Tag Archives: fake

“Fake baking” is on the rise.  More and more consumers are taking credit for something they didn’t make, passing it off as their own homemade specialty.  “Semi-homemade” requires slightly more effort.  Consumers have to add something to the mix themselves to claim that almost-homemade status.  Regardless of how one chooses to define the misrepresentation, it is one that smart manufacturers and marketers are not only enabling but encouraging.

It’s about helping time-starved consumers look like domestic gods and goddesses.  They simply don’t always have time to make the kind of meal they’d like to present to their families or the gourmet cookies they’d like to bring to the bake sale.   Not only have smart manufacturers made their products more convenient, they have actually given consumers permission to claim “homemade” status.  Read more...

• Alon’s, an Atlanta-based baking company, sells roll of gourmet cookie dough, but they also sell baskets, plates and linens to help pull off the scam.

• Honey Baked Ham, Holiday Ham and similar companies exist solely because people need a source for delicious food they can claim as their own.

• Ready-to-Eat Cheesecake Filling from Philadelphia/Kraft is another example.  Anyone can have “homemade” cheesecake in one step; just spoon the filling into a pre-made graham cracker crust!