PC Food Brand

[itch22]

Inspired by this thread, what are people's opinions on the PC brand of food? I am not too keen on much of it, yet, in grocery stores they count for the bulk majority of organic food. (Organic food being something important in my household.)

[Marlene]

I am a fan of President's Choice brand, although for food rather than knives I just think some of their stuff tastes better.

[WHT]

Some of the meat dishes are a littl4e on the salty side. Overall I have been pleased with the products. The mac and cheese tastes better than the blue box.

[Larry]

I either love the PC product or I don't. Most of their frozen stuff is horrible, especially the pasta dishes (obvious). The chocolate fudge crackle ice cream is great as are the gelatos. The organic line is ok but I've had better luck with other brands that specialize in organics.

[ComeUndone]

I routinely use their chocolate chips for baking when it's inconvenient to acquire better quality chocolate chips. It cerntainly beats the other brands of chocolate chips Loblaws keeps in stock.

I also enjoy their English muffins and crumpets over other national brands.

[Richard Kilgore]

I think President's Choice pasta is very good for dried pasta and a good deal, too. It is made in Italy and runs about .99 US/lb. and .75/lb. on sale.

[canadian-eh]

The PC frozen Indian and Thai dinners are good quality and well priced. As frozen dinners go, among the best I have ever had.

PC Diet Cola (the old Royal Crown receipe) is usually priced much less than Coke and Pepsi and is equally adictive.

PC Chocolate Chip Cookies are banned from my household as it is impossible to make the package last more than a day or two.

Overall, my satisfaction with PC brand products is high. Most offer good quality and good value in my humble opinion.

[itch22]

The PC frozen Indian and Thai dinners are good quality and well priced. As frozen dinners go, among the best I have ever had.

Are you sure about that? My fiance once got the PC Thai dinner and couldn't even finish it. However, I must admit I personally didn't try it. I haven't eat any kind of ready made dinner since college and plan to keep it that way.

[middydd]

I like their sodium free Club Soda. Some of the "Memories" sauces are good, the Szechuan peanut sauce in particular. An easy way to make peanut noodles. The Hong Kong Black Bean sauce is good but salty, have to have lots of the Club Soda on hand.

Also like the European Multigrain bread, it's full of sunflower seeds, if you like them.

And the wood fired frozen pizzas are good, the ham with bechamel and the vegetable with pesto.

Has anybody tried the French flour baguettes? They're in a bin like the ace baguettes.

[Anna N]

I have never quite forgiven them for discontinuing one of their "Memories of.." sauces just as I discovered it and wowed my family with a stew which included it! Can't remember which one but I refuse to become attached to any after this experience.

[Marlene]

I really like their horseradish mayo, and their Raisin Bran cereal has lots more raisins than the "other" brand.

[Farmer Dave]

First of all, I applaud them for adding organic products in so many areas of the store, distribution of organic produce is very fragmented in Ontario and they fill the gap...however.....as far as the frozen products, prepared foods.....I just can't eat them.....the difference between the title on the box and the photo and what is inside is laughable......we always joke that the PC kitchen is a big warehouse with 3 big silos piped into it , one labelled "white starchy goo" the next "white salty goo" and the other "white sugary goo"......those components in various ratios seem to be the base, through in a slice of this or a pinch of that and all of a sudden it is

the definative "signature dish of a foreign culture " beautifully portrayed in the display case......naw.....don't judge a book by the cover

[itch22]

we always joke that the PC kitchen is a big warehouse with 3 big silos piped into it , one labelled "white starchy goo" the next "white salty goo" and the other "white sugary goo"......those components in various ratios seem to be the base, ...

I knew it!

I tried their organic butter last night in a batch of brown sugar cookies, with a dash of triple sec for a nice orange flavour. The cookies didn't last very long.

[piperdown]

Are you sure about that? My fiance once got the PC Thai dinner and couldn't even finish it. However, I must admit I personally didn't try it. I haven't eat any kind of ready made dinner since college and plan to keep it that way.

Yeah I agree, the Thai dinners are pretty bad. Their Thai sauces though, are really good. The new Indian frozen dinners, however, are great. Even if you microwave them they turn out good. I always try to keep a few in the freezer for when I need a quick Indian fix and don't have the time to cook it myself

[evilhomer]

a good 10% of the food in our house bears their name (which is a helluva lot more than any other brand)

the thai chili sauce is a definite staple (memories of bangkok?)

the white corn-black bean chili is also pretty good if a bit sugary

and as far as store brands go i think the lassy mogs are second only to the woefully unavailable freihoffers molasses cookies.

there hasn't been a good insiders reports in years though - possibly since the departure of dave nichols.

as far as the frozen meals go though i would stear clear, i really liked the jambalaya when i was younger, but i liked pizza pockets too so take that as you will.

[Wayne]

I no longer buy PC prepared dinner items. What looked good in the "insider's report"

usually was a disapointment at home.

I'm still a big fan of their Reverse Decadent Chocolate Chip and Raisins First cookies,

especially on canoe trips. Haven't tried the Lassy Mogs yet but will give them a try.

[Freckles]

You have to give PC credit, too, for really changing the way people eat in Canada. The Brand, and descriptions and recipes in the Insiders' Report, made experimenting with different flavours and foods much less "scary" to a lot of people. That wins them a lot of respect from me.

[piperdown]

I totally agree, and that's why I drive 15-20 minutes to shop there as opposed to shopping at the A&P that's across the street.

I do agree that Loblaw's and President's Choice has changed the way Canadian's eat. Sure maybe some of the Thai frozen dinners aren't great, but because they're PC I think most people have tied them. I think for every product that I don't care for there are at least 5 that I wouldn't want to live without. They market the latest trends to the masses, and demystify the ingredients so that Mr. & Mrs. Meat and Potatoes will go out and try something new. Sure they might never try it again, but they tried it, and that's the kind of brand power that I think any company would kill for.

Plus those new PC frozen Croissants, are better then any croissants I can get in Kingston, be it bakery or store

[evilhomer]

^^ what's up kingston

not much to say - it's a croissantless town

you can get a hell of a dinner roll at pan chancho though

living halfway between loblaw's and a&p, it's never a hard choice to make.

[naomicatgirl]

I think the products are generally good value, and good quality.

Szechuan Peanut sauce (and the equally as good lower calore version) is a staple around here. The decadent chocolate chip cookies are some of the best out there, and the double fudge sandwich cookies are INCREDIBLE!!!

The crackle ice creams are also really good, although i am disapointed they discontinued the peanut butter one - i was probably the only one that ate it, though!

Oh, the white corn/black bean salsa is one of my fav's too.

Yumm!

Naomi

[jayt90]

Frozen convenience foods are designed for lazy people, or busy people who think they can experiment into another genre, without any real effort. The manufacturer, including PC, wants to satisfy this demand, build it up with a lot of hype on the package, and end up selling very cheap ingredients, augmented by salt, sugar, oil, and starches as fillers. Caveat emptor!

[evilhomer]

for the sake of argument, does it have to be this way.

I mean is it actually impossible to take quality ingredients, tastefully combined, and capable of somemodicum of a shelf life without a significant decrease in price, in a satisyfing portion size at a reasonable price.

it does seem like a lot to ask

[piperdown]

I think it is possible to do good quality frozen food. And I think PC does this quite well, or at least they try. Their new Indian dinners are great, and their Lasagna is really good as well. True you can tell they skimp on a few things (such as the sausage in their Jambalaya), but over all I think they do a much better then average job. You also have to commend them for trying different things. Would Stouffer's or Swanson come out with a frozen cassoulet? Not a chance.

I think Loblaws realizes that people want quick and easy alternative, that isn't the normal frozen fare, and they try to play with this. The only Pc product that I found inedible was the Thai frozen meals.

The other thing that I hope is a by-product of this is that people won't be afraid to try new recipes out. I mean, let's say a family tries the frozen cassoulet, something they might never have even considered eating before, and they like it. Hopefully the next step, once the dish is demystified to them, is trying to make it themselves, and realizing just how quick and easy some dishes are to prepare. I don't think this would happen if PC didn't step outside the norm, and market new products.

[jayt90]

I work with frozen convenience foods all day long, and I can truly say that the buyers want to save time, and have little or no desire to make something from scratch.

Aside from that, I have felt burned every time I tried a frozen convenience product, including PC, because of the fillers, the reliance on cheap flavourings, and the skimpy protein products: shredded chicken, flakes of ground beef, small sized shrimp at big size prices, sloe stuffed with crumbs and a tiny bit of sashimi, etc. etc. These companies , including Weston's, know a good thing when they see it