Trade secrets kept under lock and key
Only three people in the world are said to know the 127-year-old recipe for Dr Pepper.
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Lock and Key: Sought-After Trade Secrets...
By Colleen Kane
–23 Aug, 2012
When
a company has a distinctive product, it’s going to want to protect it
from copycats.
Isn’t that what a patent is for?
Not necessarily, in the
case of the following trade secrets, which are not patented.
If you don’t patent it, you don’t have to make public the ingredients, components, and/or manufacturing methods.
That doesn’t stop imitators from trying.
If you don’t patent it, you don’t have to make public the ingredients, components, and/or manufacturing methods.
That doesn’t stop imitators from trying.
In food and beverages, secrets can
be reverse-engineered, by pros and amateurs.
Copycat, make-at-home
versions of many brand-name food items are available on the Internet; there is also a series of “Top Secret Recipes” cookbooks by Todd
Wilbur, who also sells his recipes individually, online.
From one company’s blend of 11 spices, to a beverage brand’s blend of 23 flavors, and the “code books” behind a favorite breakfast food item - a rundown of the famous products, made with secrets which competitors (or even just home cooks) would love to learn.
Dr. Pepper
Wouldn’t you like to be a Pepper, too?
From one company’s blend of 11 spices, to a beverage brand’s blend of 23 flavors, and the “code books” behind a favorite breakfast food item - a rundown of the famous products, made with secrets which competitors (or even just home cooks) would love to learn.
Dr. PepperWouldn’t you like to be a Pepper, too?
That won’t be happening for aspiring
soda-making rivals any time soon, because another soft drink with a
famously secret formula is Dr Pepper, which is made from 23 natural and
artificial flavors.
Only three people are said to be privy to the
recipe, invented in 1885 by pharmacist Charles Alderton, in
Waco, Texas, and kept locked in a vault in company headquarters, in
nearby Plano.
The company has gone on record to deny one common guess at ingredients: There is NO prune juice in Dr Pepper.
While we’re at it, other drinkables whose formulas are closely guarded include Frangelico, Angostura bitters, Chartreuse liqueur, and the fizzy drink, Irn Bru, which The Guardian newspaper calls "Scotland’s best kept secret".
WD-40
The world’s best known household lubricant got its secret agent-esque name in 1953, from its inventor, Norm Larsen, and it stands for “Water Displacer—40th attempt”.
An article in The Wall Street Journal reports the formula is in a bank vault, and has only been taken out twice—when changing banks, and on the product’s 50th birthday, when CEO, Garry Ridge, rode on a horse into Times Square, wearing a suit of armor and carrying the formula.
The company has gone on record to deny one common guess at ingredients: There is NO prune juice in Dr Pepper.
While we’re at it, other drinkables whose formulas are closely guarded include Frangelico, Angostura bitters, Chartreuse liqueur, and the fizzy drink, Irn Bru, which The Guardian newspaper calls "Scotland’s best kept secret".
WD-40The world’s best known household lubricant got its secret agent-esque name in 1953, from its inventor, Norm Larsen, and it stands for “Water Displacer—40th attempt”.
An article in The Wall Street Journal reports the formula is in a bank vault, and has only been taken out twice—when changing banks, and on the product’s 50th birthday, when CEO, Garry Ridge, rode on a horse into Times Square, wearing a suit of armor and carrying the formula.
He said the company mixes a concentrate
in three locations, then distributes it to aerosol manufacturing
partners, worldwide.
The company reveals what’s not in the secret formula, on its FAQ page : WD-40 Multi-Use Product does NOT contain silicone, kerosene, water, graphite, or chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
The company reveals what’s not in the secret formula, on its FAQ page : WD-40 Multi-Use Product does NOT contain silicone, kerosene, water, graphite, or chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
As
for what might be in the secret formula, in 2009, Wired.com sent a can
to a lab and published this report.
...which, cleverly, you left out!
KFCKFC’s “Secret Recipe of 11 Herbs and Spices” for its original fried chicken recipe is nearly as famous as the former Kentucky Fried Chicken ad slogan, “finger lickin’ good”.
A section of the company’s website is
devoted to spreading the lore about the spice blend.
It says
[honorary] Colonel Harland Sanders kept his recipe in his brain, and used to carry
the mixture in his car; today, it’s kept under lock and key in a
Louisville, Ky., safe.
One company blends part of the spice recipe, another company mixes the rest, neither party has the entire
recipe.
The Colonel commented how low-security operation he and his wife, Claudia, operated when he was starting out.
The Colonel commented how low-security operation he and his wife, Claudia, operated when he was starting out.
"After I hit the
road selling franchises for my chicken, which left Claudia behind, to fill orders for the seasoned flour mix.
"She'd fill the day's orders in
little paper sacks, with cellophane linings, and package them for
shipment.
"Next, she had to put them on a midnight train."
Many reverse-engineered recipes for KFC-style fried chicken include speculation the flavor-enhancing chemical additive, MSG, is part of the secret mix.
Many reverse-engineered recipes for KFC-style fried chicken include speculation the flavor-enhancing chemical additive, MSG, is part of the secret mix.
Others claim the distinctive KFC experience owes a lot to
the pressure-cooker frying technique, which is patented.
Thomas' English Muffin
They’re enticingly showcased, in extreme close-up, in TV ads: a landscape of craters on a bread surface dubbed “nooks and crannies”, suited for catching tiny pools of melted butter and bits of jam.
Thomas' English MuffinThey’re enticingly showcased, in extreme close-up, in TV ads: a landscape of craters on a bread surface dubbed “nooks and crannies”, suited for catching tiny pools of melted butter and bits of jam.
That’s useful—how does one replicate such nooks and crannies?
It’s a secret, well protected, with about $500 million in yearly sales at
stake.
In 2010, a former employee of parent company Bimbo Bakeries USA, one of seven people, worldwide, who knew the secret of the nooks and crannies, came under suspicion, before a planned move to competing baked goods company, Hostess, according to The New York Times.
In 2010, a former employee of parent company Bimbo Bakeries USA, one of seven people, worldwide, who knew the secret of the nooks and crannies, came under suspicion, before a planned move to competing baked goods company, Hostess, according to The New York Times.
Bimbo filed a trade secret lawsuit to prevent the employee from making
the job switch.
The Times noted Bimbo’s recipe manuals are called “code books”, and, as with other trade secrets, the information on recipes and manufacturing methods is compartmentalized, to help keep it secure.
The Times noted Bimbo’s recipe manuals are called “code books”, and, as with other trade secrets, the information on recipes and manufacturing methods is compartmentalized, to help keep it secure.
After taking the case to an appeals court, the employee was
barred from starting the job at Hostess.
Bush’s Baked Beans
After
hitting the market in 1969, Bush’s has become a top-selling brand of
canned, baked beans — its flavorings were the subject of a 1990s
advertising campaign, touting the “Secret Family Recipe: Specially cured
bacon, fine brown sugar, and a delicate blend of spices”.
Duke must not have been very good at his betrayal, since the secret has not gotten out.
A Facebook page, I know Bush Baked Beans Secret Family Recipe, has nearly 1,000 likes.
See the full slideshow: Sought After Trade Secrets
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