Excerpt from Chapter 61, back in January 2001.

=======NEW FLASH - WHITE BREAD MYSTERY PARTIALLY SOLVED!

I consider myself to be a bread connoisseur.  I eat lots of plain bread, usually without any butter or jam or jelly on the bread.   For 40+ years, I have been eating Weber's white bread as my sandwich bread of choice, and also used for french toast and regular toast in the morning.  A lot of times I also eat the Weber's bread when I am at the race track, with nothing else, just the bread itself.  When my mother-in-law comes over, she insists on buying the cheap bread, which doesn't taste as fresh, isn't moist, and doesn't have a good crust, and I have to patiently explain to her not to buy that cheap bread, but instead spend the extra dollar and buy Weber's.  Anyways, you get the point, I really like Weber's bread.    

The Best White Bread Around.....or at least it used to be..

But then something weird happened recently.  I have been buying Weber's bread, and it doesn't taste the same anymore.  At first I thought it was because the Weber's bread was a couple of days old.  Maybe instead of delivering 3 or 4 times a week to the grocery store, they started delivering twice a week to save costs, and I have been picking the days when the bread wasn't freshly delivered.  My regular toast didn't taste the same, the french toast didn't taste the same, sandwiches didn't taste the same, and eating the plain white bread didn't taste the same.  So this has been going on for a couple of months, and I have been scratching my head about it, and quite frankly, I get pissed off every morning when I eat my bread.   So, over at the grocery store on the way to the race track this morning, I see the Weber's Bread delivery guy there, and he is bringing in fresh bread to the store.  

I ask him, "What the hell is the deal with the Weber's bread, it doesn't taste the same any more.".  He rolls his eyes, and then he tells me this incredible story.  It seems to be all true, check out the links below.  Here it goes (note: I am not a lawyer, but this is what I get from reading the links below):

Apparently Interstate Bakery wanted to acquire Continental Bakery.   In the SoCal area, Interstate owns Weber's bread, and Continental owns Wonder Bread.  These breads have distinctly different tastes and textures, and I hate Wonder Bread.  I never buy it.  I mean, companies merge/get acquired all the time, right?  Well,  not according to the DOJ.  The DOJ felt that by two of the three largest white pan bread makers in SoCal merging together would not be good for consumers, as then Interstate Bakery would own and control Weber's, Wonder, and some other off brands, which by the DOJ's definition is that Interstate is cornering the white pan bread market.  So the DOJ filed an antitrust case against the white bread makers.  Can you believe this idiocy?  THE BREADS TASTE DIFFERENT.  They are NOT a substitute for the other.  Not only does the DOJ work to crash the Microsoft stock price (which means all investors who have mutual funds or directly own MSFT take a huge hit in their retirement cash, or worse yet, their racing fund), but they play a big part in why my white bread doesn't taste the same. 

Apparently, Interstate Bakery was given approval to acquire Continental, providing they sell off one of their labels and the recipe for that label to another competitor.  Apparently Interstate sold off the Weber's label to Four-S Bakeries, prior to the final judgement of the DOJ's antitrust case.  But then, it looks like Four-S merged with  Bimbo Bakeries (I am not making this up.....), and Bimbo assumed that they are now the owners of the awesome Weber's bread.  But Interstate came back, and said that that the rights to the Weber's Bread isn't assignable to another party, meaning Bimbo, so Interstate took Four-S to court about this, and threatened a lawsuit if they divulge  to Bimbo the secret formula to and the know how on how to bake Weber's bread.  So Four-S, in an attempt to make sure they don't get sued by Interstate, put on administrative leave all the people at Four-S who knew the secret formula for Weber's, so Bimbo cannot use them to make Weber's bread.  But since Bimbo now at least owns the Weber's "Branding", they continue to sell Weber's bread in the Weber's wrapper, but it ain't the same bread that I know and love.  Bimbo appears to be trying to make the Weber's bread without the right recipe.  THIS IS WHY MY WEBER'S BREAD TASTES TERRIBLE.  This is why my taste buds have been confused for months on end.  Now Interstate says that Bimbo is destroying the Weber's brand name, as they ain't making the bread correctly, but yet Interstate won't let them use the formula that is locked in a safe.  So in short, Interstate is saying, "You idiots, give me my damn Weber's bread back, you ain't making it right, you don't know how to make it right,  and we ain't gonna tell you how to make it right.".  So now the DOJ steps in, and files a contempt of court order against Interstate.   There is also a consent decree that was filed.  This is how your tax dollars are used by those geniuses at the DOJ.   You would think they could use those tax dollars to fight crime, setup a good drug rehabilitation program, or sweep off the dust on the freeway offramps so I can pull .98 G's in the turn.  Instead, they are running around screaming that someone is trying to corner the bread market.  Have you ever looked at all the bread that is currently available in your local grocery store?  There must be 20 different kinds of bread you can buy, with many different price points.  THERE IS NO MONOPOLY IN BREAD.  Just like there is no monopoly in operating systems.  If you don't like Microsoft operating systems, use your power of choice and go buy a Mac, go buy a Linux powered PC, go buy one of those "cutesy" internet terminals that connect to your phone, go buy a Palm Pilot, go buy IBM's OS/2, go buy a Sun Workstation, or go buy AOL-TV.  My point is that there are substitutes should you feel that Microsoft has a monopoly.  There is choice....unlike your cable TV provider, your electric company, your gas company, your local phone company, where there is NO CHOICE.

So anyways, I am telling the bread delivery guy, "I just want my damn bread the way it used to be."  He looks at me, and then he says, "Pillsbury.  Try the Pillsbury White Bread".   So I try the Pillsbury White Bread, and I'll be damned.........it taste like the old Weber's bread!  Problem solved!  But I am still confused....did Interstate remarket the Weber's formula under the Pillsbury name?  Did Pillsbury steal the recipe from the safe at Four-S?  Did someone from Four-S defect and sell the secret to Pillsbury?  Does Interstate own Pillsbury, and are they trying to torpedo Weber's since it isn't their bread anymore?   Maybe Pillsbury reverse engineered Weber's bread to come up with the formula.  Will we ever know the real truth?  If someone out there knows the inside scoop, email me, as I gotta know what happened!

Now I know some of you may think this is a trivial issue.  But let's say you have been drinking Heinekens for 40 years, or Crown Royal whiskey for 40 years, or Coca-Cola for 40 years, and then suddenly they change their recipe without telling you.  Wouldn't YOU be pissed off?

==============END OF WHITE BREAD NEWS FLASH