Dare we hope for the return of OTC original oyster crackers? The company says yes
Panorama Foods, which now owns OTC, said it is looking for a new bakery that can use the original equipment to make the crackers in the classic style.
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The company that makes the OTC oyster crackers that have disappeared from many Philadelphia-area seafood houses in recent years says a search is underway to find a bakery that can replicate the original recipe and get the hard, biscuitlike crackers back into production.
Brian Keenan of Panorama Foods in Massachusetts, which owns OTC, said in an email the company was looking for a bakery that can use the original equipment to make the crackers in the classic style.
“We expect them to be back on shelves and in restaurants in the near future,” he said.
The news should be well-received in the Philadelphia region, where in recent years restaurants have been forced to make do with substitute brands when the crackers made by OTC started to become scarce.
The oyster crackers that for decades have been a staple in local restaurants were first made in 1847 by a Trenton company that was founded by a British immigrant who sold them out of his wagon. The company eventually was named OTC, for Original Trenton Cracker.
Local restaurateurs say the trouble started about two years ago, when the bakery responsible for making the crackers dropped them. OTC found another bakery, but a statement posted by president Ken Meyers on the company’s Facebook page in July 2018 indicated the equipment the crackers had been made with was no longer usable due to “new, stricter food safety regulations.”
In his email to the Inquirer, Keenan did not say what led to the determination that the equipment can be used after all. He did not respond to a follow-up question about the machinery.
The July 2018 statement also noted that although the original shape of the cracker was likely “gone forever,” the company would strive for a perfect match with regard to taste and texture.
“Any minor change in environment, water quality, equipment or process can have an impact on the finished product that can become quite a mystery to unravel,” the statement read. “We hope you’ll bear with us as we continue our quest to return to you, and your fellow OTC loyalists, a cracker that meets your standards and expectations.”