Re: Weird MRE Case: AMERICAN POUCH FOODS CO., INC.
Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 12:24 am
This is a super interesting item! The label slapped over the original branding on the case is the result of a history-making court case that saw the US Gov as the victors over a bankrupted and broken American Pouch Foods, Inc. I say history-making, because the case has been cited as precedent in a number of cases since where the US Gov sought to seize the physical assets of a failing company it had been contracting.
In 1979, American Pouch Foods, Inc picked up a government contract to begin full scale production on the armed services' new battle-ready ration, the MRE. They were getting paid every other week or so for a little over a year when Uncle Sam decided the contract was void because APF, Inc wasn't meeting the agreed-upon deadlines for production. Three days later, APF, Inc decided its only hope was chapter 11 because it had geared its entire operation to produce these government goods. So in mid 1980, the US Gov sued APF, Inc for ownership of the company's physical assets (ie. the MREs!) citing the "title vesting clause" which is what makes this case so strange. An earlier ruling had held that the government could not hold title while funding production and that ruling had been upheld numerous times so it was strange that this case overturned that precedent and decided that yes indeed the equipment and goods belonged to Uncle Sam. The assets were redistributed by the Southern Packaging & Storage Company (now SoPackCo) and Right A Way Foods (now Wornick Company of Texas).
The 2 year date is also explained! The items were all produced by early 1980, but many of them sat in an unfinished state until they were redistributed following the outcome of the court case in Feb. 1981. The Apr 81/31 dates are from SoPackCo stamped on the boxes they got that were already good to go minus the branding. This particular case is also linked to a civil discrimination lawsuit and a number of papers on bankruptcy. The civil discrimination suit cites it as a case where a company with a predominantly black staff was terminated on falsified grounds. Whether racially driven or not, Chicago based American Pouch Foods, Inc closed its doors in 1980 sending 600 people to find jobs elsewhere. This case helps illustrate that after taking possession of what was determined to be its assets, the US Gov made sure they found their way into active use in the end.
In 1979, American Pouch Foods, Inc picked up a government contract to begin full scale production on the armed services' new battle-ready ration, the MRE. They were getting paid every other week or so for a little over a year when Uncle Sam decided the contract was void because APF, Inc wasn't meeting the agreed-upon deadlines for production. Three days later, APF, Inc decided its only hope was chapter 11 because it had geared its entire operation to produce these government goods. So in mid 1980, the US Gov sued APF, Inc for ownership of the company's physical assets (ie. the MREs!) citing the "title vesting clause" which is what makes this case so strange. An earlier ruling had held that the government could not hold title while funding production and that ruling had been upheld numerous times so it was strange that this case overturned that precedent and decided that yes indeed the equipment and goods belonged to Uncle Sam. The assets were redistributed by the Southern Packaging & Storage Company (now SoPackCo) and Right A Way Foods (now Wornick Company of Texas).
The 2 year date is also explained! The items were all produced by early 1980, but many of them sat in an unfinished state until they were redistributed following the outcome of the court case in Feb. 1981. The Apr 81/31 dates are from SoPackCo stamped on the boxes they got that were already good to go minus the branding. This particular case is also linked to a civil discrimination lawsuit and a number of papers on bankruptcy. The civil discrimination suit cites it as a case where a company with a predominantly black staff was terminated on falsified grounds. Whether racially driven or not, Chicago based American Pouch Foods, Inc closed its doors in 1980 sending 600 people to find jobs elsewhere. This case helps illustrate that after taking possession of what was determined to be its assets, the US Gov made sure they found their way into active use in the end.
Really, really interesting, thanks a lot for sharing 
Quite a few books about the nature of bankruptcy law go into detail about this case and almost every one of them has its own extra details about the company. Regarding the civil suit, I found a site called Freedom, NY (