I am moving from this address and will no longer post here.
Join me at : http://www.allbeforecoffee.com.
See you there.
A Little Footnote or Two: Updates
It seems no one wants to be ignored on the antioxidant bandwagon. Look at this latest product that should add to the confusion: Kraft Foods has decided to up the ante in the sugar-free Jello department. Health writers are all over this, and I appreciate the detail and the absurdity of the concept. Are we all that gullible? Now, carrots…
On the Ciao Bella front, I found the product at Target. Sorry for the omission, but the Mango Sorbet should not be omitted.
On the grocery smart scanner input, not all is as it seems. Yes, it is definitely fun to get a free item when the price comes up incorrect on the scanner. It is just a little confusing when the scanner offers you savings on products that do not match your profile. Let me say do not even approximate a match. Some of the offers today were so not for me that I hope whomever is typing in my card number is having fun. So kinks still need to be worked out, but as for fun, I’m still loving the scan and bag approach.
One final note on the grocers. It seems that tracking is so powerful that your absence from the aisles is actually a positive. I just received a survey questionnaire and 4 separate $5 off coupons from Harris Teeter. They miss me. That’s sweet. They wonder why I haven’t been there in a while. No problem. For the coupon savings, they have me at least 4 more visits. I love being loved; especially with a $20 savings.
Life goes on.
What’s Good for the Goose
..may not really work for everyone. Trends are like that–they come; they go. No matter how many superfoods, aka, miracle ingredients or products that get special label marketing can survive the reality test. There is no cure-all for life’s realities: Aging and all its precursor cousins. Sure some fruits and vegetables are particularly healthy in and of themselves, but we cannot live on them alone. No matter what. It’s becoming a challenge to separate the wheat from the chaff. Ok enough of that.
Realistically, confusion centers around the importance of antioxidants. It seems if you write high in antioxidants on the label, that almost guarantees high sales! How do these claims get tested? Who monitors reality? My favorite antioxidant claims are on products that are well known antioxidant fighters–fruits already high in antioxidants now jump out of the bins and off the shelves if they have the antioxidant banner.
What are these antioxidants and can we really get enough or the right amount from food? The foods that are naturally high in antioxidants are the easiest to take. If you’re going to concentrate on antioxidants and its benefits, summer is a wonderful season for you with its own natural bounty of antioxidants: BERRIES. Eat up, enjoy, skip the hype; it’s a natural occurrence. On the vegetable side, gardens are just beginning to produce the ultimate summer joy: TOMATOES. Sure there are numerous other foods high in antioxidants, and many antioxidant health claims may actually bear fruit.
Then there’s the whole beta carotene discussion. The old universe said eat your carrots. Limited explanation followed other than the statement: They’re good for you. Now they are not just carrots but a food high in the all-important, necessary beta carotene, an important antioxidant. Don’t forget when you visit the farm markets, there are other easy choices: beets, cabbage, and kale, for example.
Then there is the new wonder product, the acai berry. It seems to be touted everywhere. Unclear what it really does for you. It’s possible that no one knows the real answer, but when a product gets so heavily promoted so quickly, it moves into my suspect category.
Foods that promise can only promise more than they can deliver. Great skin, perfect eyesight, immune boosters, anti-aging, diet loss are just some of the claims that are part of the promise universe. We are looking for too many cure-alls.
What works is the same thing that has always worked: Smart eating. Not overeating.
That I am sure of.
No Shock; Just Comfort
Even though there are some signs that indicate we may slowly be emerging from under the dark economic cloud that has reshaped so much of our country, the reality is that consumers have changed their buying habits. We are different, and the hope is we will have learned something that has stickiness.
There is nothing surprising to hear that comfort foods are still the rage. Why not? Well, maybe a little salmonella scare here and there, but peanut butter and jelly top many lists. There’s protein and multiple beneficial ingredients, and the price is right. It does not mean we deviate from our brand purchasing, but that in some instances we are more careful. Some studies indicate that in cautious times we are less likely to experiment with a new brand, even a much less costly alternative, and stay with an old friend. M&M’s plain chocolate candy was one strong, popular purchasing indicator from this survey of almost 25,000 consumers.
Candy, of course, is about the reward. Why take a chance on something you’re not certain will provide the boost you need? Hershey’s Kisses, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars all scored high. Wonder what this says for all the new Dark Chocolates which every company seems to be touting?
Across the aisles in the packaged meat case, bologna is a major winner. Some attribute its recent and continual spike in sales to a return to the foods of our childhood. They worked then and seem to be playing a similar comfort role. Definitely will need to talk healthy foods. Don’t even want to know how to make bologna!
If Mom served what we considered old-fashioned foods such as peanut butter and jelly or bologna sandwiches, we hear the message. It worked then; it works now.
Grocers clearly recognize the new patterns. We see it everywhere. The Wegman family just discussed how shoppers have changed than they were a year ago. The company’s direct price-cutting actions, which greatly impacted their already slim profit margins, earned them new customers and a different approach to marketing their stores. It seems to be working.
Will we return to the shoppers of yesteryear, as in last year?
I hope not. I hope we are smarter now.
Bag It Up–My Bag, Please
All those times you are a bag short or even minus the recyclable bags which are overheating in the trunk of the car, you’ve been able to put your merchandise in a store paper bag as more places have phased out plastic. Some stores, like Ikea, charge for bags. Some shops even give you a small savings for each bag you bring.
Change is in the air. A number of states or municipalities have tried to implement bag taxes, and they have gone nowhere. The District of Columbia wants the belt notch that says first in the nation to implement bag tax. They say all those plastic bags are finding their way into the Anacostia River, and a true cleanup will never occur because of the sheer volume of plastic bags and the ultimate litter debris.
Many citizens consider the implementation of a bag tax as a lazy solution to an overall River mess. They feel that less fortunate shoppers will be further penalized as their groceries or drugs or whatevers will now cost 5 cents a bag more. A lack of understanding does not create a true cause-effect relationship. Remember these are tough times, and consumers are already paying a heavy burden in helping cities move forward. Implementing this tax will not clean the Anacostia.
The American Chemistry Council has started a major campaign to help cities and states understand the real environmental issues. They believe progress has been made in people’s awareness of bringing their own bags and recycling plastics. There are no shortage of places to drop off plastic bags. So many new, interesting products are being made from these efforts.
Skip the tax route. Be smart about this. The District does not have to be the FIRST for this type of program. There are better ways to win positive recognition than from this egregious program that solves little.
It’ll take more than my nickel to solve this particular problem.
The Shelves Are Alive
Yes, it’s true. Grocery stores, convenience marts, and even big box retailers have devoted sizable shelf space to 100-calorie boxes of whatevers. If you can make it fattening, the companies seem to say, we can also make it available in a lower calorie count.
Whether it’s chips, cookies, crackers, or candy, the 100-calorie boxes beckon. You name it, and it is probably available in mini-packs. BTW, they’re perfect for lunch boxes, desk drawer indulgences, and road trips. No one, not even Little Debbie Snacks, wants to be left out of the marketing game.
Not all is sweet news. Maybe we are using more paper and increasing our environmental threshold. Or, just maybe, we are overeating. Can you just have one? Personally, I think the gimmick gave you permission to overindulge. It’s just 100-calories, you convincingly said to yourself, as you grabbed a couple bags of Oreos. Sad news there, they didn’t have the filling that made you covet the product in the first place! Then along came Oreo Minicakesters–got ya! They solved that complaint!
Multiple bags. Hmm. Opposite of the original weight-loss approach; rather a weight-gain strategy that seemed to gain hold!
Not just overeating, but maybe you’re not just adding to your waist but to your budget, too. They are hardly the economical way to shop in this cash-conscious environment. Phil Lempert, who calls himself the Supermarket Guru, has been questioning their longevity. He is quick to point out that Ziploc makes a snack bag size, a perfect container for your own variation of mini-snacks.
If you like nuts, a few of those, please. Add a few raisins, and a piece or two of your favorite dried fruit and you have a personalized trail mix. A million possible examples.
Smart marketing. For those who remain clueless, there’s even a cookbook!
Seriously.
He Said That!
Sometimes restaurant experiences are surreal. Like the other night when an appetizer arrived at our table, and we politely said, “that’s not what we ordered.”
Silence. Complete silence, and then the response that still has us shaking our heads: So?
That was what he actually said. So as in so what. Then, the clincher, what do you want me to do?
After I thought maybe he should just do a jig or something, I figured he would guess that he should apologize and excuse himself until he could return with the correct appetizer.
Nope. Didn’t happen. He shuffled. Looked at the floor. Seemed to believe his response was appropriate and looked at us.
Two things could have happened then. We could have admonished him and sent him back to the kitchen for the correct, as in what we ordered, appetizer, or we could just stare back and wait until he came to that conclusion. We’d probably still be at the appetizer course. We opted for keeping the appetizer, as it was something we like, and the other option might have been painful. We wanted to eat, to begin our dinner and to have limited discussions with him.
By the way red pepper dip and tzatziki do not look, sound, or taste the same. We are happy that we like this restaurant’s version of both. We opted for taste over correction!
The shock of his response still resonates. Was it worth discussing with the manager? Not really. That kind of response from a server at a well-known mid-tier restaurant is not something you can take out of him. It’s like a genetic flaw. A reprimand from the manager would, as they say, fall on deaf ears. Maybe he had seen The Absent-Minded Waiter one too many times. (If you haven’t seen it, enjoy the You Tube clip)
.
We had a good dinner and a clueless waiter. Fortunately since it is a Mediterranean restaurant, courses come out as they are ready, so we saw little more of him which probably saved the evening.
He definitely needs training, but I’m not convinced his response is that easy to change. When someone doesn’t get it, he doesn’t get it.
I do.
So?
The Numbers Are In
Those Zagat people, Nina, Tim, and their army of contributors, are at it again! Instead of an eponymous city guidebook, they asked over 6,000 people to rate their favorite fast food establishments: The Survey ranked 103 chains from surveyors who order fast food at least 11 times a month! Wendy’s was the overall Mega-Chain winner, and the West Coast’s popular In-N-Out Burger took top honors for a food chain with fewer than 5,000 outlets. Trust me, when you grab a burger at one of its locations in 4 states (CA, NV, UT, or AZ), you’ll understand what the fuss is about! They earned top honors for Best Burger, too.
Maybe Starbucks is the real winner of the survey as it grabbed top honors in the Quick Refreshment Category as the most popular spot, and the company earned major bragging rights for Best Coffee even though they have been attacked by every barista and quick coffee shop within its sights.
McDonald’s, which is working hard to earn a coffee title, managed top numbers for Best French Fries, Best breakfast, Best Drive-Thru, and Best Value. The latter category is doubly important this year at all levels of food purchasing–everyone is looking for value.
Were there surprises? Not necessarily, but in the full-service category, I love the fact that the International House of Pancakes, IHOP, 
won Best Breakfast and Chuck E. Cheese still wins the Most Child-Friendly category.
The more things change; the more they stay the same!
Victory for This War
The concept has come full circle, and a Mighty Circle it is! Remember when grocers scoffed at big box retailers/markets and said who needs a case of this or 15 rolls of toilet paper? Well, take a look around you, the case mentality has come to the grocer’s aisles and seems to have found a permanent home.
Grocers are saying “two can play this game.” Their logic is quite simple: Eliminate the big box discounters by playing their game of offering case value. Whatever it gets called, and commonly it seems to be “club pack/pak”, the consumer benefits handsomely from this type of turnaround. For those who want to limit their shopping trips (yes, gas is climbing way up there, again), they can postpone trips to the big discounters and use the same mentality to stock up at the grocers. At least that’s what grocers believe!
Most of the national brands have entered the coupon fray-field by doubling and tripling cents off, something not available at big boxers. The big guys like Costco understand the value of coupons and send out whole books of discounts, good for an approximate 4-week period. Some, like Sam’s Club, publish welcome ads in the newspapers (assuming people still buy newspapers) in the hopes of welcoming new members.
Grocers, on the other hand, combine all the concepts to demonstrate the modern definition of one-stop shopping. The competition is good for all of us. Look at Wegmans, as you recall my favorite grocer. They now aggressively market savings with club packs, a sizable list of wines under $10, and price-cutting that does the math for you. (As in, if a two-pound bag of onions costs $1.69, that’s .85 a pound. Then the calorie info: 60 calories a cup and a large onion is 3 cups). Maybe they’ll find someone to accompany you down the aisles, and then you won’t have to think at all!
They have large comparison shopping boards at the entrance and throughout the store that list 4-5 products and show how Wegmans beats the competition. Their newest strategy is the $6 meal–one entree and two sides–as in bbq chicken breast with roasted red potatoes and harvest vegetables, or…many options.
Some of the local farmers are starting to bring their product to market, and Wegmans has inked a number of deals. Locavores unite: It’s a shopping possibility.
All of this to convince us that we can live at one store; one that has morphed into a combo: Great retailer, smart discounter, great service and product, and a big boxer.
This is a match we win.
Kindness Wins
Maybe the most exciting news I read this week in the food world is that the world’s crabbiest Washington, DC chef has left town and left the two restaurants she was micro-managing. This is not the first flare up for Carole Greenwood, and I suspect it will not be the last!
After all this is a woman who was notorious for storming out of the kitchen and saying to a customer who wanted something altered in the presentation of a menu item, “If I had wanted it that way, I would have made it that way.” Servers were literally afraid of her and knew they could not even meekly slink into the kitchen to ask for a menu alteration. The question would lead to an explosion.
That makes great television or theatre but does not work on my nickel or personal dining dollars. I want more. I want to know someone cares enough to speak civilly and not believe that customers are without opinions or dietary needs. This is a restaurant, not a place to be bullied. Your tantrum does not make my dining out experience 
delicious.
This female DC area chef rivaled the tirades of the legendary European chef and television star Gordon Ramsay. You know how over the years chefs have become rock stars. Well, her special blend of talent had some obvious flaws. Even with her background and finicky ways, she could cook. That is if she didn’t run out of specials or have so little menu food left to have guests question if was there anything in the house?
She was riding on a reputation she had garnered from her earliest roots as a hard-working female chef/caterer who managed to have a loyal following of customers. Some became friends and some eventually investors. She personified what it meant to be a poor businesswoman who was working hard but without the finesse necessary to run a restaurant. Ask the investors who learned how risky an investment in a restaurant can be!
Running a restaurant as a chef and part owner has certain inherent demands. Customers, for instance, expect a certain level of attention and some kindness along the way. She lost that part of the business equation a long time ago. No matter how often she reinvented herself, the scenario always had the same ending: A tirade of some sort.
In this more cautious economic environment, a lot of skills are necessary to keep one’s customers. Having good food at affordable prices is certainly a part of that equation. Her leaving town opens up two neighborhood restaurants to all the people who refused to go back. People who had given up on her a long time ago.
The first restaurant will be reconfigured to more of a friendly camping environment (Buck’s Summer Camp) while they plan for the future. The more casual, but cleverly designed, next door sister pizza place (Comet Ping Pong) will remain the fun, welcoming place that serves affordable foods.
I wish her no harm, but I do wonder if her style has become permanently unacceptable in this more careful dining universe.
Watch out New York; she’s coming your way.
