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November 14, 2005

Way OT: Coffee mystery solved

Feel free to skip this post if you're looking for something relevant to the purpose of this blog. Extended random thought follows. You have been warned.

In the last few weeks, I've noticed that the stores in our area have been having trouble keeping Folgers instant coffee on the shelves. As much as I love ground coffee, I'm also exceedingly lazy, so I'm the ideal demographic for instant coffee. It's a problem, though, when the stores have absolutely nothing of my favorite brand. So... do I go with Taster's Choice (no, because in addition to being lazy, I'm also stingy) or with the mysterious Store Brand (maybe, but only because I have to have something).

I finally became intrigued enough about the empty shelves that I decided to test the power of the Internet as an investigation tool. I went to Google News, typed the word "Folgers" in the search box, and... what do you know? Something is up:
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Procter and Gamble Co. says its Folgers coffee plant in New Orleans is back in full operation.

The plant was shut down by Hurricane Katrina and has slowly resume operations in the weeks since then. Coffee supplies to some stores have been disrupted, and the company had run a national television commercial campaign about the hurricane's impact.

P & G says the New Orleans plant is the largest coffee production plant in the United States.

Folgers says it has notified retailers that supply will return to normal by early December. More than 400 of the company's 554 employees in New Orleans are back at work.

Folgers says it remains strongly committed to New Orleans, where it has had a presence for more than 50 years.
Well, okay, mystery solved. Now I know I have a personal stake in the recovery of New Orleans.

1 comment:

Tim said...

Reader "Chocolate" writes:

Wow! This wasn't news to me at all. A couple of weeks before I saw the TV spot my local grocery store, Wegman's, had a sign with the info on the shelf where the Folger's belongs. But, then again, Wegman's isn't a grocery store. It's a way of life. Of course they would be a head of the curve.

Now, Tim, I thought you only drank fair trade coffee. I've never told you I drink Folger's because I didn't want you to say "tisk, tisk" to me. So, either it is fair trade or I should be saying "tisk, tisk" to you!


Within hours of my original post, I was seeing references to the Great Coffee Shortage everywhere. I missed it before because I don't watch TV enough to have heard the news there.

As for "fair trade" coffee, didn't I say in my post that I'm stingy?