Getting squeezed for the juice

Earlier this summer the frozen juices at my local grocery store began shrinking. It was a subtle change made more evident in transition before customers bought out all the old stock. The old tins of juice came in at 355 ml, the new ones at 295 ml.

At the time the juices were reduced in price, marked down to 93 cents a tin so I figured the size and the price were relative. However, soon after Labour Day came and went the prices for frozen juice shot up to $1.17. Bigger price, smaller tin.

The Minute Maid orange juice website made no mention of the shrinking size of its frozen juices. Check it out for yourself at http://www.minutemaid.com/. I clicked the 'contact us' button and it directed me to the Coca-Cola website, which owns Minute Maid. I typed in my 'shrinking frozen juice' concern into the questions field and it directed me back to the Minute Maid site. Hmm.

Upon further investigation I stumbled upon a blog titled, Fagstein at http://blog.fagstein.com/2011/08/12/minute-maid-frozen-juice-ripoff-2/. It told me all that Minute Maid and Coca-Cola would not.

A company statement said this: "With the increase in commodities, rather than pass the total cost on to the consumer, the decision was made to adjust the package size to offset some of the increase the consumer would have had to pay if this adjustment wasn’t made."

I also went on to the McCain website to see if any mention had been made about its juice size. On this site there was a 'contact us' button that didn't send me to another website then back again. I sent my concern and McCain replied. Here was the response:

Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback; it is always valuable to hear consumers’ insight and concerns.
Old South is responding to increased ingredient costs and is passing along these increased costs by reducing the volume of frozen concentrate in the package. In order to keep the price the same we had to slightly reduce the volume of the frozen concentrate which means that a package now yields 0.19 litres less prepared product.
We are still offering consumers products which are an excellent source of Vitamin C and have no artificial colours or flavours. In addition, all Old South Juices and 100% Juice Blends contain 2 fruit servings per 250 mL.
Old South is our way of offering consumers a line-up of healthy, great tasting juices and punches at a competitive price.

To keep the price the same? To that I say WTF. But at least they had the courtesy to accept the question and respond.

 As consumers we're paying more for frozen juice and getting less to drink. This isn't offsetting an increase, it is an increase and the companies are hoping we don't notice, or don't care. As Fagstein so rightly states, it's a frozen juice ripoff.

This juice issue got me to thinking about other grocery store products that have shrunk in size but not price the past little while. Remember when laundry detergent came in large boxes? These days it comes in what I refer to as mini-me boxes, they're a third the size of the old ones. The various brands boast the detergent is more "concentrated" yet the amount per load remains the same.

Again I say WTF.

I get that companies are always looking for ways to increase their profits. That's businesses and even though it sucks for consumers it's a necessary evil. I'd rather see the prices raised than the size of the product reduced. Just be honest and hike the price, don't shrink it or feed the consumer a 'concentrated' line of bull, put it on sale for a month or two and then put the price back up to where it used to be. That's deceitful, it's wrong.

I'm not buying as much juice anymore, the kids can drink more water -- from the tap. None of that bottled water nonsense. But that's a consumer rant for another day.

Don't cheapen the blue and white

There will be more than one logo gracing the practice jerseys of the Toronto Maple Leafs this fall. For now the maple leaf will be the dominant logo but the upper right-hand corner will sport a Purolator logo.

When I read this in the Toronto Star today I couldn't believe it. I didn't think Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), the owners of the Leafs and the Raptors, could make any more money than they do until I read this article. Actually there is one way both teams could make extra money -- they could actually make it to the post-season, something neither team has done in a very long time.

There was a time when sponsorship played little, if any role in hockey. Look back at some highlight reels of the Leafs in the 1970s and you'll see the boards surrounding the ice covered in nothing but white with the odd black mark here and there from the puck. Those were different days back then as even helmets weren't mandatory.

By comparison today everything is sponsored, the boards are covered with logos, all through the Air Canada Centre signs flash the names of companies and  telecasts broadcasting the games are filled with ads of one kind or another. The only thing not flashing a company logo is the players themselves.

But that will change this season in Toronto.

I understand the financial difficulties smaller market teams across the NHL are going through. Reports this week indicated the New Jersey Devils were prepared to declare bankruptcy. There are rumblings in Long Island about the team moving if it can't get a new arena built and Phoenix hasn't made money since it left Winnipeg for the desert in the late 90s. Will fancy logos on their practice uniforms tip the scales and make those teams profitable? I doubt it.

MLSE is sporting a sponsorship logo this season because it can charge top dollar and make a whack of cash from it. The company isn't stupid and that's why it's one of the league's wealthiest franchises. But to hockey purists, and there are a lot of us out there, putting one logo over top of the maple leaf, no matter how small, is sacrilege. Before long one logo will turn to two, will turn to three and before long you won't even recognize the jersey. And trust me, if MLSE can make a bundle of cash on practice jerseys can you imagine what they would make on their game jerseys? Cha-ching!

It's a slippery slope and one I believe will lead eventually to logos on game jerseys.

In Europe there are hockey teams that have their practice and game jerseys plastered with logos. Keep in mind over there football (soccer) and rugby jerseys have been this way forever. In North America there's a tradition in hockey and part of that tradition is one jersey, one logo.

Put sponsorship whereever you want but leave the maple leaf alone. Don't cheapen the blue and white.

Ribfest secrets, it's all in the sauce

Hmmm ribs. Can't wait.

One of my fondest 'food' memories of childhood is of my Grandma McAskill's spareribs in sauce. I don't know where she got her sauce recipe but I do know when I walked into her home at 123 McLaughlin Blvd. and smelled her ribs cooking I was in heaven. Her ribs were wonderful.

Her special sauce recipe was handed down to her daughter, my mother Barbara McMillan. Guess who got his hands on that recipe? Yep, yours truly. Over the years I recreated Grandma's recipe and although it always tasted wonderful, it's just never the same without Grandma and Grandpa there to share it with. But I digress.

I have become somewhat of an expert on ribs over the years. As a member of the media I have been asked to judge ribs at a variety of Ribfests across the Greater Toronto Area. I have participated in Etobicoke, Scarborough and for the past seven years in Oshawa at all the Rotary Ribfests. Those ribbers put on quite the feast. Words cannot do justice to the different recipe of ribs they've served me over the years. Mouth watering, delicious, each and every one of them.

The origins of my fascination with ribs though has to go back to Grandma and her famous ribs and sauce. If you ever talk to a ribber at one of the Rotary Ribfests and ask them for their secret it always boils down to their sauce. Plus if they ever told me anything they'd have to kill me. So the fact that I'm still alive means not one of them has ever given me a hint of what makes their ribs so damn good. Those ribbers, they're a secretive bunch!

Last summer I decided to have a ribfest of my own and Grandma's sauce was my secret ingredient. I'd tell you how I prepared my ribs but in true ribber fashion my sauce, like the millions of other rib sauce recipes out there, will remain a secret. Needless to say the ribs were amazing and this Saturday I'm hosting my second annual Ribfest. It will be amazing.

Ironically the following day I am judging Oshawa's Rotary Ribfest again for my seventh year in a row. It will be a carnivor's dream weekend!

Grandma left me with many fond memories but she only left me with one recipe. And it's a keeper.