Showing posts with label supermarkets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label supermarkets. Show all posts

Economic Theory No Longer Applies

For the first time economic theory is being challenged by the Internet. Economics has always put forward the premise that the consumer was all-knowing, in that the "going price" for products was known. Of course, in the past this has been a lie. The demand curve was absolutely false. Buyers did not know where they could get the best price.

Now, potential buyers can go to a store, try on a particular brand of clothing to find the correct size, then go and buy it on the Internet. Some shops are charging for such browsing. This will only drive consumers away to another store.

There isn't much doubt that there are too many stores in the market selling the same goods. This is a problem caused by local councils allowing shopping center development even when it is contrary to local planning laws. Councils are too easily influenced by cashed-up big business.

As chain stores move into populated centers of rural areas the future looks bleak for the corner store. The days of local monopolies of one grocery store, one fruit shop, a chemist and a fishmonger are well and truly gone. It is no wonder the majority of small startups fail.

We cannot turn back the clock. The consumer is currently very informed about price if not quality. Economics never did include quality into its theories. It cannot easily be defined.  With oligopolies taking over small rivals economics is no longer relevant. It cannot be applied any more. The idea that prices fall to clear the market of "surplus" products was never real world practice. Shops have always operated on a percentage mark-up.
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Economics
Australian Blog★                        
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Campaign To End Sale of Battery Eggs

Environmentalists launch a campaign to stop the sale of battery eggs.  This involves "pestering" consumers in supermarkets who are about to buy battery eggs.  The environmentalist will not win the war.  They will just make consumers angry.  Radio advertisements will have the same effect.
If battery eggs are banned the price of supermarket eggs will increase from $2.50 to $10.00 a dozen.  The government will also have the burden of compensation for battery farms which are forced to close.

The campaigners believe that consumers need to be educated about chickens living in tiny pens.  People already know this.  They don't need to be force-fed the truth.  They also know that cows must be kept alive for blood to be drained from the body after they are knocked out.  This doesn't stop them buying beef.

European countries are trying to change, but the supply of free-range eggs is insufficient to meet demand.  Not enough businesses are prepared to re-invest in bigger cages.  Furthermore, a recent university study showed that battery hens were not stressed.
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Society


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Testing of all Pregnant Women for Vitamin D Is a Burden on the Government

It seems odd than in a country with the brightest sunlight of just about any nation on earth that women could possibly lack vitamin D. But "experts" are squabbling over screening for vitamin D deficiency. The government is saying that the cost is far too high and the value of doing this has questionable benefits.

At present obstetricians have to decide whether to test pregnant women who appear to suffer from a shortage of vitamin D. Australia's health system is already "cracking at the edges". Funding is a serious problem. With the Endocrine Society of Australia and the Australasian Paediatric Endocrine Group Assuming the government will take the advice and test all pregnant women, GPs are confused.

The number of women tested for vitamin D has gone up by an incredible 5,000 per cent over the last decade. Idle claims that diabetes and heart disease are "caused" by not enough vitamin D in the body are not proven. Many health professionals still question the lack of vitamin D's causal relationship with osteoporosis. Pathologists have a cash cow with the burgeoning testing. Surely, women can protect themselves by buying vitamin D tablets at health stores, chemists and even at supermarkets.
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Health
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Bread Is Going Stale Overnight - Sell Your Shares in Mighty Soft

Bread making companies who supply supermarkets are no longer adding calcium propionate (282) to their product. Have you noticed how your slices of bread are going stale along one side over the last month? This is due to the omission of this preservative. How can a company calling a product "Mighty Soft" possibly stay in business when its bread goes stale quick smart? Tip Top has also stopped adding 282. I have searched supermarket shelves looking at bread packaging for the additive. Unfortunately, all companies seem to have stopped using it.

Consumers will not buy bread that is virtually stale when it is purchased. Even freezing the loaves has no effect because the bread is already "dry" before you put it in the fridge. Splitting a loaf into two halves, bagging it in a brown paper bag then putting it into a plastic sandwich bag will also not solve the problem. The only answer is to do what people did a half century ago - buy bread daily or have it delivered each day.

The do-gooders will be jumping with joy saying how healthy bread has become, but this bread will end up in rubbish bins as working people nationwide open their lunch boxes to find stale sandwiches. Children will be spitting it across the table..

Calcium propionate inhibits mould. Furthermore, contrary to what is stated in information sheets, preservative 282 also keeps bread softer for longer.
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