas.
Americans eat as many bananas as apples and oranges combined, which is especially amazing when you consider that not so long ago, bananas were virtually unknown here. They became a staple only after the men who in the late 19th century founded the United Fruit Company (today’s Chiquita) figured out how to get bananas to American tables quickly — by clearing rainforest in Latin America, building railroads and communication networks and inventing refrigeration techniques to control ripening. The banana barons also marketed their product in ways that had never occurred to farmers or grocers before, by offering discount coupons, writing jingles and placing bananas in schoolbooks and on picture postcards. They even hired doctors to convince mothers that bananas were good for children.
Once bananas had become widely popular, the companies kept costs low by exercising iron-fisted control over the Latin American countries where the fruit was grown. Workers could not be allowed such basic rights as health care, decent wages or the right to congregate. (In 1929, Colombian troops shot down banana workers and their families who were gathered in a town square after church.) Governments could not be anything but utterly pliable. Over and over, banana companies, aided by the American military, intervened whenever there was a chance that any “banana republic” might end its cooperation. (In 1954, United Fruit helped arrange the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Guatemala.) Labor is still cheap in these countries, and growers still resort to heavy-handed tactics."... By DAN KOEPPEL ... more -
Greenpeace: Supermarkets harming ocean wildlife
The environmental group says the grocery stores, need to own up to their share of blame for "the collapse of the fish and seafood stocks." The environmental group says the grocery stores, need to own up to their share of blame for "the collapse of the fish and seafood... more
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I HEART (To Hate!) CEOs
They all like PROFIT! They're all RICH! They're all ... new?
14 of the top 15 U.S. food companies have hired new CEOs in the last three years. A lot of Current posters seem to like to shoot CEOs for sport, so I thought I'd arm you all with the latest news on what strategies these new food company CEOs are implementing -- including passing on commodity costs to consumers, closing manufacturing plants, and firing workers -- for no good reason other than to pad the pockets of their shareholders.
[Sarcasm sequence complete.] They all like PROFIT! They're all RICH! They're all ... new? ... more -
Bush Proposes $275MM Budget Increase for FDA
This has been a long time coming. It is not clear exactly how the money will be used, but the article indicates that it will go toward hiring additional staff and opening new offices overseas. The budget increase seems to have backing from both parties.
With this increase, the FDA's budget would exceed $2 billion in 2009. This has been a long time coming. It is not clear exactly how the money will be used, but the article indicates that it will go towar... more -
"Baby Fat" Is Out, "Fat Baby" Is In
At what point does cute "baby fat" become more worrisome? This WSJ article reviews obesity programs aimed at toddlers.
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I Spy Something SMALLER! Watch Out For Stealth Price Increases
Yet another strategy that companies use to churn profits without arousing consumer suspicion.
Selling less product for the same price is a frequently-practiced strategy among consumer packaged goods companies, so this story does not come as a surprise. Consumers might want to be on the lookout for such stealth price increases when shopping for groceries (though realistically, while you might notice that your pack of gum has fewer pieces, your half gallon of ice cream probably suffers from freezer burn before you try to eat that last scoop and your natural cheese slices will probably taste just as good on your sandwich even if they're now .04mm thinner than they used to be).
By the way, does this explain the existence of capri pants? Yet another strategy that companies use to churn profits without arousing consumer suspicion. ... more
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