Dippin' Dots, once proclaimed as the ice cream of the future, may quickly be finding that it's the ice cream of the past. Late last week, the Wall Street Journal broke a story reporting that the cryogenically frozen ice cream ball manufacturer was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. If you're not familiar with bankruptcy rulings and procedures - Chapter 11 is the form of bankruptcy that allows a company to restructure their debt in order to continue operating as a working entity. In essence, while this filing doesn't end Dippin' Dots from existence, it does cast some serious issues into light. At one time, Dippin' Dots was looking like it would live up to its claim as 'the ice cream of the future' - the frozen little beads were infiltrating every street corner, amusement park and stadium vendor. Then, in 2008, the economy took a turn for the worse. The company believes that this economic downfall is the cause of their struggles.
I would argue that they were facing struggles with or without an economy on the collapse. To sum it up simply, their product was a fad. They attack first interest and then little in the way of return customers. Speaking from experience, their product is simply 'okay' by no means does it replace ice cream or even surpass other frozen treats. Factor in the relatively high price with low appeal to purchase again and - ta da - the solution to your companies woes are fairly clear. Either way, it looks like Dippin' Dots is facing a rocky road ahead. Read more about this filing HERE.
In 1996, the world food markets experienced a panic. Forecasters feared that the world would be facing another food shortage and prices of commodities such as rice and wheat sky rocketed as a response. The main culprit for this surge in prices was the loss of 200,000 tons of rice. Now, how exactly does one lose 200,000 TONS of rice? Check out this interview with Peter Timmer, a food security expert casts some light into the food markets and exactly how 200,000 tons of missing rice caused the food markets to panic. Check out the interview HERE.
Kitchen gadgets - some are great, others are useless drawer cloggers that are only after your cash. The Huffington Post has a list of 10 utterly useless kitchen gadgets that you should avoid. (Be sure to click the link HERE to see how you can peel garlic in 10 seconds. It blew my mind that garlic was actually so easy to peel!). Check out the gadgets to avoid HERE.
If you're a dieter, you're well aware of all of the trendy diets that are currently being share on the internet as 'the way' to lose weight. Which ones actually deliver on the promised results? US News has ranked the top 20 diets on the market today. Which ones deliver? Surprisingly, quite a few. Check out the results HERE.
That's all the news that's fit to blog about for this week. (Sort of a sparse week for stories...) We're starting our Thanksgiving dishes this week. I'm taking to the kitchen tomorrow night to get the week started and Maggie will take to the kitchen on Wednesday night with another dish to accompany your turkey on the big day. Be sure to stop in tomorrow night to see what I've got cooking. Until then,
~Cheers
Well that is just sad. Customers shouldn't have to be deprived of the goods they seek to consume or buy, just because the financial scenario they are all in does not or is incapable of supporting it. One of the best ways forward is to work with it, though; scale its depths as well as its heights to find an opening, which can already begin with Chapter 11.
ReplyDeleteReginald @ Portia Douglas