This week, we were alerted to the Spatini brand, a dry seasoning mix to help make spaghetti sauce. Apparently, its only sold to restaurants, though there is a website devoted to the brand, which apparently is owned by McCormick. Writes our BrandlandUSA reader Erica of Blackwood, N.J. I understand itMORE HERE
Just returned from my neighborhood Winn Dixie where a register printer-generated coupon informed me to look for the same taste, new look Eight O’Clock Coffee. I was appalled at the change; I thought the company had decided to retain the venerable red bag. The TATA Group, owners of the iconicMORE HERE
ALMA, Arkansas – Each summer, my grandmother in Somers, Virginia would save the watermelon rinds after we ate watermelon on the patio of the farmhouse. I never could understand it; you want to eat the flesh, but the rind? Bitter! That was until I tasted watermelon rind pickle. Yes, theyMORE HERE
Kraft apparently has some new versions of their Seven Seas sub-brand on the shelves. On a recent visit to Publix, we spied these new shelf entries for Seven Seas. The logo makes the familiar Kraft oval less prominent than the “Seven Seas” triangle. A fairly nice approach to preserving theMORE HERE
General Foods International Coffees, the last stand of the General Foods brand, might be on its way out. It appears that the coffee’s maker, Kraft, is testing a new Suisse Mocha under the Maxwell House brand. In the photo here, at right is the older version, General Foods International CoffeeMORE HERE
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