03/23/2009
In these days of right-sizing, hiring freezes and salary adjustments, sometimes we can’t help but dream a little about career what ifs. And more than a few of us are still puzzling over what we want to be when we grow up. Some interesting observations were sent on that very topic by our friend Keena D. Lykins, a public relations senior account supervisor at Rhea + Kaiser Marketing ...
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03/17/2009
You don’t really hear much about W. Edwards Deming anymore. Sure, he shuffled off this mortal coil some 15 years ago, but the American auto industry has yet to recover from his enormous positive impact on its Japanese competitors. You do remember Deming, the man whose philosophy was that business success centered on quality?Two concurrent incidents got me thinking about him today: the start of ...
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03/09/2009
The PCA peanut butter Salmonella-contamination debacle might claim another victim: third-party auditing. Last week while watching Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, I heard the words “muckraking” and “food” in the same sentence, and a mention of Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle.” It was a reference to the New York Times article “Food Problems Elude Private Inspectors,” ...
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03/03/2009
Along with automobiles and Starbucks coffee, the organic industry is taking a hit from the sputtering economy. To drum up support, The Organic Institute recently launched its "Organic. It's Worth It" campaign targeted to families with young children at home, particularly new mothers, as the Organic Trade Association considers them the “primary gateway” to buying organic.The internet-based ...
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02/24/2009
Reports of certain segments of the beverage industry’s return to sugar are surfacing this month. Today I saw that Snapple, Pepsi and Mountain Dew have plans to use sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup in their products: Snapple as part of the relaunch of the flagging brand and new all-natural label, and Pepsi and Mountain Dew sodas for a limited time starting in April.Apparently the marketers ...
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02/19/2009
Is irradiation part of the answer to the industry’s reoccurring food problems? When many people think of irradiation, they visualize something along the line of Otto the bus driver popping Homer Simpson’s nuclear material in his mouth. Or you find the contingent that complains it’s just a way to make allowances for sloppiness and allow us eat more filth without repercussions. But ...
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02/17/2009
I was at Starbucks today—I think it was the 4th or 5th time in my life—and while they may have seen a drop in business, this particular café was relatively crowded. And while I’m not a big Starbucks fan, many others are, so as the shop is a kind of trend bellwether, I’ve followed their recent business moves with interest. So apparently has our savvy “marketeer” ...
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