Chocolate Cream pies, locomotives, and red-hot steel..
Sean Neville `02
Issue date: 5/14/01 Section: Features
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When you spend a chunk of time discussing the finer points of manufacturing each of these items, it can only mean one thing: SiM trip! For the third time this semester, the fine folks of SiM hit the roads of the Northeast in search of acquiring hands-on knowledge of manufacturing business practices. Unlike previous trips that lasted one to three days, this one stretched out a full five days, which meant four nights of fine food (don’t ask me to define ‘fine’) and lodging. We’re so well -raveled that each SiM participant now qualifies for the Comfort Inns frequent guest program. As usual, there were two trips to choose from, and I selected the second trip, which would take me for a brief stop in Buffalo, NY, with the balance in the Keystone state.
Our first stop was at Rich Products Corp. in Buffalo, where everyone donned a fashionable hair net before witnessing cream pie and non-dairy creamer manufacturing up close and personal. Rich’s is one of the largest family-owned food companies in the world, and was the producer of the very first non-dairy creamer, Coffee Rich. Perhaps the name doesn’t ring a bell, but even if you haven’t tried Coffee Rich, you’ve certainly tried their other products, ranging from rolls and pizza dough, to puddings, pies, and frostings that generally appear under a familiar brand name or arrive at your table through distribution to restaurants around the world. Many products, in fact, are produced in Buffalo and shipped via refrigerated containers to customers in South Korea, China, Australia, and more than a dozen other countries. I could talk in great length about the manufacture of these trans-continental refrigerated containers, but that’s from a tour we took earlier in the year. Suffice it to say that chances are the topping you get on your dessert in the restaurant isn’t Cool-Whip, it’s On-Top from Rich Products.
Fortunately, both groups shared a common rest stop for the first evening. As such, an opportunity presented itself for a dining experience. While one group found themselves eating at TGI Friday’s, the others decided to explore a Pennsylvania culinary landmark. A name devised by the wittiest of brand managers indeed, Quaker Steak & Lube provided patrons with vintage American roadsters and burning hot chicken wings that destroyed the mouths of courageous souls who dared try them. If the sweat on Jose Valdes’ forehead or the bloodshot, teary eyes of David Eddington are any indication, the wings held true to their word…. HOT!
Our first stop was at Rich Products Corp. in Buffalo, where everyone donned a fashionable hair net before witnessing cream pie and non-dairy creamer manufacturing up close and personal. Rich’s is one of the largest family-owned food companies in the world, and was the producer of the very first non-dairy creamer, Coffee Rich. Perhaps the name doesn’t ring a bell, but even if you haven’t tried Coffee Rich, you’ve certainly tried their other products, ranging from rolls and pizza dough, to puddings, pies, and frostings that generally appear under a familiar brand name or arrive at your table through distribution to restaurants around the world. Many products, in fact, are produced in Buffalo and shipped via refrigerated containers to customers in South Korea, China, Australia, and more than a dozen other countries. I could talk in great length about the manufacture of these trans-continental refrigerated containers, but that’s from a tour we took earlier in the year. Suffice it to say that chances are the topping you get on your dessert in the restaurant isn’t Cool-Whip, it’s On-Top from Rich Products.
Fortunately, both groups shared a common rest stop for the first evening. As such, an opportunity presented itself for a dining experience. While one group found themselves eating at TGI Friday’s, the others decided to explore a Pennsylvania culinary landmark. A name devised by the wittiest of brand managers indeed, Quaker Steak & Lube provided patrons with vintage American roadsters and burning hot chicken wings that destroyed the mouths of courageous souls who dared try them. If the sweat on Jose Valdes’ forehead or the bloodshot, teary eyes of David Eddington are any indication, the wings held true to their word…. HOT!