Haagen-Dazs Reinvents The Pint--And Not In A Good Way
Categories: Indigestion, News
More distressing news related to the economy has reached us here at OC Weekly.
Häagen-Dazs recently reduced the size of its pints of ice-cream from 16oz to 14oz, and now, this month, it's shrinking its 32oz cartons to 28 oz.
The official reason given by HD is that the cost of high-end natural ingredients such as eggs, raspberries and Madagascar vanilla has increased by a quarter in recent months. In addition, the energy required to make and deliver the finished product has also gone up.
Surely Dreyer's, which owns the HD brand, can afford it? Other manufacturers have had to bite the bullet and swallow the higher production and transportation costs without screwing us out of product.
Nevertheless, let me play devil's advocate for just a second.
Here are the reasons why the reduction in size could be seen as a good idea:
1. We may each lose a pound, tops.
2. HD will stay in business. At least for now. Which is a good thing for a company that has a dedicated "Help The Honey Bees" campaign.
Here are the reasons why it's a bad idea:
1. We need our comfort food now more than ever.
2. HD is a luxury. Granted, in the case of severe addictions, like mine, it could be seen as a necessity. But either way, if we're choosing to spend our precious greenbacks on HD, we deserve the full amount of the frozen nectar.
While I'm all in favor of cutting down on massive portions of mediocre food in restaurants, this seems different. Ice-cream is a national, nay, global, institution. No one feels bad when eating good ice-cream, and the high should last as long as possible.
I even have a smidgen of respect for Ronald Reagan because of ice-cream: One of the few good things he ever did was decree, in 1984, that July would henceforth be National Ice-Cream Month.
Apparently, it was a "difficult decision" for execs at HD's HQ. Well, how about an easy one--we all switch to Ben & Jerry's?
B&J have been quick to respond to the news, quipping on their website "A Pint's not a Pint unless It's a Pint".
Couldn't have put it better myself.
Häagen-Dazs recently reduced the size of its pints of ice-cream from 16oz to 14oz, and now, this month, it's shrinking its 32oz cartons to 28 oz.
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Surely Dreyer's, which owns the HD brand, can afford it? Other manufacturers have had to bite the bullet and swallow the higher production and transportation costs without screwing us out of product.
Nevertheless, let me play devil's advocate for just a second.
Here are the reasons why the reduction in size could be seen as a good idea:
1. We may each lose a pound, tops.
2. HD will stay in business. At least for now. Which is a good thing for a company that has a dedicated "Help The Honey Bees" campaign.
Here are the reasons why it's a bad idea:
1. We need our comfort food now more than ever.
2. HD is a luxury. Granted, in the case of severe addictions, like mine, it could be seen as a necessity. But either way, if we're choosing to spend our precious greenbacks on HD, we deserve the full amount of the frozen nectar.
While I'm all in favor of cutting down on massive portions of mediocre food in restaurants, this seems different. Ice-cream is a national, nay, global, institution. No one feels bad when eating good ice-cream, and the high should last as long as possible.
I even have a smidgen of respect for Ronald Reagan because of ice-cream: One of the few good things he ever did was decree, in 1984, that July would henceforth be National Ice-Cream Month.
Apparently, it was a "difficult decision" for execs at HD's HQ. Well, how about an easy one--we all switch to Ben & Jerry's?
B&J have been quick to respond to the news, quipping on their website "A Pint's not a Pint unless It's a Pint".
Couldn't have put it better myself.
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