Not Made in Dubuque
A not so funny conversation with Hormel Customer Service:
HORMEL:
Hormel Customer Service.ME:
Hi. Could you tell me where DUBUQUE® Plumpers are produced?HORMEL:
Do you mean where you can buy them?ME:
No, I mean where they are made.HORMEL:
. . . . They’re made in . . . Dubuque.ME:
. . . . In Dubuque?HORMEL:
Yes . . . .ME:
Uh . . . at which plant?HORMEL:
. . . . I’m sorry, I’m not allowed to divulge that information.ME:
Oh . . . I live in Dubuque, and I don’t think DUBUQUE® Plumpers are made here.HORMEL:
. . . .ME:
I think Hormel acquired the DUBUQUE® Plumper brand several years ago when the Dubuque packing plant closed.HORMEL:
. . . . Could you hold for a moment?ME:
Yes.HORMEL:
. . . .ME:
. . . .HORMEL:
Sir, could you hold on for another moment?ME:
OK.HORMEL:
. . . .ME:
. . . .HORMEL:
Sir?ME:
Yes?HORMEL:
DUBUQUE® Plumpers are made in Fremont, Nebraska.ME:
Fremont, Nebraska?HORMEL:
Yes.ME:
Oh, OK. I didn’t think they were made in Dubuque. The packing plant has been closed for a while.HORMEL:
. . . .ME:
OK . . . thanks.
May 20, 2007 at 2:29 pm
As someone who had two uncles who spent their entire working lives at “The Pack,” it saddens me just a little to see a “Dubuque”-labeled product that has no connection to the working people of Dubuque. On the other hand, the fact that Hormel is trading on the name attests to the perception of quality built up by those workers.
May 22, 2007 at 7:15 pm
Very funny dialogue. Thanks for posting it! :-)
May 31, 2007 at 8:20 pm
Man I miss the “Pack” I grew up with the “PACK” my uncles and cousins all worked at the “PACK”. I remeber going to the “PACK” and buying fresh winers(hotdog) made there at the “PACK” they were to kill for. I hated it when the “PACK” sold out and Hormel came in. Just one more possible reason I left Big D and didn’t go back……And there was nothing like takening a drive on a hot summer night and drive thur the stock yards at the “PACK” I can still smell that smell