Spam Volumes Rise (both kinds)

Reflecting hard economic times, sales of Spam, the Hormel canned meat product increased by double digit percentages. The company said that consumers looking to slice their food budgets bought more canned Spam and Dinty Moore stews and shied away from more costly microwave meals. But double-digit sales increases for the company’s canned foods weren’t enough to offset significantly higher costs for commodities and a hefty investment loss, leading to a big drop in profit during the third quarter of 2008.

Nevertheless, workers at the Austin, Texas Spam plant are working overtime to keep up with the demand for Spam. According to the New York Times:

Spam, a gelatinous 12-ounce rectangle of spiced ham and pork, may be among the world’s most maligned foods, dismissed as inedible by food elites and skewered by comedians who have offered smart-alecky theories on its name (one G-rated example: Something Posing As Meat).

But these days, consumers are rediscovering relatively cheap foods, Spam among them. A 12-ounce can of Spam, marketed as “Crazy Tasty,” costs about $2.40. “People are realizing it’s not that bad a product,” said Dan Johnson, 55, who operates a 70-foot-high Spam oven.

Spam “seems to do well when hard times hit,” said Dan Bartel, business agent for the union local. “We’ll probably see Spam lines instead of soup lines.”

In other news, email Spam volumes appeared to be on the rise again after hosting company McColo was cut off from the Internet which severed several large botnets from their command and control centers. Total spam volume on the Internet was cut by more than half, according to researchers, but spammers have regained control of some botnets, so spam levels appear to be rising once again. See Computerworld, Spam levels fluctuate as crooks try to revive botnets.

This graph is courtesy of spamcop.net (click to enlarge):