morning mates




Imagine... a bagel and a package of jam all in one handy-dandy package. Hell, don't even bother imagining it. It's a complete waste of your time.

What the heck was Dempster's thinking about when they put out this "innovation"? A bagel can be bought (freshly toasted, might I add) on practically any street corner of the city. Why would I need to buy one that's been sitting on the shelves for a few weeks, packed full of preservatives, and probably stale for that matter?

(Note: no one has dared to open the package as yet.)

It's great and all that they were handing them out at Union Station today, but really, the only people that should be in line for this are the people who can't afford to buy food, and even then, they'll get a better meal at the nearest soup kitchen.

Watch out for these at your neighbourhood grocery store. Watch them flop, and watch Dempster's parent (Maple Leaf foods) take a beating in their next quarter results.

Imagine that.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just tried mine (got it about a week and a half ago, I guess), and it's the biggest waste of packaging I've ever seen. The bagel is actually overly-soft... like they knew it was going to be stale and they engineered it to be mushy. Horrible. I'll tell the nurses to let you know if I die.

-Fellow Torontonian

Anonymous said...

I saw these too, being handed out at King and University.

I saw people grabbing for them, saw what they were, and burst out laughing! I could not believe a company considered this a decent, marketable idea!

I just laughed and declined the free 'snack'. What's even more sad, is I get the impression this is a 'breakfast on the go' type product. Since when is one preservative packed bagel, and high in sugar jam, considered a balanced breakfast.

They are definately off the mark with this one. I just hope that the shelf life is long enough for them to realize their mistake, remove them from stores, and donate them to people who don't actually have an option over what they eat.

Rant on brother!

- jay (fellow Toronto cynic)

Anonymous said...

I just received my "Morning Mate" this morning. When I unwrapped, both packages of peanut butter were open already!!! All I can picture is some factory worker poisoning my breakfast...way to go, Dempster, great way to start a Friday morning!

Anonymous said...

We've started a petition to get Dempster's to review its packaging policies AND to call on the federal gov't to legislate some national packaging regulations.

You can sign it at http://www.petitiononline.com/PKGREG/petition.html

Please pass on the link!

Anonymous said...

any bagel that sits on a table for 2 weeks, in a half open bag, and does not grow green stuff, is a frickin devil-bagel.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry to burst everyone's bubble on here but I tried the bagel and liked it. It was fresh and was conveinent for me as I often skip breakfast and can't wait 20 mins in line at Tim Hortons to get a bagel there.

I understand what people are saying about the packaging but I think the problem isn't confined to this product but exists pretty much almost every food product we use on a day-to-day basis.

Anonymous said...

...and your body will never rot.

Anonymous said...

I liked the bagel, but M&A are right, that's waaaaay too much packaging to throw in the trash for a single bagel.

Anonymous said...

My name is Connie Morrison and I am the VP Business Development at Canada Bread and involved with Dempster’s Morning Mates bagels. I wanted to let you know that we’re truly interested in your comments and the petition started by Morwenna White and Amy Nugent. Since the product is still in a test market phase, we are in a position to potentially change the packaging.



I’ve contacted Morwenna and Amy directly and extended an invitation for them to meet with me to discuss their ideas.



I’ll leave another comment with an update following that meeting.

Anonymous said...

I met with Amy Nugent and Morwenna White today. We had a good discussion and they shared their concerns about the product and packaging. We’re still in a test phase with the product, but it’s given us some important things to consider that I’ll take back to our product development team.