you say your pop-tarts can you smell it
it's wafting its way towards you and it
calls to you like the bells of a
forgotten time finally the unmistakable
sound of the toaster popping upward
announces itself and your mouth waters
expectantly it's time and it isn't toast
you'll be eating but the succulent treat
known affectionately around the world as
pop-tarts here are a few facts you may
not have known about your favorite
breakfast meal the top ten untold truths
of pop-tarts
Kellogg's race against time we have
pop-tarts as overly dramatic as a race
against time sounds it's actually quite
true but the race wasn't on the track or
even the time-space continuum it was in
the boardroom where Kellogg's proved to
be quite business savvy and shrewd all
at the same time everyone knows that
Kellogg's invented the pop-tart and has
been selling them for over five decades
long but what most people don't know is
that their invention was borrowed from
rival breakfast cereal conglomerate post
it's quite true as Post had invented a
tart that could be prepared and warmed
in people's individual toasters the
company had referred to them as country
squares the name was pretty catchy in
fact it got the attention of execs over
at Kellogg's and they ran with the idea
ultimately inventing pop-tarts let's see
no post didn't really have the monopoly
on the idea only the name so it was just
a matter of time before another company
would come up with something along those
lines but they didn't know it would be
so soon as it turned out Post announced
their plans for country squares way
before they were to be released giving
their competitors plenty of time to come
up with their own toaster treat
offerings and come up with them they did
the rest as they say is history this
week the rival who perfected pop-tarts
Lois could I have a pop-tart
Kellogg's looked outside its camp to
perfect the invention they kind of
borrowed and molded to be their own the
acquirement in the form of bill post
proved to be quite fruitful as he
designed the ultimate in toaster treats
heetu didn't do it alone bill post was
working for Keibler at the time and as
an expert Baker who had started in the
industry at the tender age of 15 he sure
knew his stuff after all he did have the
good old Keebler elves for company and
inspiration by 1963 he was the manager
of the Grand Rapids Michigan plant and
Kellogg's turned to him to perfect their
new idea but as it turns out he didn't
do it alone as he worked on recipe to
recipe he would bring his trials home
for his kids to taste and critique
sometimes he would even bring his kids
to the Kellogg's plant and see what they
thought the tactic also proved to be an
epic idea as pop-tarts are very popular
among children oh my god I love them
yeah can pop-tarts started because of
dog food wave those pop-tarts right in
your face
way before all the testing and sampling
and way before Kellogg's borrowed the
idea from post the exact set post had to
come up with the idea for their country
squares didn't they indeed and that
million-dollar idea came from the most
unlikely of places as it turned out the
execs over at post got this golden idea
from a popular dog food item that didn't
need to be refrigerated as it was semi
moist this feature in particular was
very attractive to the people of the era
the 1960s as it was convenient and
simple oh it's pretty simple society had
been introduced to a life of ease with
early versions of the TV dinner which
had been around since 1953 invented by
Jerry Thomas of Swanson & Son and of
course other food items that made life
easier so the friendly execs at post
figured that the spending public would
appreciate a breakfast item that was
just as easy and therefore it would sell
like hotcakes literally the genius here
and with foods that were similar in
preparation and packaging was that they
didn't need to be refrigerated during
shipping
and this saved millions of dollars in
the process or rather would have had
they been able to run with country
squares as well as Kellogg's did because
it was Cal
that actually benefitted from all of the
post execs brainstorming in the end I'm
just happy you came out on top for
original flavors of pop-tarts can I have
a pop-tart in the 60s there wasn't a lot
of choice for food products in general
especially compared to today's standards
where people have so many choices they
don't know what to do with them or how
to decide what to eat drink or purchase
so only having four different options
wasn't all that bad really
the pop-tarts originally came in
strawberry blueberry apple currant and
of course brown sugar cinnamon back then
there was no frosting atop the tarts
what that genius idea wouldn't come
until later and thankfully it did as the
frosting is considered the best part for
some consumers the idea came in 1967
three years after the original pop-tarts
were released and the first frosted
flavors included Concord grape Dutch
Apple raspberry and brown sugar cinnamon
amazing top tarts almost went by a
different name a name is pretty much
what can determine whether a product
does well or not many business execs
will tell you the same as there have
been some horrible names allotted to
some pretty decent inventions but all
because of the name the product did
quite badly in the end if we recall
there are a few but one that comes to
mind is the infamous plop chocolate bar
that was definitely off the mark and way
off at that regardless the pop-tarts we
know and love almost went by a terrible
name perhaps not as terrible as the
affer mentioned plop bar but pretty
close execs we're thinking of naming the
new treat after the British snack and or
dessert food known as the scone the
official name would have actually been
fruit scone I'm so glad you did
but many are grateful that the moniker
never came to pass as most scones are
made with fruit and the confusion would
have certainly led to a much less
popular campaign when they finally
settled on pop-tarts they knew they had
something in fact Kellogg's has gone on
record as stating that the name they
finally settled on was influenced by the
art of none
other than Andy Warhol whose pop art was
quite popular at that time every
interesting
Kellogg's had no idea what they
unleashed they knew that they had a good
product on their hands and that it would
be very successful but at the same time
they probably had no idea what kind of
scope that success would reach how could
they the era in which they released the
product was an era of transition and
society was ready for something more
something easier in the world of food
prep as the world outside their
respective front doors was moving all
that much faster and it had been that
way and headed in that direction since
the start of the Industrial Revolution
way back in the 18th century it sure
took a long time to get where it was but
it was that change in society that
sparked these later inventions and that
need in society to improve on where they
had been and the way things were
accomplished in some interesting way
pop-tarts and their part in commercial
history are a direct example and result
of that movement so when pop-tarts hit
the market it was a surge of demand that
incredibly the company couldn't keep up
with it's just too much as it turned out
just two weeks after the first pop-tarts
were released the company ran out of
supply talk about demand the public was
buying and at a really fast pace so fast
the people at Kellogg's were left
scratching their heads the company then
had to release leaflets and media
content stating a public apology from
Kellogg's to the general public the
company learned then what they had on
their hands and the product turned into
one of the biggest items that they
offered and would offer down the line
today a story like this seems rather
unlikely especially for a new product
and even more especially for a product
that has stood the test of time like
this one here these days individuals
can't even imagine going to the store
looking for pop-tarts and walking away
empty-handed can you imagine the
pandemonium that would be the worst
thing
Kellogg's had a dry run before releasing
pop-tarts despite the fact that the
demand for their product over exceeded
their expectations
they originally thought that they were
well prepared for what was coming
pop-tarts were officially released in
1964 but a few months prior they
actually had a dry run selling the
product at a selected location and for a
brief period of time just to see how it
would do and what they should expect the
location was a market that they selected
in Cleveland Ohio they turned out to be
a hit and the market sold out quite
quickly this was supposed to give them
an idea what to expect so they decided
to raise the intended amount of ten
thousand boxes to 45,000 boxes for that
famed first shipment wow that's a lot
and they still ran out of supply this is
the equivalent of a soft opening that a
new restaurant will often have the night
before they officially open the chef's
owners and the rest of the staff can get
an idea of what to expect on a given
night and really its corporate genius in
a nutshell which is something that the
people at Kellogg's seem to possess and
seemed always to have the huge success
one pop-tart or two can't just have one
if the serving size for pop-tarts is in
fact one tart then why do they come with
two in a package this is a question that
was often asked right at the beginning
of their ad campaigns and then again
when the world turned to a more
health-conscious way of eating and a
better way of feeding their families the
actual answer to this comes down to
economics remember the people that
brought the world this product knew
exactly what they were doing and cutting
corners is a big tactic in big business
as it saves a lot of money at the end of
the day as you all well know packaging
of pop-tarts is quite original and that
they aren't like a lot of treats out
there packaged in a line like cookies
but they are rather wrapped in aluminum
foil to save money the company decided
to wrap two at a time instead of one at
a time thus saving on a lot of foil
wrapping you are so smart
soil wrapping was and is still quite
expensive especially at the volumes they
would have needed to wrap all the
pop-tarts contained in a single box now
that's using your head regardless the
consumers out there got used to the
packaging and either
started eating two at a time which is
what most consumers do or they start in
sharing so yeah not only our pop-tarts
awesome but they bring people together
at the same time the geniuses at
Kellogg's never seem to disappoint chart
sales have never stopped going up to my
bumper how does one know that they have
a mighty product on their hands well if
the people at Kellogg's haven't figured
it all out by now
and we're sure they have then we don't
know what else will convince them the
way it stands now pop-tarts has become
not only a successful product in and of
itself but it has become a pop icon as
well the product can be seen in all
forms of art and media these days they
appear on TV shows with characters
chomping down on them from every angle
they are the butt of jokes by comedians
such as the incomparable Jerry Seinfeld
they invented the pop-tart the back of
my head blew right off and they are even
in the pages of health magazines some
fitness writers claiming that they are
the perfect accompaniment for protein
shakes before and after the gym so it
really isn't that much of a surprise
that these things haven't stopped going
up in sales especially since the early
eighties when they spiked essentially
this product has pretty much never had a
spill in the market since then so are
you paying attention use stock market
investors pop-tarts are the be-all
end-all of successful food products and
that's saying something indeed they have
been at the top of the game for a
whopping 32 years and Counting and they
don't seem to be letting up anytime soon
with a multitude of incredible flavors
pop-tarts seem to be headed to the moon
and Beyond and we're all just chomping
away at whatever they have to offer
even when toaster strudels were
introduced pop-tarts were still way
ahead of the game they are good pop tart
holes serve an all-important purpose I
wonder what that means for years people
have been asking themselves some of the
most interesting questions about the
products we consume how do they get the
caramel
into the caramilk bar what's the recipe
to that secret McDonald's Big Mac sauce
and of course
why do pop-tarts have holes at the top
of the pastry we just wanted to know for
those out there who have a wee bit of
cooking and of course baking experience
the answer is quite simple to arrive to
the holes serve an important purpose in
that as the filling heats in the
toasting process they let the steam that
forms inside to escape if this steam
didn't escape it would render the tart
soggy and pretty awful to eat the tart
itself softens a tad when heated but not
to that extent
so let's be thankful for these little
holes as they are what makes pop-tarts
come out perfect every time
that is wonderful treat yourself to more
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