Keepin’ My Flavor Fresh, Part II

Mike Brady warned, caveat emptor. Still, sometimes, it works out just fine.

On New Year’s Day, just as Abbi and I were skulking out from beneath a minor hangover, we grabbed a pizza and a six from the locals Dag’s. Back home, though, we were shocked by the quantity of toppings. So I dashed off a quick email to California Pizza Kitchen’s Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax.

Dear Rick & Jerry:

I have enjoyed your frozen pizzas on numerous occassions. I appreciate your copious, varied ingredients. The flavor of your California Pizza Kitchen is fresh and zesty.

Tonight, though, I discovered that, while there are seven slices on the box top averaging 7-8 tomatoes per slice for a grand total of roughly 49-55 tomatoes, inside we counted just 27!

While our brand loyalty to CPK’s fine frozen products will not waver, I was very disappointed in this tomato-based discrepancy.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Wagner

Tonight, they wrote back.

Thank you for visiting our website. I’m sorry for your experience with our products. The problem you described sounds like there was a possible mechanical failure at our facility. I am sending you reimbursement via first class mail, which you should receive within 7-10 business days.

We value the quality of the products that leave our facility. We give careful attention to each step of our manufacturing process. Samples from each production run are evaluated before we ship them, in an effort to prevent any unsatisfactory products from entering distribution.Mistakes can sometimes occur on our production lines. We try to prevent this by stationing inspectors at various points along the production lines, and their duties include watching for malfunctions.

Also, our quality control staff makes regular rounds throughout the production area during the day in order to ensure that production equipment is functioning properly.I hope this information is helpful, and again, I apologize for this experience.

Thank you for your loyalty and we hope that your next experience is a good one.

Kim McMiller
AssociateDirector, Consumer Relations

Thanks Ms. McMiller!

I hope they make you a full-fledged director soon.

And, Mr. Brady? Veni, vidi, vicki, beeyatch!