As the nation reels from a year plagued by economic hardship, drastic fluctuations in the cost of living, and a presidential race that had everyone biting their fingernails down the last minute, we here at Peeled Snacks are taking a moment to sit down, pour a cup of coffee, stare out the window just for a moment, and ponder all the things for which we have to be thankful.  Luckily, they are many.

First of all, we can be thankful that people are actually enjoying our snacks more than ever.  We're here at Peeled Snacks working out little butts off to try and offer this certain kind of snack to the country, and frankly, we haven't always been secure in the notion that people at large actually WANT our snacks.  After all, there are a lot of crappy snacks out there that sell much better than Peeled Snacks.  Thankfully, this year more than any other, our treats have been welcomed in the marketplace, and we regularly get positive feedback from our fans.

Secondly, in spite of all this year's trouble in the marketplace, Peeled Snacks has grown in size, increasing both our revenue and our reach, finding new distribution through grocery and other chains, and getting into a lot more mouths.  That's very good for the company's bottom line, but also good for ME, because it lets me keep doing what I love.

Thirdly, we're thankful that, for the most part, the people in the food industry are really nice, motivated people.  Our peer companies are all populated by with-it, hip, thoughtful entrepreneurs, and we couldn't keep better company.  Getting into the food business isn't easy- it takes a certain kind of vision, and a powerful ability to keep one's eye on the horizon.  Luckily, we know a lot of great people with that skill.

But most of all, we have to be thankful for....

....Oren.

-Peeled Skinny

Posted by iankusc at 05:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So this past weekend Peeled Skinny got around to viewing the SNL-fueled "Baby Momma".  Around here we're all big SNL fans (obviously, it's helped that the writers have had their fingers on the American pulse for the past few years), and though we missed it during its summertime run, we sat down to laugh at Tina Fey and Amy Peohler's antics.  We expected fun and diversion, but nowhere on the DVD box does it mention, "This Movie Satirizes the sale of Food!"

Okay, obviously Tina and Amy were spot on as a baby-hungry career woman and a white-trash fertile crescent, but their roles had little to do with food.  Steve Martin's uncredited role as a stand-in for Whole Foods Markets founder and CEO John Mackey, however, marked a rare moment when pop-food makes its way into pop-entertainment, and actually has something to say.

"This morning I was swimming with Costa Rican Dolphins" says Martin as he enters the picture, ego unckecked and pony-tail unabashed.  His ideals are raging, though his business sense vies with them for control (with occasional competition from his libido), and his sense of tact allows him to steal every scene that he's in.  I don't know if John Mackey actually ever wanted to base a store-design upon a perriwinkle shell, but the very idea of it happily turns green marketing inside-out.

Of course the producers of the film use a parody of Whole Foods (called "Round Earth Market") to maintain some zeitgeist, to add an element of topical satire (some Harvard business grad is writing a paper on their satire of how WFM picks its locations as we speak), AND to pad the production budget- several of our buddy companies paid for some gratuitous product placement, REPEATEDLY.

Has Whole Foods Market become so ubiquitous as to warrant mass satire?  Or were the producers expecting that their target audience would also be WFM's target consumer?  The film lets Greg Kinnear actually voice some of Michael Pollan's criticisms of Whole Foods, actually mentioning Chilean Sea Bass.  Has Pollan gone "Pop" too?  Is the business of food now cool enough to be ridiculed?

Regardless, with Baby Momma, I think we can say that Whole Foods has it coming, and actually gets to play both a background hero AND a villain.  In the end, "Round Earth" helps bring the characters together it some minor way, and everyone walks away happy (I'm not spoiling anything- it's a comedy after all).

Raw Food, on the other hand, gets a delightful skewering that led to my favorite joke, as the film's two love-interests, misinterpretting each others tastes, end up at a Raw Food restaurant eating horrific Yeast Balls....

Confession: Peeled Skinny's WORST MEAL EVER was at a Raw Food restaurant in San Francisco, a meal that STILL gives me gas.  With all due respect for Raw-Foodies, I'm going to be giggling at this scene from Baby Momma for YEARS to come.  And I'm going to be glad about the magical combination of food and heat for all my life.

-Peeled Skinny

(P.S. congrats to Amy Poehler and Will Arnett for the birth of their new baby boy.  Life imitates art!)

Posted by iankusc at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So today marks quite an epoch, but nobody's yet sure just which kind of epoch we're about to befall.  No matter what, a 1st is about to be marked- the first minority/bi-racial president, or the first female vice-president.  I think that it's hardly worth noting the novelty of "oldest first term president ever", but in saying so, I note that I've noted it.

But here at Peeled Snacks, we don't pick one side or the other, we don't chose which candidate would best represent the brand, because snack food companies don't get to vote.  And while that may be a crying shame, I don't think that ANY of us would enjoy how Chester the Cheetah would cast its ballot (probably for Nader!).

But while Peeled Snacks is neither a registered Republican, nor Democrat, nor part of Obama's "Chicago Terrorist Party", nor part of McCain's "Crotchety Old Man Party" (sorry, I've been watching a LOT of Saturday Night Live lately), Peeled Snacks DOES, in fact, have some political leanings, and therefore has a keen interest in how this election turns.

Obviously, Peeled Snacks isn't too interested in the Culture War, and the War in Iraq isn't high on our list of priorities.  We're mostly interested in Agriculture and the Economy, and if the latter hasn't been on too many pundits' lips, the latter most certainly has.   I've written now and again about Peeled Snacks' interest in Agriculture, but not too much about the economy.  Here are 3 main points that have to do with both of these major issues that will basically show you where we stand....

#1: The price of oil HAS to come down: Okay, alternative energy sources are great, but they're years if not decades away.  The price of oil his EVERY aspect of the economy, and as our bags are made of oil, our peaches get shipped by it, and our finishes snacks get delivered by it.  The president that Peeled Snacks will vote for will have a plan to lower the cost of oil.  And sorry, Ethanol production is a Red Herring.

#2: Inflation must be halted: Okay, without money, people can't buy our snacks.  The last 4 years have been a period of inflation for the 2 major categories not covered by the Fed when it tracks inflation, namely in the cost of oil and food.  But if prices there have gone up, the price of housing has just run amok.  There cannot be solid increase in housing values unless there's either greatly increased productivity (which there wasn't), or there's inflation (which there was).  The candidate that Peeled Snacks will vote for will recognize the danger of inflation and have a plan to deal with it.  And sorry, the government's bailout is only making it worse.

#3: Global Climate Change must be addressed: Okay, if this isn't dealt with, then everybody dies, and then nobody can buy Peeled Snacks.  The candidate that Peeled Snacks will vote for will have a plan to focus the government on finding the cause and ways to deal with Global Climate Change.  And sorry, this issue is truly too important to put off till after the banking nonsense gets solved.

So all of you that are reading this, if you haven't voted, I hope that you'll take these points with you to the voting booth and vote as Peeled Snacks does, because a vote like Peeled Snacks is a vote that's, like, for the future.  And here, on Election  Day, Peeled Snacks would like to officially endorse Ralph Nader for president.

Or not.  Vote Wisely.  Or don't vote wisely.  Whatever.  Just VOTE!

-Peeled Skinny, off to the voting booth....

Posted by iankusc at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)