https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/scott-adams-dilbert-trump-21345626.php
Quote:And though it’s been nearly 30 years since the Dilberito was unleashed on the masses, there’s still a small but vocal group of survivors who recall eating it. Have their opinions on it changed, or remained the same through the test of time? And, more importantly, how does the burrito’s creator feel about releasing a product that, according to Adams, made you “fart so hard your intestines formed a tail?”
Quote:Jack Parker, the culinary mastermind behind the Dilberito, recalls the exact moment he saw Adams’ call to the public.
While the New Jersey food scientist read his usual comic strip, he noticed Dilbert mention something evocative about making “the blue jeans of food,” and when Parker found out that Adams was hosting an open call to turn this futuristic concept into a reality, he sprung into action. After sending over a pitch, Adams called Parker directly and brought him on board.
Originally, the Dilberito was rooted in altruism, Parker recently explained to SFGATE. While brainstorming, he and Adams kicked around the idea of developing a bar that could be delivered to people in emergency situations, or some sort of nutritional food to communities in need. Then, during one of their discussions, Adams made a hard pivot and asked: What if we could make a burrito infused with vitamins?
The vegetable-packed tubes provided 100% of the daily value of 23 major vitamins and minerals, Parker said. But there was just one crucial problem: Vitamins aren’t exactly appetizing, and to make matters worse, they had to be sprayed into the mix “in dry form,” Parker explained. As a result, masking their medicinal flavor was a challenge. Regardless, the two of them got to work and developed four flavors: Mexican, Indian, barbecue, and garlic and herb, which each came with fat-free sauce packets.
After testing the “cubicle cuisine” in focus groups and shipping prototypes to California, Parker and Adams unleashed the Dilberito at supermarkets and universities across the U.S. in 1999. “So far, everybody’s interested enough to hold a Dilberito in their hands and taste one,” Parker told reporters. Though he wouldn’t go into detail, he asserted that the vitamin-infused tortillas were positively received and that people enthusiastically bought them. The Indian flavor, which came with a side of mango chutney, was apparently a crowd favorite.
Quote:Perhaps as a result, in 2003, Adams’ ambitious culinary project shut down. But the problem, Parker said, had nothing to do with sales. “We were under-resourced and under-capitalized,” he said. (Adams, however, told news outlets that competing brands sent secret agents to sabotage the Dilberito by pushing the debossed packages to the back of shelves.)
According to Parker, the Dilberito would have succeeded if it had received proper financial backing. Though he described Adams as a savvy, intelligent businessman who funneled at least a million dollars into the project, it’s difficult for fledgling companies to gain traction and receive distribution. The food industry also has notoriously small profit margins. “If you want to take a large pile of money and make it into a small one, get into the food business,” Parker said.
Quote:Today, Parker remembers Adams as the man who introduced him to one of his favorite projects he’s ever worked on — the only problem was that the world simply wasn’t ready for it.
“Unfortunately,” Parker said, “I was well ahead of my time.”
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