The Spiffo's and Betta-Bite Saga

The events that gave rise to the widespread CHD outbreak of April, 1993 due to the Betta-Bite Conglomerate's negligence.

## Spiffo's Founding

It’s 1957. The post-war consumerism movement is in full swing.

Fresh-faced in the new world of mega-uber capitalism, 21-year old Ray D. Laurens and Finley Richards worked in a stadium food stand in Louisville, Kentucky. Seeing how popular burgers were, both decided to start a new restaurant – namely Spiffo’s, named after Laurens’ childhood toy.

It was a huge success. Fast food was produced quickly, sold quickly, and made money quickly. Laurens worked hard to create beloved recipes and name-brand flavours, while Richards preferred the business side of the restaurant. In 1963, they launched a second location in Louisville, and from there, another ten between 1964-65. Laurens was happy to keep it to these, as a fond Kentucky restaurant; Richards had other ideas. Over a massive argument regarding the direction of Spiffo’s, Richards left the company in early 1966 and turned to the other money-maker: food production. This proved to be a mistake at first.

## Spiffo's Expansion; Finley Producers Begins

Bitter to prove himself, Laurens decided to grow the company. Following the construction of Louisville’s new highway that June, he opened a total of 40 restaurants between in and out-of-state. On Richards’ end, his new brand, Finley Producers, was significantly failing. Spiffo’s was beginning to hold a monopoly on the fast-food world; his money could only be made in little mom-and-pop stores and restaurants, and all the while, his ex-business partner climbed the conglomerate ladder.

By 1970 there were around 200 Spiffo’s restaurants across the US. Laurens had all but forgotten about Richards, whose company came dangerously close to bankruptcy. Richards himself was hell-bent on revenge, on vengeance. Futile attempt after futile attempt to partner with any of Spiffo’s competitors failed – no booming restaurant chains wanted a small, family-name producer, and Richards knew this. But he also knew the greatest problems the chains faced – sourcing enough meat products. Environmentalist groups fighting against the Vietnam War also fought against deforestation for the production of beef, and squandered efforts for the distribution of land for cattle grazing.

It became clear to Richards that if Finley Producers was to succeed, drastic changes needed to be made.

As if overnight, Finley Producers – rebranded now as conglomerate company Betta-Bite™ – launched in 1973 to huge, unfettered success. The secret to their victory? Cutting cattle feed with meat resulted in less green space used by almost 50%, allowing almost double the profit in half of the time. Customers relayed that Betta-Bite products tasted better, more flavourful, richer by miles and cheaper by the dozen.

## The Spiffo's Buyout

Competitors lined up at the door begging to be allowed to sell Betta-Bite, but despite their efforts, the only restaurant Richards wanted to purchase was Spiffo’s. Laurens managed to hold on until 1982, when it was unanimously advised by his directors that the company should take Betta-Bite’s offer of merging for $0.5 million USD (around $3 million today, adjusted for inflation).

Laurens and Richards were once again business partners again after nearly two decades; last having seen each other in their 20’s, now both in their 40’s, with their own families and private lives, but still the latter held his vengeful vendetta. New recipes were pumped out daily, with the most popular becoming the Prime XL, which used Prime (Plus) Beef™, used from cows fed cut feed. Quantity quickly overtook quality under Richards – something Laurens resented. They’d argue multiple times and try to stay out of each other’s way for the better part of five years, until a mass scandal in ‘87.

## The Prion Scandal of 1987

In spite of repeated concerns Richards had swept under the rug regarding misfolded proteins, a farm’s feed cut to almost 60% formed an aggressive strain of prion disease, the product of which gave its hundreds of diners vCJD (a human variant of mad cow disease). Cows were culled and products were rolled back with the promise to look into and change the recipe of the feed. However, testing only checked for BSE, and an unchecked prion disease was allowed to develop further. As a result of the scandal, Laurens resigned as CEO and moved to the east coast with his family.

Richards was in a precarious place. Staff complaining about missing their smartest employer and a beloved part of Spiffo’s sent him into a rage of jealousy, and many were unjustly fired by him on the grounds of supposedly having known about the prion debacle in advance. Now with a stinging slap on the wrist, Richards got to work protecting the brand name; many consumers were wary of Spiffo’s, and loyalty wasn’t something that existed in fast food as it did with ordinary restaurants – not to mention, multiple NGOs publicly protested the treatment of animals, and called attention to the method of making Betta-Bite feed. The restaurant fell into a slump and declined in popularity over the next few years, having to close many locations, while another misfolded protein went unchecked. The more cows were raised, the more rapidly it mutated, but as people were avoiding Prime Plus, it had little to no effect for now.

## CHD Crisis Begins

   1993 brought flooding to Kentucky such as the state had never seen. Food production in the Midwest ground to a halt and people began to starve. Hungry, with no other choice but the widely available Betta-Bite meat products, people turned to Spiffo’s as a saving grace and granted the failing restaurant a short-lived renaissance. Now overlooked for the better part of a decade, the prion disease spread with a vengeance greater than Richards’ had ever been. Becoming rampant over the course of a few weeks, the CDC declared Louisville – ground zero and the worst affected area of the outbreak – a quarantined exclusion zone, which was then followed by approval of the WHO Director-General, Dr. Hirota Nakamura. With food supply now almost entirely cut off, the true horrors of the disease came to light.

CHD, or chronic hyperphagic disorder, caused brain damage, including memory impairment, personality changes, and difficulties in movement to the infected. Most terrifying was the aversion in carriers to non-meat-based food; however, the only meat that was available was now either more Betta-Bite, or other humans. Meat consumption in turn sped up brain deterioration and made infected people, dubbed as ‘Feeders’, almost inhuman in their actions. Martial law was declared in early June, and from here, the PNDRA came into existence.

In the wake of Spiffo’s revival, workers from NGOs such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace had also arrived in Knox County to protest. With the situation in Louisville worsening and civilization broke down, Spiffo's and Betta-Bite operations ceased in Knox County.