I heard they're building a new Country Oven plant and they're going to be baking all our cookies once they get up and running. They're going to come in already packaged. They say it's because they can't get anyone who wants to work in the bakery department in many stores. I say it's another way of cutting hours. Times sure have changed since I started 25 years ago. Back then, we had to make most of our stuff on the premises. Doughnuts started out as raw dough that had to be proofed and fried. Brownies had to be made from a mix. We baked our pudding cakes at the store too. All other cakes, including the ones like fudge, German chocolate, carrot, etc, had to be iced by hand. Hardly anything was pre-made. When I started, Our pre-made stuff took up a 4-foot wide section on one wall. I'm just glad I have seniority over everybody else and can do just about anything. Our new hires mainly bake cookies. They're not going to have anything to do once we stop baking cookies in the store.
We all know what's behind this move: reduce the workforce and make it "justifiable" to pay nothing but minimum wage by creating a work environment where no skills are needed - just the ability to unpack a box and put product on the table. That's it. More money for those higher up in the company because yet another cost-cutting initiative will have been implemented in stores. It's just like how Kroger, really, really, really wants to go with all pre-packaged meat and gut Meat Market down to minimum wage making employees that do nothing but stock product. Kroger logic is, if all you're doing is stocking product, and thus no special skills are required, minimum wage is all you should expect to make. Kroger really wants to axe the butcher shop portion of Meat Market and show all the better paid help the door, and thus go the way of Walmart, but the executives are still trying to figure out how to implement that particular cost-cutting initiative without ruffling too many feathers among the customers. Kroger's addition of more and more self check out units along front ends is yet another cost-cutting initiative to reduce employee headcount.
Forget about putting the needs and satisfaction of the customer first, as Kroger loves to claim and paint itself as, it's all about putting the bonuses and stock profits first, along with nicely padded salaries.
The bakery at Kroger isn't so much a bakery anymore, is it? lol...
This is sad if it's true. We sell a lot of cookies when they go on sale, which equals our elms, due to the amount of production time.
I agree - it is hard keeping people who want to work in our department. But that's because way too many people think that OH HEY THIS IS THE DEPARTMENT WHERE I GET TO DECORATE CAKES ALL DAY! then when they find out what really happens (our production, what is important to making the department run) then they leave.
But making everything come in pre-baked? We're screwed if that happens. There's no way there would be enough hours to go around :(
I remember when I first started 17 1/2 years ago we used to get our cookies from Mt. Perry (The place that makes all of the sandwiches and deli salad kits here in the Columbus division. I'm not sure if every division has this or not) I really hope they don't go back to the pre packaged cookies as I thought they tasted horrible. I can't imagine they would taste good if they are baked and then come in frozen. I definitely wouldn't want to buy any of them.
