ConAgra becomes national food sponsor for Six Flags theme parks

Could mean a slight improvement in the food quality, I guess. I see ConAgra owns DAVID, so if the SF parks start selling sunflower seeds, I'll definitly have to kill the person who headed up this deal.

It doesnt make a difference to me. I hardly buy food inside any theme park (unless absolutely necessary), xcept Knoebel's and shore parks (jersey shore, coney island), where food is reasonably priced and offer a good selection. Not a big fan of Armour hotdogs either. Nathan's or Hebrew National....mmmmmmm.....
*** This post was edited by coy 1/24/2005 10:48:04 AM ***

Does this mean that the dogs will be made of real meat this time?

Does this also mean that there will be a price spike due to a actual retail name behind the food?

The real question is are they going to sell Knott's Berry Farm products?

http://www.conagrafoods.com/brands/knotts_berry_farm.jsp

Well i do like O.R. Popcorn so that is good news, unless of course its priced too high in which cas i wont buy any.

I'd Like to see the Wolfgang Puck stuff myself

This is still not really affecting SF foodservice. They still but everything from Sysco, Coke, and Dippin Dots, like most large theme parks.

From a food broker stand point, Sysco will now distribute products under the Con Agra umbrella. The biggest products that you, park patrons see, is hot dogs. SF wil still sell a boat load of them. They also sell Rich's pizza shells, French's mustard, and Lamb Wesson frozen fries.

It is a good move for SF, as it continues to standardize their food costs, which at one times were very different from, say SF Magic Mountain, and Geauga Lake. Does it take some of the individualtiy out of the parks? Yes. Does it help the bottom line in budgets? Yes.

Does it make you, the consumer, appreciate eating all that 'individual' food at Kennywood, Knoebels, Morey's Piers, Universal Florida? Yes.

I wonder how this will effect the contracts for many of the restaurants at SF parks that are not run by SF. For example, I beleive that only 2 of the restaurants at SFA are actually operated by Six Flags.

What about Cedar Fair, and the Knott's name? Does Cedar Fair own the Knott's name, and have it licensed to ConAgra, or is it the other way around?

-Sam

Hunt's ketchup is nasty...too sweet for me. I'm a Heinz man.

This actually isnt as good as it sounds. ConAgra, like many other huge corporate food distributers, isnt exactly good for you, especially meat wise. Since they want to get as much meat out as possible in one day, health and safety cautions are all but thrown out the window, so tainted meat comes out of ConAgra slaughter houses frequently. I'd take something from an indie park anyday.

Coasterguy1, that comment you said is pretty much considered 'slander' in the big people world. What the hell do you know about tainted meat and such. Since you are so smart, you would be aware that Con Agra only brokers food to Sysco and US Foods and UniPro. USDA approved meats are shipped to them from multiple suppliers.

No one no where would know where meat is coming from, except the box marked Sysco 100% beef. If you kids are going to play on the internet with people who do this for a living, do it right.

Actually, it'd be 'libel' since it was in a readable (text) form as opposed to an audible stream ;)

Just because there may be a recall here or there due to (for lack of better term) an "industrial accident" (i.e. broken conveyor leads to rubber in the food; worn out roller leads to metal shavings, etc.) doesn't mean the safety/sanitary precautions aren't in place.

My dad works for Kraft Foods (yeah, I know it's not ConAgra, but it's still a huge food giant, and I imagine ConAgra wouldn't be too much different). Ever since I was little, he'd come home with stories (not every day or every week.. but occasionally) of some MINOR incident that happened, and say how he might be working overtime to make up for the food that had to get thrown away because such-and-such happened (like metal shavings, malfunctioning measurement machinery leading to too much of an ingredient, unknown sources of bacterial infection, etc.) Actually, I remember one time they shut down the whole department for a week because there were traces of some bacteria found around a floor drain that was within the legal-to-stay-in-production limits, but was beyond their own, internal limits. Until they could find the source of the infection and correct it, they shut down to prevent the possibility of any kind of infection. It was a floor drain for crying out loud! (Of course, they ran the line 7 days a week for like a month to make up for the lost production once they corrected the problem, but still :) ). I remember once or twice he mentioned about needing to work overtime because there was a recall on some production code (I forget the reason, or even exactly what product). My point? Kraft Foods is definitely about the make-as-much-as-you-can-as-fast-as-you-can mentality, but there are tons of safety measures and proper handling/processing of the food. I'm sure there's a lot I don't even know about because I don't work there - I just hear what my dad tells me.

Edit: Grammar*** This post was edited by dannerman 1/24/2005 10:39:31 PM ***

Well Well Well, Agent Johnson getting on someone for typing something negative. I remember a certain prejucicial comment about West Virginians that you still haven't explained to me, can I sue you for libel, since it may damage my image?

I do know alot about ConAgra, as I used to live in a town where one of their processing plants were, and my brother worked there. ConAgra is no worse than any other food industry business, simply put. If the workers in the plant (and I knew quite a few) still buy the stuff in the stores and direct from the company its self, it can't be as bad as what has been said.

Is it slander to say what dude said? No, as Tim pointed out, it'd be libel.

Is the company going to do anything about it? Not unless Major, err, I ment Agent Johnson runs and tattles, if even then. Jeesh, lighten up.

If you are concerned about meat quality, buy from a Kosher butcher. If I could afford it, I would love to eat mainly Kosher meat. Considering the extra labor involved in producing it, Kosher meat is generally a good buy, as the quality is second to none,

Though even ConAgra (last I checked) sold meat that they claimed was Kosher. Plenty of Orthodox Jews I know don't consider their "Kosher" meat to be Kosher, but at least they have a product that meets someone's Kosher standards (I do not think their products meet the really strict standards many Orthodox Jews adhere to though).

Anyway, back on topic: I don't really see this as a big deal, as Cedar Fair and Six Flags have their own soft drink contracts anyway. Its just cross-promotion.

My only question is about Cedar Fair and the Knott's name, since Knott's is a ConAgra brand. Does ConAgra own the brand, or Cedar Fair?

-Sam

Con Agra owns the food rights to the Knott's jellies and stuff. Cedar Fair has marketing arrangements to sell the retail end in their parks, if they wish.

True.. I think I remember reading somewhere that Knott's sold off their jams and jellies business before Cedar Fair bought the park. I don't remember for sure, though. Can anyone else shed some light on that?

^ Yes, exactly. The Knott family sold KBF Foods to in 1995 (to ConAgra. The original off site canning for the jellies was done by Hunt-Wesson in Fullerton and Placentia. Hunt Wesson was acquired by ConAgra in 1990.) The theme park was sold in 1997.

*** This post was edited by Jazma 1/25/2005 2:47:05 PM ***

Interesting that Knott's Berry products are sold by ConAgra. I seem to remember that from when I tried searching for those scrumptious shortbread cookies online. Now, wouldn't it be ironic if they start selling Knott's products, such as those shortbread cookies, at Magic Mountain? ;)