"mary" > wrote in message
...
> I was wondering how to determine if the maker of a food product actually
> makes the product themselves or if they buy it from someone else, and just
> has their label on it. If the label says "distributed by" does that mean
it
> is not made by company whose brand is on it, and that it is made by an
other
> company? There is a small local company that makes a lot of "condiment"
type
> products, and I wonder if they really would cook and package it all
> themselves. I met the president of the company at a store by accident, and
> asked him but he did not give me a clear answer.

Hardly anyone makes all their own products. Some specialty companies make a
host of items that are identical but for the package. Frozen dinners are an
example. I know of a company that makes certain dinners for some of the big
names you see as well as store brands. It all comes down the same line,
prepared the same, gets packed the same, handled the same. The corn comes
from the same supplier, the potatoes from the same field.

Even some of the big names in soft drinks subcontract to others. They may
supply the syrup and set some specifications, but private companies
sometimes do the actual mixing and bottling.
Ed

http://pages.cthome.net/edhome