Good morning. One of the privileges of curating the news is finding all the random “holidays” sprinkled throughout the calendar. Today just so happens to be national no pants day. Apologies if today’s edition is brief.
Unionization in the food industry
What do baristas making caramel macchiatos at Starbucks; farmworkers tending grapes at a Long Island vineyard; meatpacking workers processing chickens in Texas; and factory workers boxing chocolate bars at Hershey have in common? Along with being huge fans of Simmer, they are all fighting for union representation.
Employees (kinda) hold the hammer
Until recently, employers could rely on a combination of high employee turnover and a never-ending supply of workers to keep the unions at bay. With the current labor shortage, employees have woken up from their cryosleep and are beginning to understand their value.
If workers all along the chain can come together including the farms producing the milk, the factories packaging it, and the coffee shops foaming it into lattes, they could give farm to table a new meaning with an organized push for safer work environments, higher wages, job security and better retirement prospects.
Except that, unionization on a larger scale will be possible only if restaurants are company-owned, and today, more than 90% of popular brands are franchises. This workforce is disproportionately female, people of color, immigrants, and young people, who may be hamstrung by fear, posing a bigger challenge to organize them.
Unionizing can be a doubled edged sword
Unionization does not come for free. Unlike this newsletter, most unions charge an initiation fee and upwards of 2.5% of wages towards union dues. Unionization can discourage individuality, often leading to a Us Vs Them mentality in the company.
Businesses with labor unions tend to have to increase their costs to pay higher wages and we can be more than certain that Starbucks isn’t footing that bill, so expect our beloved PSL to cost more this fall.
What next?
All eyes are on Starbucks as it’s currently the favorite candidate for unionization due to their employee demographics. The outcome of which, may pave a new path forward.
For unionization to succeed in the food industry, both labor unions and companies must work together keeping the workers interests in mind instead of their individual ones.
In the food world
What is Hollywood’s next big thing? John Cena, Vanessa Hudgens, and Sarah Jessica Parker are teaming to launch a
Wrestlemania version of Sex and the Citypremixed old fashion brand called Thomas Ashbourne, which will debut later this month. Cena said that he spent the last 18 months developing the old-fashioned, which works out to about four and a half months per ingredient.Drive to survive: Domino’s Pizza, Inc. wants to use the same mantra as Netflix did, to solve their problems. The company is struggling to find drivers causing a decline in US same-store sales. In addition to raising wages, the company is pointing out how the position could lead to a management role. According to their CEO Richard Allison, “If you want to be a general manager at Domino’s and an owner at Domino’s, it all starts as being a driver.”
Not so chocolaty: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a voluntary recall of 101 products made by Strauss Israel, due a potential Salmonella contamination. A full list of the products included in the recall can be found on the FDA's website.
Scan & go
Milking it?: After releasing a toothpaste that apparently doesn’t make orange juice taste bad after you use it, Tropicana want to enhance the OJ experience by introducing Tropicana Crunch - a breakfast cereal that’s made to be doused in orange juice, not milk! Tropicana Crunch was launched this Wednesday, which incidentally was National Orange Juice Day.
More avocados: Salsa maker Herdez is expanding and introducing a ready-made and shelf-stable Herdez Avocado Dip. The new dip is made with avocados and has a zesty kick. It is available at select grocery stores, such as Food Lion, Meijer and Wakefern.
Recipe of the week
- by Vasanti @signatureconcoctions
Having over 2500 varieties, with new species being introduced every year, and a color palette that extends way beyond our knowledge, the rose is rightly called the queen of cut-flowers. Each color has its own symbolic meaning from gratitude, friendship, mercy and love. We thought why not introduce a single, all encompassing meaning!
This recipe features a rose scented almond and pistachio cake topped off with a saffron icing, giving it a perfect blend of two distinct flavors. Whatever be your feeling, this cake is the way to express it! Give it a try.
Meal plan
- by Karishma @homecookingcollective
Mother's Day is coming up this Sunday. Whether you're balling on a budget gift-wise or you think she's more of a rose and cupcakes kind of lady, there's no better way to show her how much you appreciate her than by cooking this week’s meal plan, specially crafted by @homecookingcollective, for her and giving her that much needed time off from the kitchen!
White Bean Risotto with Herby Breadcrumbs: Creamy white beans topped with crunchy parsley breadcrumbs (!!) for a little bit of textural fun.
Calabrian Chili Tomato Garlic Pasta: A deliciously sweet, spicy, and tangy pasta dish made with calabrian chili paste, garlic, fennel, and tomatoes.
Masoor Dal with Garlic TadkaDish: A flavorful, red lentil dal made with a base of onions and tomato and finished with a crispy garlic oil (tadka).
Did you know?
Scientist Dan Frost figured out a way to make diamonds from peanut butter by recreating the conditions of the lower mantle of the Earth for weeks. That's a temperature of 2200C. Our pipe dream of a peanut butter/diamond enterprise disappeared as quickly as it manifested.
According to ancient superstition, it was believed that a basil leaf, when kept under a pot, would in time turn to a scorpion. It went so far as to affirm that even smelling the plant might bring a scorpion in the brain.
Instead of giving free samples of their pink bubblegum ice cream, Baskin Robbins purposely used uncomfortable chairs to discourage customers from lingering in their stores initially.
Quiz
Time for the most exciting part of your Friday morning… Our weekly quiz!!! This week we wanted to see how well you know your favorite brands. Can you identify them based on their famous slogans?
“They’re g-r-r-r-eat”
"We Don't Have To Play Ketchup"
"Betcha can't eat just one"
*Answers at the bottom
Cooking Tips
Weak acids such as lemon juice prevent foods such as peeled potatoes, sliced apples and avocado from turning black. Make sure its not strong acids like your phone which has a ph of one.. #iykyk
If you want to prevent your green vegetables losing its color like that one t-shirt that has a different shade every time it’s washed, then cook them in an open pot instead of a covered one
When cooking fresh apples for pies or sauces, the yield is slightly more than our productivity at work… About 50%
Wise words
“After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relatives.”
– Oscar Wilde
Well now you know the secret if you ever get into trouble. We recommend any of our recipe of the week!
Ever since we became fathers ourselves, our respect for mothers is off the roof. All you moms out there, please enjoy yourself a MOM-osa! Happy Mother’s Day.
While this simmers…
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Answers
Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes
Heinz
Lay’s Potato Chips