SALES of the American version of the luncheon meat, known as Spam, is rising as the economy sinks.

The name Spam is short for spiced ham and was part of the rations US soldiers ate during World War II.

Through the years since, it was the standard option during tough times.

Iconic though it is for Americans, this product made by Hormel has been the butt of jokes in the good years and often dismissed as inedible by food elites.

But these days, consumers are rediscovering Spam.

An unopened can can last for years, so much so, its makers, Hormel, call it 'meat with a pause button'.

And of course, it is cheap.

A 340g can of Spam, marketed as 'Crazy Tasty', costs about $2.40.

'Spam seems to do well when hard times hit,' Mr Dan Bartel, business agent for United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, told the New York Times.

'We'll probably see Spam lines instead of soup lines.'

Workers at the Spam factories are working overtime.

'We are scheduled to work every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas,' said one worker, Mr Darwin Sellers, 56.

Hormel chief executive Jeffrey Ettinger 'is negotiating with the man upstairs to get us to work eight days a week', Mr Sellers said.

Mr Sellers said he had not seen much of his family in recent months, but the gruelling schedule had been good for his bank account. He has bought a new television set and plans to replace a 20-year-old refrigerator.

Cheap and good

Other cheap goods are also seeing rising sales.

Pancake mixes and instant potatoes are booming. So are vitamins, fruit and vegetable preservatives, and beer, according to Information Resources, a market research firm.

Kraft Foods said recently that its value-for-money products, like macaroni and cheese, Jell-O and Kool-Aid, were experiencing strong growth.

This article was first published in The New Paper on November 21, 2008.