This month sees the latest edition of Prepared Foods’ New Products Annual, a chance to revisit some of the products released over the past year. I could not help but view the various launches in something of the same vein as movie releases. There were debuts from bigger companies, as well as quite a few from smaller independents fighting for space in the minds of consumers. In fact, many remind me of poor Fredo Corleone’s situation in The Godfather series. (Spoiler alert: The next paragraph discusses key points of that classic movie series.)
I always feel for Fredo: He was sent to Vegas to run the family business and, despite the “help” (loosely defined) of family associates, found himself over his head and in what could at best be described as less-than-ideal circumstances. At every turn, he proved incapable of the duties expected.