Pepperidge Farm

Just say "no" to Churchill and "yes" to Pepperidge Farm. That's what Downingtown Mayor Frank A. Manetta has been trying to get state and county officials to do since Pepperidge Farm officials said, more than a year ago, that they needed to expand the Downingtown plant. At Wednesday's Downingtown Borough Council meeting, Manetta asked area residents to lobby state and county officials to keep Pepperidge Farm in Chester County. "They're dangling millions of dollars to get Sterling to come here and don't offer a nickel to keep Pepperidge Farm here," said Manetta, pointing out that Pepperidge Farm has a $2.5 million monthly payroll.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration yesterday proposed fines of nearly $1.4 million against Campbell Soup Co.'s Pepperidge Farm unit for alleged violations at its Downingtown cookie and snack plant. The fines, among the highest ever proposed by OSHA, were for what the agency described as "willful violations" of safety and health standards and record-keeping requirements. Pepperidge Farm said it would contest the penalty, which it described as "arbitrarily assigned and totally unjustifiable.

The nearly empty Pepperidge Farm bakery complex will be converted into an industrial and distribution complex, a move that may create more jobs and signal a change in the local commercial real estate market. Hough/Loew Associates of Exton has an agreement with Pepperidge Farm, a subsidiary of Campbell Soup, to buy the buildings on Boot Road and Chestnut Street, but they will not disclose the sales price until after the July closing. "We are going to renovate and freshen up the plant, and it's going to be divided into a 10- to 15-tenant facility and leased out," said company president Jack Loew.

One of the county's largest employers is under pressure to clean upits act - or, more precisely, its sewage. Officials of the Downingtown Area Regional Authority said Monday night thatPepperidge Farm Inc. was not moving fast enough to meet industrial dischargestandards. Last quarter, the company paid $33,190 in additional sewer fees forviolating the standards. DARA board member Charles O'Donnell suggested that a time limit forcorrecting the problems be put in writing and sent to the Borough ofDowningtown, which has the ultimate responsibility for seeing that PepperidgeFarm complies with the standards.

The Downingtown Area School District is appealing to the courts to block a 37 percent reduction in the tax assessment on two pieces of Pepperidge Farm Inc. property in Downingtown that would reduce the tax the company pays to the school district for 1990 by $67,453. The district filed the appeal in Chester County Court of Common Pleas asking for a hearing on a recent decision by the Chester County Assessment Appeals Board that reduced the assessment on the properties from $1.47 million to $925,000 for 1990.

This month, Campbell Soup Co. is commemorating 50 years of owning Pepperidge Farm Inc., the baking company still based in Norwalk, Conn., where it was founded in 1937. That history makes Pepperidge Farm an anomaly for Camden-based Campbell, which in the second half of the 20th century built itself into a food conglomerate with well-known brands such as Swanson, Vlasic, Mrs. Paul's, and Godiva, as well as long-forgotten restaurant chains and even pet food. Pepperidge Farm, purchased in January 1961, is the only free-standing U.S. business remaining from that era of diversification.

An administrative law judge in Washington has denied a motion by Pepperidge Farm for sanctions against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for supposedly releasing company trade secrets. The cookie and snack company, cited by the federal agency for work practices that led to injuries at its defunct Downingtown plant, contended that OSHA violated protective orders against releasing documents from the company's insurance carrier and information about its manufacturing processes.

Pepperidge Farm faces potential fines totaling $51,575 after the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the company for 17 "serious" safety violations and five lesser violations at its plant on Boot Road. Pepperidge Farm officials are calling the violations politically motivated "poppycock. " In a 21-page report sent to the company early this week, OSHA listed citations for hazards of falling from wet floors, damaged steps and platforms not adequately guarded - one of which leads to more than an 11-foot drop.

Any day now, Judge David G. Oringer is going to issue a ruling that could affect the lives of many people who spend their workdays tapping at a computer keyboard or keeping up with an assembly line. Oringer, a senior federal administrative law judge, will decide whether to uphold a citation the Occupational Safety and Health Administration leveled against Pepperidge Farm in 1988 for "callous indifference" to the health of workers at its plant in Downingtown, Chester County. The citation, which included a $1.4 million penalty, spurred a battle between OSHA and Pepperidge Farm that led to the longest trial in OSHA history.

Pepperidge Farm, cited by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration for work practices that led to injuries at its defunct Downingtown plant, is seeking sanctions against the agency for allegedly releasing company trade secrets. The cookie and snack company says OSHA violated two protective orders by giving out materials to a law firm and members of the media, including The Inquirer. It is seeking a public reprimand of OSHA, an apology from the agency and a payment to Pepperidge Farm of $394,603.

This month, Campbell Soup Co. is commemorating 50 years of owning Pepperidge Farm Inc., the baking company still based in Norwalk, Conn., where it was founded in 1937. That history makes Pepperidge Farm an anomaly for Camden-based Campbell, which in the second half of the 20th century built itself into a food conglomerate with well-known brands such as Swanson, Vlasic, Mrs. Paul's, and Godiva, as well as long-forgotten restaurant chains and even pet food. Pepperidge Farm, purchased in January 1961, is the only free-standing U.S. business remaining from that era of diversification.

William Eshbach Hiltebeitel, 91, of Downingtown, an engineer who helped introduce Godiva chocolates in the United States, died of cancer Saturday, Aug. 7, at Neighborhood Hospice in West Chester. A native of Pottstown, Mr. Hiltebeitel graduated from Pennsburg High School and earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from what is now Drexel University. During World War II, he served in the Army Signal Corps with air offensive units in Europe and the Pacific. After his discharge, he married May E. Heston and became a supervisor for the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Cute 3-ounce hamburgers called sliders became all the rage in restaurants a few years ago. But Pepperidge Farm is the first to come out with slider-size hamburger buns. Serve some Americana This generously-sized (20x16) wooden tray lends a touch of Americana to summer-holiday entertaining. Wipes clean. Dark energy ZonePerfect Nutrition bars have a new line of six flavors featuring rich dark chocolate with caramel pecan, almond, strawberry, mocha, cookies and creme, and double-dark.

Walter Hellendall, 97, a German-language interpreter for the Army during the last months of World War II, died of heart failure June 13 at his home in Wyncote. Mr. Hellendall was born in the North Rhine-Westphalian town of Moenchengladbach, his son Kenneth said, but "he left because he was Jewish and in Germany. " "His mother and two sisters escaped with him. His father did not. His whereabouts were never known. " Mr. Hellendall immigrated to the States in 1938 and joined the Army infantry in 1941, before war was declared.

The big guys are finally catching on that consumers want better-tasting, lower-calorie, higher-fiber alternatives to sandwich bread. Pepperidge Farm offers these 100-calorie flat rolls: good toasted with hummus or grilled for paninis. Available in whole wheat, oatmeal, and seven grain. If you need a beer primer to keep up with the crew at the latest gastropub (and who doesn't in brew-crazy Philly?), turn to a new book from local writer Lynn Hoffman for a tasty draft of advice. The Short Course in Beer (Künati)

Robert M. Ray Sr., 56, of Plymouth Meeting, who was inducted in 1996 into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, died of liver cancer Wednesday at home. He was a driver for United News, a distributor of publications, and its successor, Levy United News, from the 1970s to the 1990s. For the last six years, he was a sales coordinator for Pepperidge Farm Inc. But his brother, Thomas, said Mr. Ray had a second career as a baseball coach and umpire. "He started out as a coach in East Falls when he was 19" and headed Little League teams for a dozen years, his brother said.

Frank & Frank's spring auction of decoys, art and sporting collectibles has the usual share of mallards, mergansers, canvasbacks, and other duck hunters' delights. But the most unusual bird among nearly 400 lots in Sunday's sale in Belmar, Monmouth County, celebrates a nonhunting activity on the Delaware. It's a life-size wooden model of a blue jay poking its beak into a can of Campbell's soup while perched on a box of Pepperidge Farm chocolate cookies. The model was created as a presentation piece for John E. Tierney on his retirement from the Campbell Soup Co. in Camden.

Grocery shoppers turned up their noses at Campbell Soup Co.'s February price increase on Chunky and Select soups - the first in five years. Sales of those and other typically fast-growing ready-to-serve soups fell 6 percent in the third quarter, the Camden company reported yesterday. Despite the decrease in those key product lines, Campbell's third-quarter net income climbed by 3 percent to $146 million on revenue of $1.74 billion. The company earned $142 million on revenue of $1.67 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Warm childhood memories of Mom's home-baked holiday treats turn on my guilt machine. Whether I'm serving gourmet goodies from upscale bakeries or a box of fancy Pepperidge Farm chocolate-dipped cookies, somehow it feels like cheating at Christmastime. Homemade cookies are one of life's great pleasures, and they seem to be a prerequisite for a happy holiday. But making them is incredibly time-consuming. What to do? A Christmas cookie swap is the perfect solution. You can bake a few batches of one kind of cookie, swap them with friends, and get an instant variety of sweet treats to serve to your family and holiday guests.

Pepperidge Farm Inc.'s plant in Downingtown was one of 10 Pennsylvania firms to receive a regional Job Creator Award from the state Department of Labor and Industry. Pepperidge Farm, which makes frozen-food products such as puff pastry and Texas toast at the Downingtown plant, was cited for its accomplishments in job creation, hiring and training employees, and community service. "The Pepperidge Farm Downingtown plant is a Pennsylvania economic success story that benefits people around the country," said Labor and Industry Secretary Johnny J. Butler, who presented the award Oct. 25 at a luncheon at the Pennsylvania State Museum in Harrisburg.