Hi Everyone,



I started JC on September 9, 2008. I notice that they are quite a few requests to bring back foods that people really love.
I wanted to know:

Why do the new foods stay for such a short period of time? Why aren't they tested longer?
Is it for variety?
If you are new to JC and sticking to the planned menu, you are not even aware of the new foods or even how to incorporate them at first, by the time you get it together, the new ones are gone.

Does JC ever bring back oldies but goodies? If they do, what do they take into consideration?


I am all for lots of choices.

I'm sure there are numerous business reasons that dictate how long foods are available. Perhaps the agreement with the manufacturer was to make x number of items. When they're sold out, they're gone. Products sell differently across the country. If something was particularly successful in some locations and not others, they may redistribute the inventory. There are ingredient considerations, manufacturing, packaging, shipping... all kinds of things that we don't always think about.

Bottom line is the most decisions are made according to the almighty BUCK. If you like something, buy it. If you don't like something else, don't buy it. They will make the decisions accordingly to respond to financial impacts.

If you're new to the program, ALL of the foods are new to you! You have way more variety already than those who have been at it for awhile and have made up their mind about what they like and don't like. The new foods aren't necessarily any better than the existing foods, just different.

I totally agree with this point... because the food is temporary, it isn't on the printed menu. If you aren't aware there's a new product, and your JCC isn't aggressive about offering it to you, it's gone by the time you know it.

Perhaps you can try going to the "Food" tab and see what's new before you do your first visit of the month. That should help highlight it for those of us who need "exciting and new"... and temporary!

I'm very lucky that my Center has signs up about the new food, and my JCC is as excited as anyone about offering it.

I believe they update the menus once a year (in March?). Many items that have done well as temporary foods are brought back at that point, and foods with poor sales or for whatever other reason are retired.

Thanks for all of the Info everybody

There is so much to learn at first, but all of you make this so enjoyable. Thanks to you all, I am well informed.

Well, I personally don't like the way they've handled some of the new foods. Products have been coming and going so fast that by the time you decide you like them they're gone. In the past few months there have been a lot of things introduced only to have them disappear again as if overnight. Several of them were temporary or so they said, like the Beef Stroganoff. Then on top of that there was the fiasco with the quesadilla that everybody loved but the packaging got burned in the microwave so they had to pull it. That one never came back. Then there was the fiasco with the breakfast burrito which tasted awful and everyone hated it! They've had 2 cheesecakes in and out in the past year - the chocolate cherry and the red white and blue and now we're just back to the triple chocolate and the cookies and cream. They also just had the cinnamon twists which came and went in a flash. They've also pulled several permanent products, most notably the beef sirloin with rice and the beef vegetable soup. I am probably forgetting a few others. It's been hard to keep up. I think this kind of situation is very disconcerting for members!

Thanks for understanding my concerns,

I wish they would bring back the Praline Bars for the Anytime Bars. The peanut butter Anytime bars are tolorable but the cookies and cream are the pits.

I agree about the Praline Bars. The OLD peanut butter bars (i.e. 2 years ago) were much better and the Praline bars had the same consistency. Then JC suddenly made the peanut butter bars too chewy so then sometime this year they changed them AGAIN to be less chewy but in my opinion they're STILL too chewy! In the meantime they discontinued the Praline Bars. The Cookies and Cream bars have no taste and are too chewy just like the Peanut Butter Bars. Another disappointment!

The "seasonal" food items are a blessing for variety and most taste pretty darn good!
Too bad they are just seasonal or for one month! The JC price list shows items that are Temporary with A "T" and even the month in parentheses- for instance- the Pumpkin Spice cake is (Oct).
The Gingerbread cookies- Nov.

I get a little confused because even though the month is listed for the seasonal food, for example: Turkey Panini is listed for September, but it is still showing up in the online food list in October.
Do I assume the Turkey is available beyond September or is it a typo?

Thanks for the help, I am just trying to know and understand what is available and when

None of the computer systems are real time. Just because something is or isn't listed doesn't mean it is or isn't available. I didn't notice if you said whether you did Center or Direct. The best way to know is to ask the person taking your order. It's also a good idea to plan ahead for a second choice if it's not available... or to know what you want to nix if something new is there. Think of it like the daily special at a restaurant... they have a chalkboard listing the items, but sometimes they run out... and other times the chef tosses together something new that the waitress tells you about.

Enjoy!

You definately need to ask your JCC what is available. They order the new foods to arrive early in the month, and they are available until they run out. I am still buying Cajun chicken at my center and I have no idea when it became available. I think the Hawaii chicken and breakfast burrito might still be available, also, and they are selling the burrito at 2 for 1. I bought the panini this week, so I know they still have that one. My center only ran out of cinnamon twists 2 weeks ago, and I was standing right there as someone bought the last one.

Maybe my center overbuys things.