  Paulmcall Member Username: Paulmcall Post Number: 937 Registered: 05-2004 |
I know we talked about this last year but no one ever gave a reason why the successful Velvet Peanut Butter Company went out of business. Anyone know the answer? | ||
Dabirch Member Username: Dabirch Post Number: 2538 Registered: 06-2004 |
Maybe it wasn't that successful? | ||
Cambrian Member Username: Cambrian Post Number: 1870 Registered: 08-2006 |
I know they where eventually acquired by Beatrice Foods. Probably the same old corporate story, beatrice either found a redundant brand they wanted more and used Velvet's capital towards that, or cheapened the quality and no one wanted it. I found a really cool old Shedd's PB tin bucket. That was another detroit brand. I think you can still by Shedd's Margarine. (Message edited by cambrian on April 25, 2008) | ||
Mjb3 Member Username: Mjb3 Post Number: 167 Registered: 11-2004 |
I called the manufacture's rep firm which last sold Velvet PB in the early 90s. Apparently production was done out of a small factory in Georgia and they had a big problem with alpha-toxins. After the rep firm sold off the last of the inventory, I believe the factory closed. I don't know who owns the "name" and recipe for Velvet. But if I ever win the lottery, I will buy it and sell it through informercials and QVC. Retailing will be a big roadblock because national grocery chains usually require "slot" fees(bribes) basically to get your product on the shelves. Add that to the fact you are competing against major conglomerates like P&G, Beatrice, Kraft, etc. It's a longshot, but a guy has to have a dream. If you like Velvet, you may want to try Kraft PB next time you visit Canada. It's not available in US market but it's pretty good. Everytime I visit Ontario, I stock up. | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 1131 Registered: 08-2007 |
Random Velvet trivia: Paul Zuckerman founder of velvet food products http://query.nytimes.com/gst/f ullpage.html?res=9A0DEFDF1E3BF 933A25752C0A960948260 huh, who knew that all those times you stuck Velvet to the roof of your mouth, you were actually funding the defense of Israel? book jewish history in detroit Zuckerman Family and Velvet Co. archives at temple beth el e-ddress franklinarchives@tbeonline.org Had a factory in Livonia on Schoolcraft Rd, west west of Middlebelt Rd here's a book about Livonia with pix of Velvet factory, Wonderland mall and other Livonia type things. Velvet in Livonia | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 6724 Registered: 08-2004 |
One other comment about Beatrice Foods... Beatrice International Corp., the multinational conglomerate was dismantled and sold off into smaller chunks (a case where the sum of the parts are worth more than the whole) in the mid 1980's, after their famous hostile takeover by Wall Street firm Kohlberg, Kravitz & Robert. | ||
Pffft Member Username: Pffft Post Number: 1506 Registered: 12-2003 |
Jeezo you could sell Velvet to homesick Detroiters via the Internet and in stores here in town like "Pure Detroit," sales would be brisk. As soon as I see the name I can think of the way it tasted... | ||
Neilr Member Username: Neilr Post Number: 717 Registered: 06-2005 |
As an aside to this thread: the late CEO of Beatrice Foods, Reginald Lewis, was the first African-American to break the color barrier at any of the very major New York apartment buildings when he and his wife Loida bought John DeLorean's duplex at 834 5th Avenue in 1992. (Message edited by Neilr on April 25, 2008) | ||
Ed_golick Member Username: Ed_golick Post Number: 967 Registered: 10-2003 |
Velvet is not out of business. They sponsor the weather on my website.  http://www.detroitkidshow.com/ weather_man.htm | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 1074 Registered: 10-2003 |
Velvet's best spread on Soft N Good bread, although Bond will do in a pinch. It's a shame what has happened to regional brands over the years. Out here in the Pacific Northwest, Marcus Nalley must be rolling over in his grave watching what happened as his Nalley Fine Foods got divided up between Birds Eye, Bay Valley Foods, and SnackCorp. Hell, the Nalley's Pickles jars say "The Great Taste Of The Northwest" on the front label, and "Made In India" on the back...... (Message edited by douglasm on April 25, 2008) | ||
Ednaturnblad Member Username: Ednaturnblad Post Number: 31 Registered: 09-2006 |
I have a wonderful old Krun-Chee Potato Chip tin and who do you think appears on the back? Those three little scamps: Fresh, Pure and Delicious! They must have been made by the same company...hey, you got your peanut butter on my potato chip (it actually would be a good combination!) | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 6725 Registered: 08-2004 |
Douglasm... I wouldn't touch any foods made in Asia! After all the toy recalls, one would have to be think twice. What would make a food factory manager there more trustworthy than a toy factory manager? | ||
Jgavrile Member Username: Jgavrile Post Number: 76 Registered: 09-2005 |
Somehow, I remember that Krun-chee Potato Chips and Velvet Peanut butter were the same company and I think they were only sold through Wrigley's Super Markets ,and maybe later on through Food Fair/Famer Jacks?? They must have been hooked up with Borman Foods. Owners of Farmer Jack's?? | ||
Hornist9 Member Username: Hornist9 Post Number: 121 Registered: 05-2005 |
If I remember correctly, Krun-chee Potato Chips and Velvet Peanut Butter were owned by the same people. Mom always bought Velvet with peanut pieces in it. It was called Velvet Krun-chee, and it did taste good, especially on a piece of fresh SilverCup Bread! The three scamps, Fresh, Pure and Delicious appeared on the Velvet Peanut butter labels as well. | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 2208 Registered: 12-2005 |
I went to the Velvet Peanut butter factory "all the way" out in Livonia from NW Detroit with my cub scout pack in about 1968. We all rode in our den mother's '55 Buick, a big 'ol black and white car that reminded me of a saddle shoe. The coolest part of the tour was the machines that filled the jars, specifically the "Goober and Grape" peanut butter and jelly in one product. We already consumed a lot of that at our house and as a kid I wondered how they filled those jars. Today, with kids and peanut allergies (my son is allergic to peanuts) such a tour could never happen. Livonia seemed like going to Howell today, so rural and distant. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 6406 Registered: 11-2003 |
Good report, 56packman. jjaba remembers going to Livonia when it was being built to canvass for Detroit Times customers. Jim Beyers, station manager of the Washburn/Grand River substation, would pack us newsboys in his car and put us on brand new streets where we saw furnture being moved in. jjaba did this between delivering his route and selling bulldogs Sat. night at Sears-Oakman, at the rear door facing the huge parking lot. Year, 1954. Little did we realize that the whole neighborhood would live in Livonia in another 10 years. Today, north of 100,000 next-generation Detroit Westsiders live in Livonia. jjaba recalls Velvet's Livernois factory and the Shedd Bartusch food operations in his neighborhood. Like you, jjaba was taken on many factory tours around Detroit. jjaba, Westsider. (What, they put jelly inside the peanut butter jar? When did that start?) | ||
Flyingj Member Username: Flyingj Post Number: 170 Registered: 08-2006 |
Cambrian, wasn't Shedd's outta Chicago? I've already researched this-the Velvet recipe et. al is owned by a subsidiary of Ralston-Purina, call St. Louis I think I have a better chance of resurrecting Sorrells Pickard PB, that was good stuff... http://findarticles.com/p/arti cles/mi_m5072/is_47_22/ai_6793 9537 | ||
Senior Member Username: Senior Post Number: 39 Registered: 10-2004 |
No, Shedd-Bartush Foods was local, West-side, as Jjaba points out. They were acquired by Beatrice Foods, and we lost our local influence as the years passed. I sold Corrugated Boxes to the Shedd-Bartush Co., and can vouch for the extreme sanitary conditions their products were produced under. Mr. S.J. Bartush was an owner demanding a spic and span operation. After he "retired", he purchased Mavis Beverage Corp., and he brought his old habits with him. It's really not much of a stretch to say you could eat off the floor at Shedd's or the Mavis plant. Ben Bartush and Addison Bartush were still actively involved with the Shedd plant after the takeover, but I'm not sure for how long. My dealings were with a fine gentleman named George Doherty who was the Purchasing Agent. senior | ||
Dannyv Member Username: Dannyv Post Number: 166 Registered: 08-2007 |
Because Jif was better tasting than Velvet | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 12563 Registered: 12-2003 |
There are no peanut allergies, that is merely a symptom of epidemic human immune system breakdown. You will never hear that from the corporate-fueled and funded Food & Drug Administration. I went through the allergy chase for years and years, suffering a continual sinus infection that could not be cured by modern medicine. Then I met a great man named Dr. Richard Gerber, M.D., who taught me how to correct my immune system and change my life. I laugh at the suggestions and studies from the medical industry...driven by profit. Back to your regularly scheduled thread...Krema Natural Peanut Butter, on the top shelf almost hidden at your nearest Meijer SuperStore, is the best stuff available easily in metro Detroit today. Plain (and boring) OR Crunchy! The ingredients label has ONE item: Peanuts. Sorry y'all miss Velvet, you truly cannot go home again. | ||
Pffft Member Username: Pffft Post Number: 1507 Registered: 12-2003 |
With all the Sanders (then) closed, they started selling bumpy cake out of Kroger and Farmer Jack, so never say never. | ||
Paulmcall Member Username: Paulmcall Post Number: 946 Registered: 05-2004 |
That Sanders pecan ice cream does not taste the same as it once did. The closet is Guernsey brand ice cream. | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 252 Registered: 08-2007 |
velvet peanut butter, red pelican mustard, and now i want vernors ice cream from sanders. to much jarring of my memory here. | ||
East_detroit Member Username: East_detroit Post Number: 1719 Registered: 11-2003 |
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Leoqueen Member Username: Leoqueen Post Number: 2034 Registered: 07-2004 |
quote:Gannon,what did he teach you? I have an autoimmune problem myself... | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 12574 Registered: 12-2003 |
First, you must mistrust everything and anything the medical and food industries tell you. The Food and Drug Administration recommendations and all studies to support their conclusions are not only suspect, but almost immediately discardable. We've all seen simply in the last ten to twenty years their recommendations wandering to the extremes...don't eat this, oh wait you MUST eat that now...no alcohol, oh wait you MUST have a little. They simply have no clue except how to keep us fat and miserably barely alive yet productive enough until our bank accounts have been emptied after the insurance industry cancels us! That doesn't mean they only perpetrate lies, but since all of their motives are purely profit (that is the bottom line, always, in a capitalist society...pun intended), things they choose to do for one reason may and usually WILL have unintended consequences over a series of other things. This is the scientific way, they focus and meddle with one thing (usually for a good reason) then rush around long after their proud and profitable accomplishment is recognized to have other consequences, spending tons on researching trying to fix what they've unbalanced in nature. It is a ceaseless circle jerk which employs a bunch of people, so it is seen as a good thing in a capitalist society. That is the merely human way! We are not gods, but we think we are. (Doctors and other professionals, please bite your tongues for a moment, I'm not talking about individuals...only those decisions made in committee within corporations and assemblies of corporations, although some of you think you are gods, too, I'm sure I will raise a few hackles and heckles!) Occasionally, I stumble upon things that seemingly could not have been decided upon except on purpose, like fluoride in the water system. (don't bother arguing with me on this one, it is too obvious to anyone who investigates it with an open mind) Don't get me started on psychotropic drugs like prozac and that other crapola they don't actually understand but are willing to peddle like candy to some hapless desperate someone...for their entire lifetime! IF you stop all intake of high fructose corn syrup and begin drinking only distilled water...also removing any and ALL chemical sweeteners from your dietary intake...hopefully going to only food closest to it's original source form...after six months to a year should see some positive results. If you do a series of intense intestinal cleansings, you will have results much sooner. In addition to writing the book that explains why and how homeopathic remedies are valid medically, what Dr. Gerber called to my attention was my intestines and their role in our health. When he saw me working in his home while very sick, I was a yeast bomb...as many of us in North America truly are. Once I got my digestion back in order, which took considerable effort...and I need to return to my regimen periodically to maintain the system operation, I saw amazing results. The sinus infection simply went away. Mind you, for twelve years I suffered with it and the horrible headaches, while trying everything the medical industry could throw at it, to NO avail. But once I followed my lead on Dr. Gerber's prompting, it was simply gone. Actually took me a moment to notice that, even though I hadn't known 'normal' in so long...my body remembered and welcomed it. He wanted me to go to a health food store and buy the pill form of the culture that is in yoghurt...lactobacyllis acidopholis...but once in the store I stumbled upon a recipe for intestinal cleansing that I posted above, and bought EVERY book they had in the joint that had yeast and immune system in the same chapter. Found one book that the medical industry laughingly has tried very unsuccessfully to debunk...The Yeast Connection. With all of the concerted effort against it, not unlike those still hanging around our mayor...it is easy to spot the players who are evil and sinister at their core. Those that have a vested interest in your NOT knowing this information have come out in full force to try to put us to silence. But thousands upon thousands who've tried and succeeded stand together healthy, fit, and aware that there are forces at work that intentionally or not have combined to make the population UNhealthy, under the guise of feeding them and fixing their ills. They've grown quite rich off our misery! (tell me corporate capitalism is a good thing again...heh!) I wish you the best in your quest for health, Leoqueen, you are NOT alone in your marshmallowness of muscle structure and skin sponginess...all of that will go away as you achieve true health. You will both amaze and inflame your health professionals who will have to find another to enrich themselves on! Cheers I would even go as far as to say IF this regimen were followed, one could even enjoy peanut butter again, which this thread is actually about. Since the consequences are so drastic, though, I wouldn't even try it for a year after major success building the immune system up. All of my allergies went away completely, including the worst ones...toxicity with chemicals and perfumes...I could not walk down the detergent aisle in the supermarket, and if anyone got on an elevator with heavy perfume would launch into a full blown asthma attack. I went from using a 'breather' twelve to twenty times per day to not needing one...breathing well enough to run eighteen marathons in the past ten years, and I am now back at my high school weight. I haven't even seen my doctor in five years, my dentist in over fifteen...maybe twenty. I just had my eyes checked for the first time in five years, and they did not degrade for the first time in my history...they actually got better in a few measures! I am not wrong here... |
