their new food is a Beef Barley Stew. I want something with more zing! I loved the spaghetti with meatballs. This is not zingy, but very satisfying. In any case, during these hard economic times, I am surprised that their marketing dept. could only come up with a stew. Boring. They need to keep customers and attract new ones. I am afraid IMO that this won't cut it. I also don't understand why they list foods in their website that do not exist anymore i.e., the spaghetti. My center has been out of this for a while. If I had only known, I would have stocked up.

Well, I'm sure the stew was in the works long before the seriously hard economic times hit. Not sure what food options and recession have in common, anyway. The stew instantly became a favorite of mine. While it might be "boring" in that it's just "stew", it happens to taste good, it's really filling, it's great on a cold wintry day, it's easy to volumize or spice up, it's portable - it's comfort food!!! You want zing? Add some red pepper. So, you liked the spaghetti enough that you wished you had stocked up... that had zing? I had it once, and that was enough. Too tiny a portion, no flavor, totally unsatisfying.

What do you suggest they add?

The website can never be the most accurate record of what food is on hand where. It's a marketing tool, not an inventory system. Each center's inventory is completely different... depends on how much they ordered and how much they sold as to what is left. In utopia, yes, the website would have all of that information...technologically, it's possible to have real-time inventory systems. But JC isn't on the cutting edge of technology, if you hadn't noticed. Did you want them to spend more of your precious money on upgrading their inventory systems? Or perhaps you could ask the person at your local center what's available or if some of the temporary items are selling out quickly and make your purchasing decision accordingly.

As for food with zing... that's a matter of personal taste. JC is trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator. It's impossible to remove zing from an item. But there are TONS of ways to add zing. My favorite addition is Thai chili garlic paste. Great in anything. I also love chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. They definitely add zing!

Temporary items are just that. Decisions on what to make permanent are based off of the sales of the item. If you don't like the stew, don't buy it. That's your vote. Those that do like it will vote with their dollars as well.

I read on one of the other threads to put a splash of worchestershire sause and some dried thyme into the beef stew for a little more flavor. I tried it for lunch today and it was amazing!!! It's one of my favorites!!! Give it a go.

Have you looked at the "Creative Recipes" cookbook or the Volumizing cookbook @ JC? There are SO many ways to add "zing" to your meals. I have found that I eat more variety now than I ever did before. I mean were you really choosing from this many meals before program or are you really just missing your old habits? I obviously can't speak for you maybe you did have a lot of variety in your meals before BUT I CAN tell you that you will get out of this program exactly what YOU put in so i wouldn't wait for the chefs/JC powers that be to make the foods to your liking. IF this is the program you've chosen then KNOW that there is a WAY to make it work for YOU and YOUR taste....but you may have to do a little work on your own!

I agree with the others that if you need more zing in your food there are many ways to add that on your own without too much effort via spices, sauces, herbs, etc.

As far as Jenny's marketing strategies on product development go, we here can only scratch our heads to try to figure them out, LOL. I have a feeling that the slumping economy is affecting their spending habits in the short term and perhaps like a lot of companies they are taking a "wait and see" attitude before going ahead with more product development. Perhaps it's me but I sort of noticed a correlation between the sudden lack of new additions to the menu and the reports on the worsening economy.

I also think they set a precedent with so many product introductions in 2007 and now members expect that to happen all the time when in fact new products and temporary items were not introduced as often in years past.