Posted on 02/12/2009 4:24:55 PM PST by dennisw
Spam, a gelatinous 12-ounce rectangle of spiced ham and pork, may be among the world’s most maligned foods, dismissed as inedible by food elites and skewered by comedians who have offered smart-alecky theories on its name
But these days, consumers are rediscovering relatively cheap foods, Spam among them. A 12-ounce can of Spam, marketed as “Crazy Tasty,” costs about $2.40. “People are realizing it’s not that bad a product,” said Dan Johnson, 55, who operates a 70-foot-high Spam oven.
Hormel declined to cooperate with this article, but several of its workers were interviewed here recently with the help of their union, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 9. Slumped in chairs at the union hall after making 149,950 cans of Spam on the day shift, several workers said they been through boom times before — but nothing like this.
Spam “seems to do well when hard times hit,” said Dan Bartel, business agent for the union local. “We’ll probably see Spam lines instead of soup lines.”
Even as consumers are cutting back on all sorts of goods, Spam is among a select group of thrifty grocery items that are selling steadily.
Pancake mixes and instant potatoes are booming. So are vitamins, fruit and vegetable preservatives and beer, according to data from October compiled by Information Resources, a market research firm.
“We’ve seen a double-digit increase in the sale of rice and beans,” said Teena Massingill, spokeswoman for the Safeway grocery chain, in an e-mail message. “They’re real belly fillers.”
Kraft Foods said recently that some of its value-oriented products like macaroni and cheese, Jell-O and Kool-Aid were experiencing robust growth. And sales are still growing, if not booming, for Velveeta, a Kraft product that bears the same passing resemblance to cheese as Spam bears to ham.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I guess this means they are going to be making less dog food.
At one time Wal-Mart’s own brand tasted better to me. Then they changed it and it is not as good. I guess I should try it every year or so just to see if it has gotten good again.
I like Spam but only as something to flavor other things such as potatoes. Not too good just by itself.
The stuff, like Twinkies, could survive a nuclear holocaust as long as it is kept in the original container...
And it NEVER decomposes. Cockroaches would thrive on it.
Fried with ketchup and a side of eggs and toast......mmmmm good.
Hated it as a kid. love it now. Have a whole spam electronic cookbook.
Who would have thought that my favorite breakfast(perfected at hunting camp) is now food for the thrifty;fried spam slices, scrambled eggs, Krusteaz buttermilk pancakes(add huckleberries if ripe) smothered in real butter and molasses, fried potatoes...and liberal cups of black coffee. And I am so happy to see that my favorite snack food, beer, gets mentioned also.
I add sliced gherkin pickles to mine...
YUM!
Didn’t have it that often but durring WW-2 I always considered Spam a treat when I had it for sandwitches.
We always had all the meat and other staples we wanted since my dad had gas stampes running out his ears and traded them for meat, shoe, etc. whatecver we wanted.
On toast with lots of butter and just a tad of mustard...Yummy....
Throw that in a food processor and you have a pretty nice sandwich spread.
BTW, I having supper. Toasted Spam on toasted bakery made rye boule, with horseradish spread.
Um mm, Um mm, Good!!!
Diced and fried with red onions and green peppers, then scrambled into a mount with fresh eggs, topped with cheddar cheese! Yum
“Walmart has their own brand which doesn’t taste any different and it’s half the price.”
Processed chinese?
Spam Salad
Ingredients:
1 can of Spam, regular or low-salt
1/4 cup diced white onion
1/4 cup diced sweet or dill pickle
1 large hard boiled egg, diced
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
Kraft Sandwich Spread or Salad Dressing to taste
Directions:
Decan the Spam. Either grind or use a food processor to reduce it to consistency of coarse hamburger. Mix with other ingredients using enough Sandwich Spread or Salad Dressing to get the spreading consisten
hhm.
Spam, Lettuce and Tomato on Toast?? SLTT or SLATT?
Ohhh.....never thought about that!
The gherkins are not the same as regular pickle relish.
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