Rumours about Ben's bread demise half-baked
Proving that no molehill is too small to turn into a mountain, social media in Halifax this week flamed into a small firestorm after someone posted that “after 117 years, Ben’s bread is no more.”
While it is true that Ben’s Bakery was a Halifax landmark for many decades, it was more than 20 years ago that the brand was sold to Canada Bread, which was itself later swallowed up by Grupo Bimbo, a Mexican company.
The building that sent delicious aromas wafting up and down Quinpool Road went under the wrecking ball, and the bread that used to be baked there was instead produced in New Brunswick, but still distributed throughout Atlantic Canada with the Ben’s brand on the bag.
Then, this week, word got out that all references to Ben’s would disappear, which led to fond social media posts like:
“I lived in a basement apartment four doors down. Was the most amazing smell to wake up to in the morning.”
“Growing up in the 60s, when winter boots developed a leak, you put your foot on a Ben’s bread bag and then skid it into your boot. Problem solved.”
“Took a tour of the bakery in 79 with my grade 5 class.”
“You may have tasted like chlorine but that red bag and mascot will always remind me of my grandfather’s house. For that I will always look fondly on the brand.”
“Anyone else remember collecting Ben's bags in the 80s for some kind of fundraiser/ competition school?”
“A relative from Ontario absolutely loved Ben's bread, like would buy a dozen loafs, box them up and fly them home with him.”
At Powell’s Supermarket in Bay Roberts, N.L., which has been selling Ben’s Holsum for years, staffer Diane Turner said the store’s been told the bread will be the same, but the name will be gone.
“People like the bread,” she said. “It’s soft. And it’s a bit cheaper.”
All of which seemed to be summed up by the lyrics of a song on Youtube, which include “Life is like Ben’s Bakery and you’re just a crumb.” Except.
“I think some folks might have got it wrong on social media,” Bimbo spokeswoman Sylvia Sicuso said on Friday.
“Over the past couple of years, you may have noticed that we’ve been co-branding the Ben’s Bakery brand with Dempster’s. This is just a transition, moving the Ben’s logo from the front to the back, nothing else has changed, just the packaging. Same recipes for the bread and the English muffins and all the other good stuff, and it will still be baked in our Atlantic bakeries.”