Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Quaker Oats shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Quaker Oats offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Quaker Oats at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Quaker Oats? Wrong! If the Quaker Oats is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about Quaker Oats then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Quaker Oats? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Quaker Oats and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Quaker Oats wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your Quaker Oats then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Quaker Oats site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Quaker Oats, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Quaker Oats, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
The
Quaker Oats Company is an United States food conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. Quaker Oats was founded in 1901 by the merger of four rolled oats:
| title = The Strait Dope Mailbag - Is the guy on the Quaker Oats Box John Penn?
| first = Cecil
| last = Adams
| url = http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mquaker.html
| accessdate = 2007-08-15-->
- A cereal mill in Cedar Rapids, Iowa owned by John Stuart, his son Robert Stuart, and their partner George Douglas;
- The German Mills American Oatmeal Company, owned by "The Oatmeal King", Ferdinand Schumacher of Akron, Ohio, of the Quaker Oat Company on the company website (www.quakeroats.com). Accessed 28 July 2006.
- The Rob Lewis & Co. American Oats and Barley Oatmeal Corporation. Formally known as "Good For Breakfast" instant oatmeal mix.
The company expanded into numerous areas, including other
breakfast cereals and other food and drink products, and even into non-related fields such as toys. In August 2001, Quaker merged with PepsiCo.
Modern history
Main article}|s-->: History of Quaker Oats}
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In 1969, Quaker acquired
Fisher-Price, a toy company and spun it off in 1991.
s (available in
Canada)
In the 1970s, the company financed the making of the film
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, obtaining in return a license to use a number of the product names mentioned in the movie for candy bars.
In August 2001, Quaker merged with PepsiCo, who primarily wanted the company for its
Gatorade brand of sports drink. The merger created the fourth-largest consumer goods company in the world. Though the main prize of PepsiCo was
Gatorade noncarbonated sports drink, Quaker's cereal and snack food division serves as healthy complements to the existing
Frito-Lay salty-snacks division.
Since the late 1980s, actor Wilford Brimley has appeared in television commercials extolling the virtues of oat consumption, typically to a young child, as to introduce the concept of oatmeal consumption as a long
tradition.
History In Canada
The major Canadian production facility for Quaker Oats is located in
Peterborough, Ontario. The factory was first established as the
American Cereal Company in 1902 on the shores of the Otonabee River during that city's period of industrialization. In 1916, the factory all but completely burned to the ground. When the smoke had settled, 23 people had died and Quaker was left with $2,000,000 in damages. Quaker went on to rebuild the facility incorporating the few areas of the structure that were not destroyed by fire, creating what is today still the most visibly recognizable industrial facility in Peterborough, Ontario. When PepsiCo purchased Quaker Oats in 2001, many brands were consolidated from facilities around Canada to the Peterborough location - which assumed the new QTG moniker (Quaker Tropicana Gatorade). Local production includes Quaker Oatmeal, Quaker Chewy bars, Cap'n Crunch cereal, Aunt Jemima instant pancake mixes and pancake syrups, Quaker Oat Bran and Corn Bran cereals, Gatorade sportdrinks and the
Propel Fitness Water fitness water sub-brand,
Tropicana Products juices, and various Frito-Lay snack products. Products are easily identified by the
manufactured by address on the packaging. The Peterborough facility exports to the majority of Canada and limited portions of the
United States. The Quaker plant sells cereal production byproducts to innovative companies that use them to create fire logs and pellets.
Controversy
In the 1950s, researchers from Quaker Oats Company, MIT and Harvard University carried out experiments to determine how the nutrients from cereals travelled through the body. Parents of mentally challenged children were asked for permission to let their children be members of a
Science Club at their school. States, such as Massachusetts, also volunteered children who were
wards of the state for the program. One well-known school that did these experiments was
Walter E. Fernald State School. Being a member of the Science Club gave the children special privileges. The parents were told that the children would be fed with a diet high in nutrients. They were not, however, told (and the consent form contained no information indicating) that the food their children were fed was laced with radioactivity calcium and
iron. The information obtained from the experiments was to be used as part of an advertising campaign. The company was later sued because of the experiments. The lawsuit was settled on December 31,
1997, as chronicled in the book The State Boy's Rebellion by Michael D'Antonio.
Logo & Quakers
still seen on the company's address.
The monochromatic 1971 Quaker Oats Company Logo opposite was created by Saul Bass, a graphic designer known for his motion picture title sequences and corporate logos.
The current logo was painted by
Haddon Sundblom in 1957. There is a common misconception that the smiling person featured is
Quaker William Penn. The Quaker Oats website in fact asserts that: The "Quaker man" or "Q.O.G." is not an actual person. His image is that of a man dressed in the Quaker garb, chosen because the Quaker projected the values of honesty, integrity{{cite web | title = Quaker Oatmeal -Frequently Asked Questions
| publisher = The Quaker Oats Company
| url = http://www.quakeroatmeal.com/qo_faqs/index.cfm#divHistory
| accessdate = 2007-08-15-->
Contrary to popular belief, the company has no ties with the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). When the company was being built up, Quaker businesspeople were indeed known for theirhonesty (Truth is often considered a
Quaker Testimony). The Straight Dope tells us that"According to the good folks at Quaker Oats, the Quaker Man was America's first registered trademark for a breakfast cereal, his registration taking place on September 4th, 1877. "The name was chosen when Quaker Mill partner Henry Seymour found an encyclopedia article on Quakers and decided that the qualities described -- integrity, honesty, purity -- provided an appropriate identity for his company's oat product."{{cite web | title = The Strait Dope Mailbag - Is the guy on the Quaker Oats Box John Penn?
| first = Cecil
| last = Adams
| url = http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mquaker.html
| accessdate = 2007-08-15-->
This is why the company continued to link themselves with Quakers. H2g2 tells that part of the company began trading with the name Quaker Mill because of a link with Pennsylvania - 'the Quaker State', however the Mill was based in Ohio and no such link has been revealed.{{cite web | title = BBC - h2g2 - The Religious Society of Friends - The Quakers in Britain
| url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A5320702#footnote1
| accessdate = 2007-08-15 -->
In the 1900's, when the company was formed, Quakers did wear clothes similar to those shown in the picture. This was because of their testimony to simplicity - they did not want to show off their wealth with expensive clothing. Nowadays Quakers do not tend to dress at all like the one depicted - they might instead express the testimony by avoiding clothing with brand names advertised, but there is no specific protocol.
Some Quakers are uncomfortable about the company's use of their name, as the Quaker Oats brand is, in general, better known than the Society of Friends. This leads to confusion, with many members of the public assuming that Quakers have a link with oats, or dress as shown on the company's logo. In addition, it could be argued that the company's use of the Quaker name is dishonest because of the lack of any real link with
Quakerism; if Quakers were involved they would probably follow their testimonies by pushing for fairer trading and ethical checks.
Trivia
- In the animated TV show Rugrats, the character Chuckie Finster is afraid of the Quaker Oats man, referred to in the show as "the guy on the oatmeal box".
- On Night Court, Dan Fielding is surprised during his parent's visit when he realizes his prized toy drum was actually a round Quaker Oats box.
US Brands
As of 2005, these are the product brands marketed under the Quaker Oats name in the USA:
Breakfast cereals
- Cap'n Crunch
- Life (cereal)
- Quisp
- Mother's Natural Foods
- Quaker 100% Natural Granola
- Kretschmer Wheat Germ
- Muffets ("The round shredded wheat")
- Quaker Oatmeal Squares
- Quaker Toasted Oatmeal
- Quaker Oh's
- King Vitaman
- Sugar Puffs
- Quaker Corn Bran
- Quaker Oat Bran
Other breakfast foods
- Quaker Oatmeal
- Quaker Oatmeal To Go (re-branded from Breakfast Squares in 2006)
- Quaker Grits
- Aunt Jemima
- Quaker Breakfast Cookies
- Instant Quaker Oatmeal
Snacks
- Quaker Rice Cakes (known as Snack-a-Jacks in the UK)
- Quakes Rice Snacks
- Quaker Soy Crisps
- Quaker Snack Bars
- Chewy Granola Bars
Mixes
Drinks
UK Brands
As of 2006, these are the product brands marketed under the Quaker Oats name in the UK Official UK web site Accessed 10 August
2006:
Hot Cereals
- Quaker Oats
- Oatso Simple (various flavours)
- Scott's Porage Oats
- Scott's So Easy
(the Scott's brand, previously a rival, is now also owned by Quaker)
Ready to Eat Cereal
- Sugar Puffs - Since sold off
- Harvest Crunch
Cereal Bars
- Oat Bars (Original with golden syrup or Mixed berry flavours)
Chewy Bars
- Toffee
- Milk Choc Chip
- White Choc Chip
References
- D'Antonio, Michael. The State Boys Rebellion. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004.
External links
- Quaker Oats
- Story about the radioactivity experiments
- William Penn denial
- Nutrition facts
The
Quaker Oats Company is an United States food conglomerate based in
Chicago, Illinois. Quaker Oats was founded in 1901 by the merger of four rolled oats:
- The Quaker Mill Company of Ravenna, Ohio, which held the trademark on the Quaker name;{{cite web
| title = The Strait Dope Mailbag - Is the guy on the Quaker Oats Box John Penn?
| first = Cecil
| last = Adams
| url = http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mquaker.html
| accessdate = 2007-08-15-->
- A cereal mill in Cedar Rapids, Iowa owned by John Stuart, his son Robert Stuart, and their partner George Douglas;
- The German Mills American Oatmeal Company, owned by "The Oatmeal King", Ferdinand Schumacher of Akron, Ohio, of the Quaker Oat Company on the company website (www.quakeroats.com). Accessed 28 July 2006.
- The Rob Lewis & Co. American Oats and Barley Oatmeal Corporation. Formally known as "Good For Breakfast" instant oatmeal mix.
The company expanded into numerous areas, including other
breakfast cereals and other food and drink products, and even into non-related fields such as toys. In August 2001, Quaker merged with PepsiCo.
Modern history
Main article}|s-->: History of Quaker Oats}
|{{#if:{{{3|-->}|, | and -->[{{{2-->}-->{{#if:{{{3|-->}
|{{#if:{{{4|-->}|, |, and -->[{{{3-->}-->{{#if:{{{4|-->}
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|, and [{{{5-->}-->''{{#if:{{{6}})-->
In 1969, Quaker acquired
Fisher-Price, a toy company and spun it off in 1991.
s (available in Canada)
In the
1970s, the company financed the making of the film
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, obtaining in return a license to use a number of the product names mentioned in the movie for candy bars.
In August
2001, Quaker merged with
PepsiCo, who primarily wanted the company for its
Gatorade brand of sports drink. The merger created the fourth-largest consumer goods company in the world. Though the main prize of PepsiCo was
Gatorade noncarbonated sports drink, Quaker's cereal and snack food division serves as healthy complements to the existing Frito-Lay salty-snacks division.
Since the late 1980s, actor Wilford Brimley has appeared in television commercials extolling the virtues of oat consumption, typically to a young child, as to introduce the concept of oatmeal consumption as a long
tradition.
History In Canada
The major Canadian production facility for Quaker Oats is located in Peterborough, Ontario. The factory was first established as the American Cereal Company in 1902 on the shores of the Otonabee River during that city's period of industrialization. In 1916, the factory all but completely burned to the ground. When the smoke had settled, 23 people had died and Quaker was left with $2,000,000 in damages. Quaker went on to rebuild the facility incorporating the few areas of the structure that were not destroyed by fire, creating what is today still the most visibly recognizable industrial facility in
Peterborough, Ontario. When
PepsiCo purchased Quaker Oats in 2001, many brands were consolidated from facilities around Canada to the Peterborough location - which assumed the new QTG moniker (Quaker Tropicana Gatorade). Local production includes Quaker Oatmeal, Quaker Chewy bars, Cap'n Crunch cereal, Aunt Jemima instant pancake mixes and pancake syrups, Quaker Oat Bran and Corn Bran cereals, Gatorade sportdrinks and the
Propel Fitness Water fitness water sub-brand, Tropicana Products juices, and various
Frito-Lay snack products. Products are easily identified by the
manufactured by address on the packaging. The Peterborough facility exports to the majority of
Canada and limited portions of the United States. The Quaker plant sells cereal production byproducts to innovative companies that use them to create fire logs and pellets.
Controversy
In the
1950s, researchers from Quaker Oats Company, MIT and
Harvard University carried out experiments to determine how the nutrients from cereals travelled through the body. Parents of mentally challenged children were asked for permission to let their children be members of a
Science Club at their school. States, such as Massachusetts, also volunteered children who were
wards of the state for the program. One well-known school that did these experiments was
Walter E. Fernald State School. Being a member of the Science Club gave the children special privileges. The parents were told that the children would be fed with a diet high in nutrients. They were not, however, told (and the consent form contained no information indicating) that the food their children were fed was laced with radioactivity
calcium and iron. The information obtained from the experiments was to be used as part of an advertising campaign. The company was later sued because of the experiments. The lawsuit was settled on
December 31,
1997, as chronicled in the book The State Boy's Rebellion by Michael D'Antonio.
Logo & Quakers
still seen on the company's address.
The monochromatic 1971 Quaker Oats Company Logo opposite was created by Saul Bass, a graphic designer known for his motion picture title sequences and corporate logos.
The current logo was painted by Haddon Sundblom in 1957. There is a common misconception that the smiling person featured is
Quaker William Penn. The Quaker Oats website in fact asserts that: The "Quaker man" or "Q.O.G." is not an actual person. His image is that of a man dressed in the Quaker garb, chosen because the Quaker projected the values of honesty, integrity{{cite web | title = Quaker Oatmeal -Frequently Asked Questions
| publisher = The Quaker Oats Company
| url = http://www.quakeroatmeal.com/qo_faqs/index.cfm#divHistory
| accessdate = 2007-08-15-->
Contrary to popular belief, the company has no ties with the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). When the company was being built up, Quaker businesspeople were indeed known for theirhonesty (Truth is often considered a
Quaker Testimony). The Straight Dope tells us that"According to the good folks at Quaker Oats, the Quaker Man was America's first registered trademark for a breakfast cereal, his registration taking place on September 4th, 1877. "The name was chosen when Quaker Mill partner Henry Seymour found an encyclopedia article on Quakers and decided that the qualities described -- integrity, honesty, purity -- provided an appropriate identity for his company's oat product."{{cite web | title = The Strait Dope Mailbag - Is the guy on the Quaker Oats Box John Penn?
| first = Cecil
| last = Adams
| url = http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mquaker.html
| accessdate = 2007-08-15-->
This is why the company continued to link themselves with Quakers. H2g2 tells that part of the company began trading with the name Quaker Mill because of a link with Pennsylvania - 'the Quaker State', however the Mill was based in Ohio and no such link has been revealed.{{cite web | title = BBC - h2g2 - The Religious Society of Friends - The Quakers in Britain
| url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A5320702#footnote1
| accessdate = 2007-08-15 -->
In the 1900's, when the company was formed, Quakers did wear clothes similar to those shown in the picture. This was because of their testimony to simplicity - they did not want to show off their wealth with expensive clothing. Nowadays Quakers do not tend to dress at all like the one depicted - they might instead express the testimony by avoiding clothing with brand names advertised, but there is no specific protocol.
Some Quakers are uncomfortable about the company's use of their name, as the Quaker Oats brand is, in general, better known than the Society of Friends. This leads to confusion, with many members of the public assuming that Quakers have a link with oats, or dress as shown on the company's logo. In addition, it could be argued that the company's use of the Quaker name is dishonest because of the lack of any real link with
Quakerism; if Quakers were involved they would probably follow their testimonies by pushing for fairer trading and ethical checks.
Trivia
- In the animated TV show Rugrats, the character Chuckie Finster is afraid of the Quaker Oats man, referred to in the show as "the guy on the oatmeal box".
- On Night Court, Dan Fielding is surprised during his parent's visit when he realizes his prized toy drum was actually a round Quaker Oats box.
US Brands
As of 2005, these are the product brands marketed under the Quaker Oats name in the
USA:
Breakfast cereals
Other breakfast foods
- Quaker Oatmeal
- Quaker Oatmeal To Go (re-branded from Breakfast Squares in 2006)
- Quaker Grits
- Aunt Jemima
- Quaker Breakfast Cookies
- Instant Quaker Oatmeal
Snacks
- Quaker Rice Cakes (known as Snack-a-Jacks in the UK)
- Quakes Rice Snacks
- Quaker Soy Crisps
- Quaker Snack Bars
- Chewy Granola Bars
Mixes
- Quaker Tortilla Mix
- Rice-A-Roni
- Pasta Roni
- Near East
Drinks
UK Brands
As of 2006, these are the product brands marketed under the Quaker Oats name in the
UK Official UK web site Accessed 10 August
2006:
Hot Cereals
(the Scott's brand, previously a rival, is now also owned by Quaker)
Ready to Eat Cereal
- Sugar Puffs - Since sold off
- Harvest Crunch
Cereal Bars
- Oat Bars (Original with golden syrup or Mixed berry flavours)
Chewy Bars
- Toffee
- Milk Choc Chip
- White Choc Chip
References
- D'Antonio, Michael. The State Boys Rebellion. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004.
External links
- Quaker Oats
- Story about the radioactivity experiments
- William Penn denial
- Nutrition facts
