This is a primal scream post about the stupidity of American companies and specifically about the bottled tea industry.
Who ever is running these companies and the assorted middleman distributors along with the convenience store owners and or manager are all.......
BLOOMING FRIGGIN IDIOTS!!! No really they are literally stupid.
Ultimately I must ask myself why it is that every time I like something it is either discontinued or changed to the point I don't like it any more? Always. Without Fail.
So, I do not drink soda. Ever. I could count on one had the number of times I have swigged down soda in the last ten years. When I stopped drinking that stuff I lost like 30 pounds almost over night. I also love tea and I like it sweet but not overly sweet. The sugar isn't what kills ya on the weight gain it's whatever else they use to sweeten soda and the acid etc. So years ago I found something I really liked the Libton Pure Leaf sweetened Ice tea. The one in the glass bottle with the blue label. All was well in my no soda world until about three years ago when I started running into empty slots of the specific flavor I liked.
Suddenly everyone was on a Libton Sweetened Iced tea kick and everyone was constantly out, especially in Summer months.
Sigh....
Now I have worked in convenience stores and I know these companies will bring you like 40 cases of crap that doesn't sell and 2 cases of the stuff you actually move. I have seen it over and over again. No amount of complaining, threats or what ever will make them bring you more.
Then it's like the company just gives up. It's like OMG people like this and they are making us actually work so we have to do something.
So what does some brainiac over at Libton do? Why he or she has em change the entire flavor of the stuff and then shove it in some plastic bottle and make the whole thing taste like ASS. Yes ASS.
This happened last year. Now I have to smirk that whenever I go to buy something the Libton area is ALWAYS stocked full. I am sure some douchbag somewhere is protecting his job by showing they are actually making more money because they are spending less on bottles but I assure you they ain't selling near what they used to around here.
So fine. Libton can kiss my ass, I found Snapple Regular Sweetened Iced Tea and it was pretty good and in a nice fat little glass bottle. For almost a year I was happy as a clam. I figured out which places carried it and it was always in stock. Then the masses figured it out as well and once again guess which flavor of Snapple was always out of stock?
It's been over a year now and about two weeks ago the Snapple supply of REGULAR tea dried up completely. Oh you can find raspberry this, Lemon Mango Squirt that or whatever yuppy mixture of exotic Kumtwat fruit tickles your fancy but no REGULAR TEA.
The clerks are idiots saying "It's the Pepsi guy or the Dr. Pepper guy who orders it for us".
Which brings up another question of how stupid these people are for letting some outsider run their business but that's another rant.
So today I asked about the Snapple Tea again and got the standard answer except this time the order/fall guy from the local Dr. Pepper distributor was in the store. So I marched right up to him and asked him...
"Hey What the Fuck is Up with the Snapple Tea"?
His reply? "We no Longer carry it"
People are just stupid.
I have now noticed the Starbucks Frappuccinos I like so much are in a new bottle and do not say Mocha on them anymore. That's another one that I know the places sell maybe one bottle of the nasty vanilla or coffee flavored ones for every 1000+ Mocha ones they ring up but yet the distributors insist on bringing in cases of the nasty ones and claiming no inventory on the Mocha.
Hello... Idiots.... MAKE MORE!!!!
It's like the entire world is in league to force everyone to drink soda. It's the only thing they ever have enough of it seems.
OK my rant is done. Oh....
Keep Prepping Everyone!!! And after the collapse kill a Libton executive and a Snapple one too.
Here is a thought...What about making up your own iced tea?? Make several gallons of sun tea, you add the amount of sweetener you like and the flavors you enjoy. Put it in a pitcher with a spigot in the fridge. Fill up some plastic bottles or glass ones and take it with you when you do your chores.
ReplyDeleteawesome rant, PioneerP, but i'm with Rob on this one! making your own makes sure that you are not consuming crappy, store-bought tea and it will save you money!
ReplyDeleteyour friend,
kymber
Ok you two. Two reasons.
ReplyDelete1. No matter how I tried there was something in each of those brands that tasted pretty good and I could not replicate.
2. When out driving around doing errands it is easier to grab something at the store and it is always cold, while if I take something with me it gets warm.
and 3...
No one raids the fridge and finishes off the tea I buy while I am out :)
I like the Lipton Green Tea sold in bottles. I have tried a million times to duplicate it at home to no avail. I wish I knew how they brewed and bottled it. I very seldom buy drinks out. I carry a large insulated cup with me.
ReplyDeleteMB - I really dislike self carry vessels. I have yet to find one that didn't leak or was the wrong size or something that just annoyed me. When I have tried duplicating the store purchased teas and putting my mixture in their bottles I saved the taste was never right and the whole experience was just blah.
DeleteThat and I drink em so fast it is easier to stop somewhere as I run around and get one they kept cold for me :)
When I am at home I only drink my own brewed stuff only when I am out and about do I buy.
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The white socks I love for everyday in the house in the winter have been discontinued, along with the black ones I loved, and the only bra I ever could stand to wear. My gray pants I wear every day in the summer and the black ones I wear every day in the winter had my size discontinued. The sandals I love were discontinued but not before I bought the last five pair in town.
ReplyDeleteIf we are happy, just make something that is sure to make us happier. Okay, that's when I change brands!
As for your tea dilemma, carry a cooler. Figure out what you spend a year on these teas. Find something you want and save your tea money for that item. Since you can drink your tea at home and be happy, this seems to just be a habit. I never drink chocolate milk at home, but given the chance, I will buy a pint!
As it turns out I am not going to have much of a choice. Each of those brands had a distinct flavor I was never able to duplicate and the cost was not enough to warrant the hassle with packing something from home around.
DeleteNot that it matters now LOL.