CRACKER JACK IN MIDST OF CREDIBILITY CRUNCH.Byline: Constance L. Hays The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times Poor old Cracker Jack Crack·er Jack A trademark used for a candied popcorn confection. . After more than 100 years in the marketplace, becoming the snack-food industry's version of a national treasure, it has been suffering a credibility crisis. It starts with the peanuts. A Florida couple who wound up with no peanuts at all demanded, ``How can you sell this as `Original Cracker Jack' when it is only two-thirds of the original recipe?'' Plenty of letter-writers criticized Cracker Jack for tasting stale or even burned. And then the crowning indignity in·dig·ni·ty n. pl. in·dig·ni·ties 1. Humiliating, degrading, or abusive treatment. 2. A source of offense, as to a person's pride or sense of dignity; an affront. 3. : ``When I got home, I opened the box and searched and searched and searched for my toy surprise,'' reported a woman from Omaha, Neb. ``I got a different surprise . . . NO PRIZE inside.'' Judging from the tone of the mail, Cracker Jack's image, historically so wholesome and all-American that it rated a mention in the lyrics of ``Take Me Out to the Ball Game,'' appears headed the way of the daytime World Series game. Reversing that downfall is the challenge facing Frito-Lay, the Pepsico division that acquired Cracker Jack from Borden Foods in October, as it begins an all-out effort to rejuvenate re·ju·ve·nate tr.v. re·ju·ve·nat·ed, re·ju·ve·nat·ing, re·ju·ve·nates 1. To restore to youthful vigor or appearance; make young again. 2. this venerable munchie. If all goes as planned, said Beth Struckell, a vice president in charge of Cracker Jack, sales by 1999 should be four times the current $45 million. Frito-Lay expects to do this with new packaging, better distribution, marketing aimed at children and more peanuts. It vows to have better prizes in nearly every box. But first, Frito-Lay executives concede, they have to fix the quality issues and other problems dragging Cracker Jack down in the marketplace. Cracker Jack's new owners, confident that their sprawling distribution network can easily deliver to stores of every size, say it would be unwise to mess too much with a product that has been a success for so long. Cracker Jack, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a Borden pamphlet, rose from the ashes of Chicago's Great Fire of 1871. F.W. Ruckheim, a German immigrant who was among the thousands who came to the city to help clean up the damage, began selling popcorn from a street corner in his spare time. By 1893, when Chicago held its first world's fair world's fair: see exposition. world's fair Specially constructed attraction showcasing the science, technology, and culture of participating countries and enterprises. , Ruckheim and his brother, Louis, had come up with the recipe for a concoction of molasses molasses, sugar byproduct, the brownish liquid residue left after heat crystallization of sucrose (commercial sugar) in the process of refining. Molasses contains chiefly the uncrystallizable sugars as well as some remnant sucrose. , peanuts and popcorn that they hawked to millions of fairgoers. But it was not named - legend has it - until 1896, when a salesman sampled some and shouted, ``That's a crackerjack crack·er·jack also crack·a·jack adj. Slang Of excellent quality or ability; fine. [Probably from crack, first-rate + jack. !'' |
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