Does anyone know what is going on with Crest Foods and Ozarka Water?? The Crest where I (now infrequently) shop has virtually cleared their shelves of Ozarka Water. It started a couple of months ago when they stopped carrying Ozarka Sparkling Water and has steadily progressed to where there was only a couple packages of bottled water on the shelves. Their previous shelf space has been replaced with Artic something or other.

I understand not carrying something if it doesn't sell at that particular store/area, but water??? Yes, you can still get Perrier at $1.50 a bottle, but no Ozarka sparkling water which used to be $1.25 a six pack.

I asked the Manager and she indicated it was a "warehouse issue", but didn't know what the issue was. I contacted the corporate office on their web site and have heard absolutely nothing. I'm wondering if it is another of their infamous "we don't like your price, so we're going to stop carrying your product until you decide to met our price" games. Been there, done that with Crest. . .not gonna do it again. . . .

They won't put Blue Bell back on the shelves either....

This probably has nothing to do with it, but maybe just a bit of trivia. Ozarka spring water and sparkling waters are owned by Nestle corporation and bottled in Texas, while Ozarka drinking water is owned and bottled locally by Eureka water co.

The Ozarka Spring Water bottling plant in Texas was damaged by a tornado recently, which may have affected distribution somewhat.

http://www.kltv.com/story/31868940/ozarka-assisting-employees-after-wood-county-tornado

They won't put Blue Bell back on the shelves either....

That is actually a good thing. Crest is saving its customers from sickness and possible death. I would rather support local business by choosing Braums.

Sam's has not had Ozarka water for about 3-4 weeks now.

Really misleading thread headline

The Ozarka Spring Water bottling plant in Texas was damaged by a tornado recently, which may have affected distribution somewhat.

http://www.kltv.com/story/31868940/ozarka-assisting-employees-after-wood-county-tornado

This is the answer.

Ozarka water in most OK stores either use the actual Oklahoma Ozarka Water which is MIO certified and owned by Eureka but they generally only supply 24PK waters to stores in bulk and then only drinking water.

All other Ozarka water you buy is actually bottled in Texas and sent mostly to AWG in OKC which is then distributed to stores throughout OK. The tornado damage is why you are not seeing this water right now. We have had spurty shipments over the last two weeks where we'll get a large order then nothing for another week but hopefully the issues resolved soon.

That is actually a good thing. Crest is saving its customers from sickness and possible death. I would rather support local business by choosing Braums.
That's like saying I choose sonic over 5 guys because they're a local business.

Really misleading thread headline

perhaps a fair call (mods, feel free to change) . . .but over the past many, many years of shopping here, my experience has frequently been that it is difficult to get a "straight" answer on pretty much any question you ask. Once was told the company in question quit making the product (absolutely not true). Re: the first time the water went missing, I was told they were changing the packaging. . .not true. . .found it at Target today, same package. Three or four months ago, it was the self-grind peanut butter. . .honey blend container was gone . . . was told at the "front desk/office" that they wouldn't carry it any more. Purchased some commercial product only to discover a few days later, it was back in the bulk foods. When I asked about it, the manager said he just couldn't imagine who told me that, but it was wrong. Certainly not "best practices" that will keep a customer coming back.

This is the answer.

Ozarka water in most OK stores either use the actual Oklahoma Ozarka Water which is MIO certified and owned by Eureka but they generally only supply 24PK waters to stores in bulk and then only drinking water.

All other Ozarka water you buy is actually bottled in Texas and sent mostly to AWG in OKC which is then distributed to stores throughout OK. The tornado damage is why you are not seeing this water right now. We have had spurty shipments over the last two weeks where we'll get a large order then nothing for another week but hopefully the issues resolved soon.

Thanks!! This makes sense. . .would have been nice had Crest to my query in kind.

There is nothing wrong with your tap water, just say no to bottled water

There is nothing wrong with your tap water, just say no to bottled water

Exactly, your landfills will thank you...... How can a plastic bottle be good for global warming or the green movement in general.. OKC has some of the best tap water in the country..

And the fact that most bottled water is just filtered tap water makes it even more laughable. Buy a bottle and refill it at fountains and taps and profit. We spend too much time and money to treat water for our taps to waste it on bottled water.

Exactly, your landfills will thank you...... How can a plastic bottle be good for global warming or the green movement in general.. OKC has some of the best tap water in the country..

Unless the poster is at the Norman crest then by all means drink bottled water from an outside source. The tap water is gross in Norman.

Unless the poster is at the Norman crest then by all means drink bottled water from an outside source. The tap water is gross in Norman.

Get a berkey water filter, and you won't think so....

Midwest City water even smells bad. I know it's safe, but I miss my well water with a softener and an RO Filtering system. I have to have distilled or RO water for my oxygen concentrator and my BiPap machine and it was excellent. I have moved to an independent living facility and now have a commercial style unit that holds a five gallon jug of RO water and it has worked out well. It's a little more expensive than owning my own RO system, but I don't know how long I will be here. I suspect I will be moving to the assisted living area in the next year or two, so renting the bottle unit is cheaper in the long haul.
C. T.

Or in the case of big ozarka bubbler bottles. I think we spend about $25 a month between renting the cooler and 5 gallons bottles per month. No muss. No fuss. It saves energy on ice, it saves money on plastic bottles. We just fill our nalgemes or insulated camel back bottles.

. . . my issue was with sparkling water. As far as plain water goes, I drink what comes out of my OKC tap :pat_head:. . .not particularly interested in the soda stream as long as I can get the Ozarka, but will keep it in mind.

Crest is famous for not stocking items when it has a dispute with the manufacturer.
Couple of years ago they stopped carrying Duncan Hines cake mixes.....then it was Nabisco products. And now no Sunbeam or Natures Own bread....both my favorites.
They eventually got the cake mixes and Nabisco back...but the Flowers Bakery (Sunbeam and Natures Own) dispute has been going on for a couple of years according to a friend that works in the office there. I have having to go to another store just to buy bread.

That might just be their only negotiation tactic. If the manufacturer raises prices, perhaps raises prices for Crest higher than Wal*Mart, Crest can only say "Fine, we won't carry your product" until the manufacturer agrees to better terms. If this is the case, its annoying, sure, but it may keep prices down for us and/or be a reason why Crest has been able to stick around against Wal*Mart.

Or in the case of big ozarka bubbler bottles. I think we spend about $25 a month between renting the cooler and 5 gallons bottles per month. No muss. No fuss. It saves energy on ice, it saves money on plastic bottles. We just fill our nalgemes or insulated camel back bottles.

Uptowner,
I spend $7.25 per month for a unit that has both cold and hot water. I have no use for the hot water, so I have turned it off. It costs about $8.00 per month for water, so my total is $15.25. That's before tax. I live alone and only use it for my equipment and occasionally, for cooking when the recipe calls for water. Pretty low use. It works well for me.
C. T.

That might just be their only negotiation tactic. If the manufacturer raises prices, perhaps raises prices for Crest higher than Wal*Mart, Crest can only say "Fine, we won't carry your product" until the manufacturer agrees to better terms. If this is the case, its annoying, sure, but it may keep prices down for us and/or be a reason why Crest has been able to stick around against Wal*Mart.

To further that, Walmart is so big and powerful that they set the price, take it or leave it, which is opposite of what happens with just about every other company. I have a feeling that some companies have to make up that loss by upping the price for everyone else. Not to make this a Walmart thread.

Yeah - I actually stopped shopping at Crest because they don't carry Nature's Own. I know seems silly - but I have to buy bread every time I go grocery shopping and I don't like anything they stock.

We've had to deal with Crest's crap like this before and now that Uptown is in The Village, we've stopped going to Crest completely except for maybe a dozen items that they carry that Uptown doesn't. Sadly, even those items are slowly going away (Deli-Mex taquitos, Red Baron Western Scrambles (they carry bacon and sausage, but not Western), etc.), so maybe eventually we'll be able to get away from Crest altogether, hate the environment, slow sackers, this kind of non-stocking stuff they pull, really bad produce, etc..

Red Baron has discontinued the Western Scrambles, they only carry Bacon and the Sausage variety now. At least in our market.

And I'm not trying to belittle anyones opinions of Crest or the local grocers but nearly everything that was brought up in this thread is not the fault of the local grocery stores. They've all been issues out of our hands and usually out of state.

Except for Crest not carrying Natures Own bread, that one is a bit of a curiosity.

Crest doesn't carry Tastykakes either :mad:

Yeah - I actually stopped shopping at Crest because they don't carry Nature's Own. I know seems silly - but I have to buy bread every time I go grocery shopping and I don't like anything they stock.

You actually stopped shopping at an entire store because of *one brand of bread?* I mean, hey, that's your prerogative, but, wow. I mean I could probably use that rationale on two or three different products and find myself with *nowhere* to shop at all. Different strokes, I s'pose. Crest is just so absurdly convenient for us that it almost everywhere else we might go is arguably too far out of the way to rationalize the trip unless they're just absurdly cheaper on something...which happens once in a while, but not enough to keep us from using Crest for easily 90% of our groceries.

Red Baron has discontinued the Western Scrambles, they only carry Bacon and the Sausage variety now. At least in our market.

And I'm not trying to belittle anyones opinions of Crest or the local grocers but nearly everything that was brought up in this thread is not the fault of the local grocery stores. They've all been issues out of our hands and usually out of state.

Except for Crest not carrying Natures Own bread, that one is a bit of a curiosity.

Well, crap, didn't do my research, oops. Generally, it does happen that the manufacturer still makes things, but Crest doesn't carry them, guess not this time. :( Crest has lied in the past and said the manufacturer stopped making "it", but they really didn't, so I'll need to do my due diligence more diligently from now on.

You actually stopped shopping at an entire store because of *one brand of bread?* I mean, hey, that's your prerogative, but, wow. I mean I could probably use that rationale on two or three different products and find myself with *nowhere* to shop at all. Different strokes, I s'pose. Crest is just so absurdly convenient for us that it almost everywhere else we might go is arguably too far out of the way to rationalize the trip unless they're just absurdly cheaper on something...which happens once in a while, but not enough to keep us from using Crest for easily 90% of our groceries.

I did. It's a convenience thing for me. I'm going to get my bread from wherever I'm grocery shopping and that's been my favorite bread for as long as I can remember. lol

Water is getting ready to be a huge issue for a lot of the US. Supply production has been completely crippled, Nestle, Best Choice, Ozarka are all struggling to keep up with production.

I went through this with Crest with Quaker Granola bars a year or two ago. It was pretty frustrating. I ended up ordering them on Amazon for awhile because they were twice the cost at uptown and I didn't want to go to Target for them.

Blue Bell is interesting because they put it on the shelves for awhile, at least in Edmond, and now it is gone again. I really like Blue Bell, but I don't see myself buying it anytime soon after they knew they had contamination issues, covered it up and didn't correct the issues, ultimately resulting in people's deaths to save a few bucks.

That's like saying I choose sonic over 5 guys because they're a local business.

One difference is 5 guys actually employees people locally, I don't think Blue Bell has any real local presence, unless you are counting Broken Arrow. But Sonic is local, and more of the money spent there stays here than 5 guys. Just like more money spent at Braum's stays here vs Blue Bell. Just because they are successful, doesn't mean they aren't local.

I have seen the mentions in this thread of the tornado damage as cause of the Ozarka shortage at grocery stores. This is definitely true as shown on the front page of Ozarka's website. This isn't Crest's fault.
http://i.imgur.com/mA4FrCP.jpg
https://www.ozarkawater.com/weathering-the-storm/

Water is getting ready to be a huge issue for a lot of the US. Supply production has been completely crippled, Nestle, Best Choice, Ozarka are all struggling to keep up with production.

It's worrisome, especially given the way that Nestle and others will extract water from parched areas in order to bottle and sell it elsewhere. Too many people exclusively drink bottled water when tap water is perfectly fine (OKC water is especially good) because the running narrative is that the tap is nasty and diseased and bottled water is pure, clean, and safe. The result is tons of plastic waste, water resources exhausted in areas where it would be better served to locals, and money spent needlessly.

That plant in Texas we were told shipped out 500 trucks a day on an average day, if each trucks fully loaded that's 13,500 pallets of water or just over a million 24 packs of water a day that are no longer in the supply chain. Huge loss in production.

Thankfully they have a new plant coming online soon in Las Vegas so that should help a bit.

It's worrisome, especially given the way that Nestle and others will extract water from parched areas in order to bottle and sell it elsewhere. Too many people exclusively drink bottled water when tap water is perfectly fine (OKC water is especially good) because the running narrative is that the tap is nasty and diseased and bottled water is pure, clean, and safe. The result is tons of plastic waste, water resources exhausted in areas where it would be better served to locals, and money spent needlessly.

I think about this a lot. Consider this for perspective - In an older home with older toilets, a single toilet flush is approximately 3 1/2 gallons. A basic 24-pack of water, in a basic 16.9 ounce size, is a bit over 3 gallons. So, every time we flush one of these toilets (how many times a day?) we flush down a 24-pack of bottled water. Wow.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has named a new style of toilet as absolutely critical to the worldwide water supply. Yeah, it's a "funny" subject, but it's actually quite important.

I think about this a lot. Consider this for perspective - In an older home with older toilets, a single toilet flush is approximately 3 1/2 gallons. A basic 24-pack of water, in a basic 16.9 ounce size, is a bit over 3 gallons. So, every time we flush one of these toilets (how many times a day?) we flush down a 24-pack of bottled water. Wow.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has named a new style of toilet as absolutely critical to the worldwide water supply. Yeah, it's a "funny" subject, but it's actually quite important.

It is more than just 3.5 gals of water, there is also water and materials needed to make the plastic, and the toll it takes to ship the plastic and then ship the water. I am on a pump, so my water is like drinking natural spring water without the plastic taste and with a small fraction of the cost of bottled water. Even when I lived in a city it was a lot cheaper to just filter tap water to take that nasty taste out of it,

It is more than just 3.5 gals of water, there is also water and materials needed to make the plastic, and the toll it takes to ship the plastic and then ship the water. I am on a pump, so my water is like drinking natural spring water without the plastic taste and with a small fraction of the cost of bottled water. Even when I lived in a city it was a lot cheaper to just filter tap water to take that nasty taste out of it,

Oh, absolutely! I agree with you 100%. I think the whole bottled water thing is ridiculous. I wrote about the amount of bottled water we go through to just flush a toilet to say a ton of water is wasted. Imagine opening all of those bottles and pouring them out every time we flush a toilet. It's all a huge waste. Especially, as has been pointed out, Oklahoma City's water doesn't taste bad at all...actually, it's been awarded as having the best tasting municipal water in blind competition.

Oh, absolutely! I agree with you 100%. I think the whole bottled water thing is ridiculous. I wrote about the amount of bottled water we go through to just flush a toilet to say a ton of water is wasted. Imagine opening all of those bottles and pouring them out every time we flush a toilet. It's all a huge waste. Especially, as has been pointed out, Oklahoma City's water doesn't taste bad at all...actually, it's been awarded as having the best tasting municipal water in blind competition.

I lived in the Clearwater/St Pete area in Florida and it tasted like they took it straight out of the swimming pools if I didn't filter it first.

It's worrisome, especially given the way that Nestle and others will extract water from parched areas in order to bottle and sell it elsewhere. Too many people exclusively drink bottled water when tap water is perfectly fine (OKC water is especially good) because the running narrative is that the tap is nasty and diseased and bottled water is pure, clean, and safe. The result is tons of plastic waste, water resources exhausted in areas where it would be better served to locals, and money spent needlessly.

A-freaking-men WP, I don't think we always agree here but that is spot on. If you truly paid attention and knew how much money OKC Water Utilities Trust spends to get you wonderful drinking water to your tap, you'd think twice. Buy a reusable bottle, use the tap, we all win.

But, there's light on the horizon to where we won't have to worry about plastic bottles so much because we have this.

^^^Sorry about the double sideways pics. Don't know what happened there.

^^^Sorry about the double sideways pics. Don't know what happened there.

It makes for a cool stereogram.

It's funny. Yes, cardboard is biodegradable, but it still kind of misses the point for regular use. It's still tons of packaging, and packaging increasingly drives me crazy. When I order something from Amazon that would fit in a shipping envelope and they send me a big box full of packing materials, I have to think that all those materials would have been better used elsewhere.

I'm guilty of buying bottled water when I'm away from the house now and then, but we stopped buying the packs of bottles long ago. I dropped the mindset that bottled water was the only safe water, and convinced my wife as well, so we're all about filling reusable bottles (like bradh suggested) with tap water.

Maybe someday I can convince my daughter that juice is just as good from a big bottle as it is from a little box with a straw.

Speaking of excessive packaging: WP, you might enjoy The Register's Aboxalypse Now series (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/29/aboxalypse_now/) if you haven't seen it before. Either that or you'll be driven to the brink of insanity...

Even if you have an issue with you tap water, you can buy a nice filter for the tap or even something as simple as a Brita pitcher. (In addition to bradh's suggestions.)

Even if you have an issue with you tap water, you can buy a nice filter for the tap or even something as simple as a Brita pitcher. (In addition to bradh's suggestions.)

Sooner88,
I am on a well and I purchased an RO filtering system for about $150 fifteen years ago (they are a little over $200 now) and it served me and my late wife very well. It has a tap on the sink and I also ran it to my ice maker/chilled water dispenser on the refrigerator and to my Bunn plumbed coffee maker as well. I have a requirement for distilled/RO water for my oxygen concentrator and my CPAP system so I have been very pleased. I just moved to Midwest City and have RO water delivered but I plan on installing another RO unit here. I don't mind drinking MWC water, but it's hazardous to my medical equipment.
C. T.

Speaking of excessive packaging: WP, you might enjoy The Register's Aboxalypse Now series (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/29/aboxalypse_now/) if you haven't seen it before. Either that or you'll be driven to the brink of insanity...

Oy vey.

Thankfully they have a new plant coming online soon in Las Vegas so that should help a bit.

Can someone explain the sense in a water bottling plant in the middle of the desert to me? Cause I'm not seeing it. What are they going to do, bottle the water from the dancing fountains?

Can someone explain the sense in a water bottling plant in the middle of the desert to me? Cause I'm not seeing it. What are they going to do, bottle the water from the dancing fountains?

Here's a good read about a similar controversy regarding Nestle planning for a bottling plant in Arizona.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-29/nestl-discovers-water-in-the-arizona-desert-and-bottles-it

Can someone explain the sense in a water bottling plant in the middle of the desert to me? Cause I'm not seeing it. What are they going to do, bottle the water from the dancing fountains?

Whatever the case, consumers are willing to pay for it, and someone is going to sell it to them. As for me, someone intimated early on that the water from my tap was fine and I did not NEED bottled water. . .

Thank you very much, but have you tasted MY tap water? It is not that great. Like it or not, I choose bottled water as it has zero calories unlike Cola's and is easy to grab when I leave the house. I am willing to pay the cost. If it will make you feel better, I can ship the empties to you. . .

I got burned out on city water faster than Richard Pryor did on Crack . . .

Here's a good read about a similar controversy regarding Nestle planning for a bottling plant in Arizona.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-29/nestl-discovers-water-in-the-arizona-desert-and-bottles-it

Additionally Tapped and Bottled Life are good docs to see on Netflix about the bottled water industry and how they are basically either using city water or just sucking up water from lakes and streams (some in drought stricken areas) for free and bottling it. Nestle is one of the biggest and worst companies doing this, and owns many brands across the US, claiming they are a local brand. Ozarka is owned by Nestle.

Additionally Tapped and Bottled Life are good docs to see on Netflix about the bottled water industry and how they are basically either using city water or just sucking up water from lakes and streams (some in drought stricken areas) for free and bottling it. Nestle is one of the biggest and worst companies doing this, and owns many brands across the US, claiming they are a local brand. Ozarka is owned by Nestle.

There are two Ozarkas in Oklahoma. One is local (Ozarka drinking water)...the other is owned by Nestle and is not (Ozarka Spring Water) http://kfor.com/2014/11/21/two-kinds-of-ozarka-a-water-war/