Michigan is not just home of the Motor City, it also is the home of Vlasic Pickles.
I grew up on Vlasic pickles, I loved the commercials with the silly
stork bringing pickes to very pregnant women.
I was trying to remember the last time I saw one of those commercials. Can you?
It may be because Vlasic pickles is owned by Pinnicle Foods Group LLC which is
owned by Blackstone Group.
Now you ask, who is this Blackstone Group. Well they are an investment equity firm. They
have offices all over the world. They have 5% in emerging markets. Ahhh, ain't that
sweet.
No, that is not. It means the local connection for a company like Vlasic Pickles, which
is in Michigan is gone. The local owner selling out in 1998, first to
Pinnicle Foods, then Pinnicle was bought by Blackstone in 2007. Owning products
like Hungry Man, or Mrs. Butterworth, Armourr Meats, etc.
So is part of your portfolio handled in an emerging markets, or food supply
companies. So you say Big Deal! What does this have to do with anything.
It has to do with the fact that Vlasic Pickles value will only be important
in the sense that they must make profits. No one wants a loser, especially
an investment firm. It makes a Vlasic more vulnerable to outsourcing the
pickle plant, since it is not locally owned anymore.
In contrast Mt. Olive Pickles, located in Mt. Olive, North Carilina,
is still a family owned operation. The family who started the operation still runs
it, and the whole town supports the plant, with it's many brine vats.
When I go into the store and shop, the Vlasic are the most exspensive
while the Mt. Olive pickles are cheaper, and they are just as good/better
than the Vlasic.
That is probably why you don't see as much advertising for Vlasic, since
it is now owned by an investment company, far, far, removed from
the pickle vats in Michigan. That just seems wrong somehow. Shouldn't
food companies be owned by food companies. Like Kraft Foods, they are
huge and own the only refridgerated pickle on the market,Claussen Pickles,
but at least they are a food company, and their goal is to be best and biggest
supplier of bisquit/cookie/crackers in the world. They are listed on the New York
Stock Exchange
Should an investment firm judge a food product only on the ablity to make a profit. If profits
drive the sale everytime, are quality of product compromised. Does this
put Vlasic in a worse position than Mt. Olive or Claussen?
I think it does. If it is a family owned business, then sometimes profit doesn't
always drive business model/decisions. Maybe product quality is more important.
I'm not knocking Vlasic, I have no complaints.. It just worries me...It seems
wrong to have so many companies being run by investment houses.
Actually I haven't bought the Vlasic brand in several years. I used to be a loyal
customer, but somewhere along the way, with the cheaper prices, I went to
the Mt. Olive, since I was now living in Alabama, and the Mt. Olive are located
in North Carolina.
If you don't want to bother with the links, here is a short explanation of the
Blackstone Groups investment services:
Today Blackstone is a leading global alternative asset manager and provider of financial advisory services listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol BX) with total fee-earnings assets under management of $91.0 billion as of December 31, 2008. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, the companies we advise and the broader global economy. We do this through the commitment of our extraordinary people and flexible capital.
Our alternative asset management businesses include the management of:
Corporate Private Equity funds
Real Estate funds
Marketable Alternative Asset Management funds, including:
•
Funds of Hedge funds
•
Credit-Oriented Funds
•
Collateralized Loan Obligation Vehicles (CLOs)
•
Closed-End Mutual funds
We also provide various financial advisory services, including:
Corporate and Mergers and Acquisitions Advisory
Restructuring and Reorganization Advisory
Fund Placement Advisory
As of December 31, 2008 we had 90 senior managing directors and employed over 535 other investment and advisory professionals at our headquarters in New York and our offices in Atlanta, Beijing, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Menlo Park, Mumbai, Paris, San Francisco, and Tokyo.
Do you see pickles mentioned anywhere in this description? WTF....