Disney Discontinuing Divvies

[GoingNuts]

Hi all - I received this from a local support group member.  It seems Disney is discontinuing serving Divvies cookies.  If anyone is interested in writing them to try to get them to change their minds, here's the response she got:


"Thank you for your email to the Walt Disney World Resort.

We continue to take great pride in the selection of offerings we have
available for Guests with special dietary needs. As you know, the
marketplace continues to change with new products continuously being
introduced and our chefs regularly evaluate the available products with
quality and flavor being paramount.

Our special dietary needs offerings continue to evolve and product
availability may vary throughout our Parks and Resorts. However, our
goal is to continue to provide our Guests with items that meet our high
quality standards while accommodating as many requests as possible.

Due to the large volume of meals we serve, vendors and suppliers also
occasionally substitute products. Therefore menu items and preparation
are often updated. However, we are currently providing bakery items
from the Enjoy Life and OMG Manufacturers along with Rocky Mountain
Popcorn, and Surf Sweets Jelly Beans throughout our Parks and Resorts.
As always, for your safety, we encourage you to speak to a Chef or
Manager when you arrive at each location. They will be happy to assist
with your selection and provide product labels and ingredients for menu
items.

Our Guests' feedback, as well as their continued enthusiasm for our
products and services, is very important to us. As always, our Special
Diets Team is committed to providing you with personalized service. If
you have any additional questions, please contact us at 407-824-5967
during our business hours of Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m. or on Saturday and Sunday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST.

We look forward to future opportunities to entertain you.

Sincerely,

Rachel Novak
Special Diets
Guest Services
Walt Disney World Resort"

[hezzier]

We were there in March and the only Divvies I saw was popcorn and it was in the store at the Beach Club Hotel.  They also had Surf Sweets there.  And the counter service restaurants (that we ate at) and at the Coral Reef restaurant they had Enjoy Life Chocolate Chip cookies

[Arkadia]

"quality and flavor being paramount"

i liked their popcorn, but it wasnt something id march across the park for, yk?

my son was more taken with the mickey ears and bucket sundae.  no advice, individual mileage may vary.)

Disney made it possible to eat off several buffets and eat at the hoop de doo, so its not like there is anything were really missing.  i liked the divvies company philosophy, but it cant take the place of an outstanding product. Maybe theyll come up with something more.....magical.

[Jessica]

Were the Divvies only a Disney World thing? We went to Disneyland a few years back and looked for them and even asked about them and no one had a clue.

[lakeswimr]

I feel sorry for Divvies.  Disney was a huge account for them and it seems as though Enjoy Life got them to drop Divvies for Enjoy Life.  I do think the Enjoy Life crunchy cookies are  pretty good.  I think Divvies are better.  The Enjoy Life soft cookies are not very good.  The nice thing about Enjoy Life is that their cookies are top 8-free so more FA people can eat them.  Divvies *are* very good if you are dairy, egg, peanut and tree nut-free.  Maybe if you aren't allergic to dairy and egg and can have ice cream or whatever then they as exciting but they certainly are pretty exciting for my son. 

[aggiedog]

I was just there and did notice the lack of Divvies around.  My kids used to refer to the Enjoy Life cookies as "the cardboard cookies."

[Janelle205]

I do wonder if part of it is that the Enjoy Life cookies are 'more' allergen free...


Which is funny, because the enjoy life cookies are way, way unsafe for me.

[YouKnowWho]

I couldn't remember why we don't seek out Divvies so I checked out there site. 

This statement pisses me off -

Divvies distributes a dazzling array of gourmet confections made by a manufacturer whose ingredients are certified allergen-free

Are they made of air?  They have to be made of something that causes an allergic reaction for someone.  Didn't they learn from the Enjoy Life debacle?

I do think Enjoy Life can be enjoyed by more people who are avoiding multiple allergens.  Obviously they cannot remove all allergens (see my air comment) and won't be enjoyed by all.  The boys both love the soft cookies but DS1 gets a weird feeling when he eats the crunchy ones.  I think they are disgusting personally but it's one of those treats that I shell out for because it's cute to see the kids enjoying the same treat.

[CMdeux]

I feel sorry for Divvies.  Disney was a huge account for them and it seems as though Enjoy Life got them to drop Divvies for Enjoy Life.  I do think the Enjoy Life crunchy cookies are  pretty good.  I think Divvies are better.  The Enjoy Life soft cookies are not very good.  The nice thing about Enjoy Life is that their cookies are top 8-free so more FA people can eat them.  Divvies *are* very good if you are dairy, egg, peanut and tree nut-free.  Maybe if you aren't allergic to dairy and egg and can have ice cream or whatever then they as exciting but they certainly are pretty exciting for my son.

Yes, this.

Being MFA makes things way different on this score.  Dairy and egg changes everything...

and while Enjoy Life is also wheat-free (thus making it accessible to those with wheat allergy, which I respect is also an important thing), I strongly suspect that this wasn't Disney's reasoning at all, but a desire to cater to the trendiness now associated with going "gluten-free" as a lifestyle choice.

Frankly, the entire "gluten-free lifestyle" bandwagon REALLY pisses me off because most of the manufaturers and restaurants doing it have not got a clue just how little gluten/wheat it actually takes to cause major problems for people who aren't avoiding just because they like the IDEA of it...     By extension, they are putting the GENUINE article out of business by crowding the marketplace with cheap (and not-particularly-safe) 'gluten-free' products that are really only okay for people who don't NEED them.  AUghhhh.  Doing it authentically is more expensive than launching an awesome marketing campaign and putting things in pretty packaging, YK?

There are three restaurants in our local area that are like this.  I just find it mind-boggling.  They've introduced a major allergen (egg) in order to provide a product which even they admit isn't safe for the theoretical target demographic (gluten intolerance)... "We use a lot of flour, we're super careful, but can't guarantee that there is never, ever, any in the GF product... blah-blah-blah."  Begs the question, doesn't it?  Well, then, who IS this product intended for??  OH, right.  The people who want to PLAY at having food allergies.  Nice.  You'll cater to THEM, but ignore those who have the real restrictions.   

To be clear-- Enjoy Life is a good company.  They really DO make good, safe products for thsoe that are wheat allergic, and that is important because there are so few companies that TRULY do so.  I'm just a bit skeptical of the decision to pull Divvies' line.

[YouKnowWho]

More and more people are being diagnosed with Celiac though.  All of those constant bowel issues that they were told had no real reason are being found to be Celiac related and gluten related.

But yes - it's crap like this:
http://www.carrabbas.com/our-menu/gluten-free-menu/GFmenu.pdf

Many of our meats are cooked on the same grill.
We do not have a gluten-free grill.
All grill items: request to be made without grill baste.

and this
http://johnnyspizza.com/menu-gluten-free.php

We will do our best to ensure that our Gluten Free Pizza Crusts are served 100% gluten free, but in a flour rich environment such as ours, it is possible that a small amount of cross contamination could occur. If even a small amount of gluten will be harmful to your health, we recommend you avoid this product.

Really just gets my goat.  Tell me you cannot serve my son safely.  I will be okay with it.  Don't do this because it's en vogue and you think you are being cute.

[Jessica]

I've had both divvies cookies and enjoy life cookies and for us, divvies wins hands down. We ended up throwing away the box of enjoy life cookies we bought. The bars were even worse. We do like the crispy chocolate bars.

[joanna5]

That's disappointing. We, too, far prefer Divvies to Enjoy Life.  Obviously, it's welcome news to other families, but not so much for us. 

[lakeswimr]

I wish they could  have BOTH.  I think Enjoy Life seems to have a top notch marketing person/team and always has.  How could a cookie as blah as their original cookie have been such a huge seller and cookies like Dr. Lucy's not be nearly so big?  Doesn't make sense except for marketing.  I do admit their newer cookies that are crunch are a big improvement but the old ones have been around many years now. 

CM--I do think what you say has a lot of truth, unfortunately. Those warnings in the links YKW posted are prime examples.

[twinturbo]

TIA w/CM. The co-option of 'allergy' by GFCF lifestyles puts Turbo2 at a much greater additional manmade risk than contamination alone. However, Divvies goods are more perishable than Enjoy Life generally speaking, IMO. The greater shame is I think Divvies gross revenue might likely have been negatively affected by the American market for "gluten free" items designed for casual consumers who have no medically prescribed need to avoid -- or die.

[Ra3chel]

I couldn't remember why we don't seek out Divvies so I checked out there site. 

This statement pisses me off -

Divvies distributes a dazzling array of gourmet confections made by a manufacturer whose ingredients are certified allergen-free

Are they made of air?  They have to be made of something that causes an allergic reaction for someone.  Didn't they learn from the Enjoy Life debacle?

I do think Enjoy Life can be enjoyed by more people who are avoiding multiple allergens.  Obviously they cannot remove all allergens (see my air comment) and won't be enjoyed by all.  The boys both love the soft cookies but DS1 gets a weird feeling when he eats the crunchy ones.  I think they are disgusting personally but it's one of those treats that I shell out for because it's cute to see the kids enjoying the same treat.

YES. Thank you.
I'm allergic to several common peanut and wheat substitutes in "allergen-free" foods. That term pisses me off no end.