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Baskin-Robbins and the Walmartization of Ice Cream
http://www.progressive-economics.ca/2012/07/20/baskin-robbins-and-the-walmartization-of-ice-cream/Its been an unusually hot summer, and soaring temperatures have boosted sales of that quintessential summer food, ice cream. But Baskin-Robbins has decided to shut its production facility in Peterborough, Ont., and lay off 80 workers because of
wait for it
increased demand!
From the department of wait, what?, heres the scoop behind this brain-freeze-inducing decision.
Though business is up, the company says expanding production is not part of the game plan. Peterborough is the last place in North America where Baskin-Robbins makes what it sells, and those 80 CAW-organized workers supply a third of the 4,200 outlets outside of the U.S., including 113 Canadian stores.
That production is now moving to third-party suppliers. Canadians demand will be supplied by Scotsburn Dairy in Truro, N.S. for now. Like Peterborough, its also a union shop (CAW). But most of what Peterborough produced will now be made in El-Paso, Texas, a right-to-work state with no minimum wage. Only 5.3 per cent of workers are union members in that state.
From the department of wait, what?, heres the scoop behind this brain-freeze-inducing decision.
Though business is up, the company says expanding production is not part of the game plan. Peterborough is the last place in North America where Baskin-Robbins makes what it sells, and those 80 CAW-organized workers supply a third of the 4,200 outlets outside of the U.S., including 113 Canadian stores.
That production is now moving to third-party suppliers. Canadians demand will be supplied by Scotsburn Dairy in Truro, N.S. for now. Like Peterborough, its also a union shop (CAW). But most of what Peterborough produced will now be made in El-Paso, Texas, a right-to-work state with no minimum wage. Only 5.3 per cent of workers are union members in that state.
(The CAW is Canada's largest private sector union.)
This story has a Romney connection, too - Baskin Robbins' parent company is owned by Bain Capital, though to be fair, Bain only acquired it in 2006.
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Baskin-Robbins and the Walmartization of Ice Cream (Original Post)
Lucy Goosey
Jul 2012
OP
Atman
(31,464 posts)1. Before Bain it was Carlyle Group.
As in George H.W. Bush.
I stay out of Baskin Robins just as I don't step foot in Wal Mart.
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)2. I still see a Willard hand print in the ice cream
KurtNYC
(14,549 posts)3. milk, cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla
real ice cream used to be so good. so simple. Now it is artificial, factory food made 3000 miles away.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)8. Haagen Das...still basic ingredients.
Pricey, but good.
GreenPartyVoter
(72,383 posts)4. I will stick with Ben and Jerry's and Giffords.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)6. F.Y.I. Ben & Jerry's owned by British-Dutch Unilever conglomerate.
acquired by Unilever, the global giant that owns the Breyer's and Good Humor brands, in 2000.
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/13/business/ben-jerry-s-to-unilever-with-attitude.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
GreenPartyVoter
(72,383 posts)7. *sigh* Why must all things wind up in the hands of megacorporations?
surrealAmerican
(11,366 posts)5. They decided long ago ...
... that the quality of their ice cream was irrelevant to their sales (and profits). When quality doesn't matter, of course they will go for the cheapest product.
This leaves open a niche for ice cream shops that make superior products on site. I hope to see a proliferation of such small businesses.