Rains Will Soak Consumers
FOR THE RECORD: (January 26, 1995): An item in Wednesday’s food section incorrectly listed a telephone number to receive a brochure about chocolate drinks and desserts. The correct number is (800) 55-GODIVA.
So, deep down you’re secretly delighted that California has been having a really bad, unpleasant winter, since they deserve it?
Well, think again, since it’s going to cost you money. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, all that rain in California has damaged crops, and is going to mean higher prices for lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, avocados and almonds.
Pepper prattle: News about various methods of getting hot under the collar: *The Great Southwest Cuisine Catalog, a New Mexico mail-order company, has a nice selection of Southwest foods and condiments.
The lineup includes frozen sausages, hand-made tamales, various salsas and sauces, seasoning mixes, habanero pasta and Southwestern dinnerware. For a catalog, call (800) GREAT-SW.
*RedHot pepper sauce is 75 years old in 1995. Among its virtues (doubling longevity, curing cancer, etc.), it also claims to be the sauce used in the first recipe for buffalo wings, invented at the Anchor Bar & Grill in Buffalo in 1964.
Alarming Trends Dept. More indications that civilization, as we know it, is fading fast:
*Salads almost unseated hamburgers as the most-ordered menu item in U.S. restaurants, according to Restaurants & Institutions magazine.
The survey found 86.6 percent of Americans ordered a burger at least once during the past year (Fresh Sheet comment: what planet did the other 13.4 percent live on?); 86.5 percent ordered a salad. The remainder of the top 10: french fries, steak or roast beef, pizza, baked or whole potatoes, fish, fried chicken, soup and ice cream.
*Americans are falling out of love with cola.
According to the Mistic beverage people, cola’s share of the beverage market has dropped by 3 percent since 1990. The fastest growing category is iced tea - specifically, the stuff that comes in bottles or cans. From May 1993 to May 1994, sales more than doubled.
*Americans spent more than $1.5 billion in 1992 on food from vending machines.
Godiva, milady? The folks at Godiva Liqueur - the liquid version of the famed line of chocolates - are pushing their product as a perfect gift, what with Valentines’s Day right around the corner. (Chocolate began as a beverage, they say, with the Aztec emperor Montezuma always quaffing a cup before entertaining his harem.)
Less libertine types who don’t go for the straight stuff can call 1-800-GODIVA for e free copy of the Godiva Liqueur Drink & Dessert Recipe Collection.
xxxx