Branded!

This article in today's NYT made me wonder about which brands in Korea I recognised, never mind store brands, aka private labels. More on that in a moment, but first a quiz on USA store brands. I'll list the private label or store brand, you determine which store it goes with. Ready? Go!

A) Cost-cutters
B) Clover Valley
C) Best Yet
D) Sam's Choice
E) Berkley & Jensen
F) Market Pantry
G) American Fare
H) Archer Farms
I) Croft & Barrow
J) Great Value
K) America's Choice

Here is the spoiler space, in which I will discourse briefly on what I know of Korean brands before providing the answers to our quiz. The best known Korean brands in the world are, of course, Samsung, Hyundai and LG. Within Korea, these are naturally major movers and shakers, being among the chaebol who received favorable government treatment in the 70s and 80s to build the nation's economic might.

In the supermarkets, Dongwon (the world's largest tuna concern, which I wrote about here), is a major player, as is Lotte, a supermarket behemoth, entertainment business and apartment complex concern which builds "Lotte Castle" properties. Ottogi is a popular maker of sauces, including the ketchup and mayonnaise in my refrigerator. Pulmuone is the major producer of kimchi, and sponsor of the Kimchi Field Museum.

I'm sure that E-Mart and HomePlus have store brands, but I'm too new to recognize them; certainly, I have noticed the similar packaging of E-Mart fresh food products like tomatoes, persimmons or crab meat, which usually include a small English translation on the label. Thankfully.

It reminds me of the Piggly Wiggly Lauren and I used to shop at in the early eighties which offered black-and-white, generic wrapping for "paper towels", "macaroni dinner mix" and "tomato paste". I even remember a generic book display with titles like "Western", "Romance" and "Historical".

Answers:
A) Cost-cutters - Kroger
B) Clover Valley - Dollar General
C) Best Yet - Southern Family/Barney's
D) Sam's Choice - Wal-Mart
E) Berkley & Jensen - BJ's Discount
F) Market Pantry - Target
G) American Fare - K-Mart
H) Archer Farms - Target
I) Croft & Barrow - Kohl's
J) Great Value - Wal-Mart
K) America's Choice - A & P

Bonus Link:
Do visit the 99 Cent Store Chef at his blog: http://the99centchef.blogspot.com/

Bonus Video:
This was one of my favorite shows as a kid (though, of course, I never even knew it was in color). Starred Chuck Connors, who I idolized as 'The Rifleman', also. Branded, scorned as the one who ran ...

Sorry, Charlie! StarKist on the auction block

Today's news story from Korea? Mammoth food group Dongwon F&B has put in a USD 300 million bid for StarKist, presently a subsidiary of San Francisco-based DelMonte. StarKist, meanwhile, is largely based in American Samoa, where it owns the world's largest tuna processing facility; the tuna industry (StarKist and Chicken of the Sea) employs one-third of Samoan workers.

Dongwon is the largest player in Korea's meat, fish and poultry market, followed by Lotte and Cheil Jedang. Lotte was the only one I had heard of before I read this story. Dongwon Food & Beverage already controls 75% of the domestic canned tuna market, so it looks like they want to make a move overseas, and capture a chunk of the American tuna habit.

The story has a weird political twist, I guess you'd call it, going back to an appropriations bill last year. In an article located at Newsbusters: Exposing and Combating Liberal Media Bias, I found this, by Tim Graham:

Over at The Corner [an online feature of 'National Review'], Kathryn Jean Lopez reported GOP Reps. Eric Cantor and Patrick McHenry have found there's a loophole in the new minimum-wage increase: no hike for American Samoa. Why? Star-Kist Tuna is a major employer there, with its headquarters in Speaker Nancy Pelosi's district.

The article goes on to point out Pelosi's hypocrisy regarding the treatment of Tom DeLay's Abramoff-influenced entanglements in the Northern Mariana Islands. Wow, I thought, I wonder if this relates to DelMonte's decision to shed the subsidiary? Well, first, I went and checked out the wording of the law in question, and found it under Title VIII "Fair Minimum Wage and Tax Relief", Section 8103; the law specfically directs that both territories will raise their minimum wage by $0.50 an hour each year until they catch up to the national version. Huh.

I still don't know why StarKist is up for sale, but the claim of "no hike for American Samoa" is blatantly false. I guess Newsbusters doesn't feel inclined to combat inaccuracy so much if it's at National Review.

Tonight for dinner was BBQ chicken thighs, Ruth's mustard potato salad, and green salad with creamy poppy seed dressing. Tomorrow, I'm thinking tuna casserole ... So, cheer up, Charlie!