Hurricane Supplies - Stores stocking up on Pop-Tarts

Hurricane Supplies - Stores stocking up on Pop-Tarts


New Orleans - The list of 80 items that Rouses Markets stocks its stores with every time a hurricane threatens includes a surprising product:
Pop-Tarts. "It's all ready," said President Donald Rouse. "We just have to push a button." And so, in addition to offloading gallons of bottled water and worrying about whether they'll be able to get products into New Orleans if contraflow is put in place, Rouses is making sure its stores are well-stocked with the toaster pastries.

That's because demand for the pastries surges when hurricanes approach, according to some retailers. Not all stores see the uptick. Neither Langenstein's nor Breaux Mart have noticed the pre-storm spike.

But Linda Parent, cashier clerk at the Circle K in Gretna, said the facility probably would sell out of Pop-Tarts before Gustav makes landfall, though water and ice would go first.

Dave Ducote, New Orleans' district manager for Winn-Dixie Inc., said that though he hadn't noticed a rise in Pop-Tart sales specifically, they belonged to the genre of snack food -- chips, cookies and the like -- that people tend to buy as "comfort food."

So why are the Kellogg's frosted flat pastries such great sellers? Rouse speculates that it has to do with ease of transport: the packaged food is easy to eat in a vehicle or on the run.

"I don't think it's strictly Pop-Tarts," Rouse said. "We're selling a lot of other packaged items, too."