TelecomEssay Preview: TelecomReport this essayLa Petite Boulangerie was an American bakery chain. Originally a two-store company owned by Food Resources Inc., it was purchased by PepsiCo in 1982 and franchised to various operators, including Food Resources in California and Arizona, and Calny, Inc. in the Seattle area. At its peak, La Petite Boulangerie had at least 140 locations,[3] including Los Angeles, Denver, Phoenix, Sacramento, and a small number of bakeries in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.[1]
In August 1986, Food Resources sued PepsiCo, alleging that it was misled about La Petite Boulangeries sales and profit potential of La Petite Boulangerie. Calny filed a similar lawsuit in March 1987.[4] The Calny suit was resolved with PepsiCos purchase of Calny in November 1987, which also gave it control of Calnys 142 west coast Taco Bell locations.[5]
The chain was purchased by Mrs. Fields Original Cookies, Inc. on March 31, 1987 for $15 million.[6][7]The chain was then acquired by InterWest Partners in July 1993 with a goal of converting it to a chain of gourmet coffee-bakery cafes. The chain had 68 stores at this point, none of which were franchised.[8] Java City purchased the chain from InterWest in May 1994.[9] Cucina Holdings, Inc. acquired Java City in December 2000,[10] but by the end of the month, La Petite Boulangerie was defunct.
Mrs. Fields Famous Brands is a franchisor in the snack food industry, with Mrs. Fields and TCBY as its core brands. Through its franchisees retail stores, it is one of the largest retailers of freshly baked, on-premises specialty cookies and brownies in the US[1] and the largest retailer of soft-serve frozen yogurt with live active cultures in the United States.[1] In addition, it operates a gifts and a branded retail business and has entered into many licensing arrangements. Its franchise systems includes over 1,200 franchised and licensed locations throughout the US and in 22 other countries. The company also offers retail grocery products and a gifting catalog under the name of Mrs. Fields Gifts. Mrs. Fields is headquartered in Cottonwood Heights, Utah.
[17] “Mrs. Fields Famous Brands, a subsidiary of New York-based company TCBY®, is not named in this press release, but is listed as the company’s primary brand by some retailers.
“Mrs. Fields Famous Brands is the original family-owned snack maker that has grown to have $7.5 billion in sales in the US. Since opening its doors in 1993 it has increased its revenue by 1.5 billion US dollars through joint business operations with various suppliers, distributors and restaurants through which it helps provide fresh fruit, nuts and dairy products with a balanced, sustainable high protein content, in a low fat-carbohydrate world. For its part TBR has been an expert adviser to major food retailers like Kroger, Target, and Papa John’s. Mrs. Fields has over 1,200 distributors, ranging from the largest to the most exclusive, through franchised and licensed distributors in the United States, a number of American states and territories worldwide, as well as over 1,700 retailers, including many in China.”
[18] A press release from Mr. Smith was obtained by WND from Mrs. Field which describes the relationship as a “relationship” which “tends to bring together hundreds of thousands of small and independent growers across their states.” In her email, Mrs. Field indicated that Mrs. Fields’s business plan was to operate in a “global environment” and that she was developing a “new business model for the nation”. In a written acknowledgement of such a plan, Mrs. Field also said she planned to expand TBR to more markets.
“The primary focus of this ongoing business is to provide local food and snacks to Americans—food that is not just organic, made in our farms and sold to local restaurants. We have begun to develop ways to provide high-quality, healthy, natural, wholesome food which can be enjoyed by all citizens in our country.” On January 5, 2016, Mrs. Field said that she was preparing to create some “new” businesses in the Midwest in order to “increase our revenue by more than 2 billion dollars in 2012”. Mrs. Field mentioned growing the company in that way so it would be “the single largest source of non-organic and organic food sold in the United States by one-third of the country’s households.” She explained that she wanted to grow in the West Midwest.
[19] The American Beverage Association (ABA) is “consistent in the belief that Americans deserve to be proud of their taste, health, quality and integrity and to celebrate that with local, organic, low price, home prepared food services, packaged products, organic and seasonal foods and food quality.” The ADA also notes that some other food companies consider the food movement a “food pyramid” and that food industry lobbyists and consultants also use food pyramid tactics.
[20] Despite that, most of the foods listed on Mr. Smith’s website appear to have been offered over the counter or by