nwr: local is good, no?

scottreiner

scottreiner

scott reiner
i have my thinking cap on, and i'm trying to figure out how, given that this is walmart we are talking about, this is a bad thing...

local is good, no?
 
Looking at the way they *crush* (I think the technical term is "exercise pricing power") their supply chains in other lines of their business, I'd be afraid if I were a local farmer.
 
So, here are some down-sides for you:

1. If Wal-Mart buys millions of pounds of local food at anything resembling a fair price, then it won't be in your local market anymore.

2. Once farmers taste all that 'cabbage' they will start to work on reliability and volume... exactly the pressure that brought us square gassed tomatoes and all-purpose flour.

3. Exactly where is Wal-Mart going to find millions of pounds of local food, eh? Yes, it grows on trees but not in those kind of quantities. (My favorite whipping boy on this topic is Starbucks because they keep finding more and more "gourmet" coffee out there even though it is a difficult crop that has been in continuous high demand for a century.)
 
(My favorite whipping boy on this topic is Starbucks because they keep finding more and more "gourmet" coffee out there even though it is a difficult crop that has been in continuous high demand for a century.)
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Off topic perhaps, but the funny thing about starbucks is that the coffee is really secondary. They are essentially dairy peddlers and much more vulnerable to fluctuations in that market.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Who owns the premises Starbucks cafes operate from: Starbucks or the franchise owner?
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no franchises for Starbucks, a related company, Seattle's Best Coffee, does franchise.
 
originally posted by scottreiner:
nwr: local is good, no?i have my thinking cap on, and i'm trying to figure out how, given that this is walmart we are talking about, this is a bad thing...

local is good, no?
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It's the conundrum of WalMart: they pressure suppliers to reduce waste and increase recycled content, go organic and now go local, but at the same time they squeeze out local competition and pay less-than-competitive wages.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Brian C:
Off topic perhaps, but the funny thing about starbucks is that the coffee is really secondary.
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I occasionally have to drink it; I know. They seem to think that if they roast the beans really dark (i.e., burned) that we'll mistake that for high quality.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
originally posted by Brian C:
Off topic perhaps, but the funny thing about starbucks is that the coffee is really secondary.
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I occasionally have to drink it; I know. They seem to think that if they roast the beans really dark (i.e., burned) that we'll mistake that for high quality.
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I think that there's a divide in coffee appreciation not unlike that in the wine world: to me, dark roasting is a form of spoofulation similar to the use of new oak in winemaking. It obscures terroir (which is just as real in coffee as it is in wine) and makes everything taste the same. Of course, roasted beans that have been sitting around for more than a few days suck for other reasons, so there the analogy ends.

Mark Lipton
 
It's tough, because I think there's far too much "making perfect the enemy of good" in wine and food realms these days, and I'd like to look at the good that will come of this and the previous move towards organics; I'd much rather Stonyfield Farm benefit from WM money than, say, Hormel. On the other hand, the objections Jeff and others raise are valid and worrisome.

Ultimately, I think that as long as WM's primary business plan is squeezing every last cent out of anyone's profits but their own in order to undercut anyone else's final retail prices, the net effect is going to be mixed at best. But it's not like this goal is a surprise to anyone, so everyone should know what they're getting into. And it's not like anyone's going to stop them, either, so while keeping an eye on the abuses, one might as well be cautiously optimistic.

I don't actually think it will affect the farmers' market model all that much. Some people won't sell to WM, period. Others won't have anything like the quantity that WM needs to rely on. Some won't be able to meet their price. And WM and (especially) the urban locavore movement are aimed at two different demographics, anyway.
 
dark roasting [...] obscures terroir (which is just as real in coffee as it is in wine) and makes everything taste the same
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I agree. But I'm sometimes surprised at how hard it is to find medium roasts. The default seems to be dark.

Of course, I usually go on to home-spoof my (press) coffee by adding cream, so maybe I shouldn't complain.
 
originally posted by MLipton:
It's the conundrum of WalMart: go organic
Mark Lipton
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the problem here, is that walmart's announcement that it was going 'organic' was preceded by its lobbying of congress to change the definition of 'organic'...
 
originally posted by Tom Glasgow:
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Who owns the premises Starbucks cafes operate from: Starbucks or the franchise owner?
Click to expand...
no franchises for Starbucks, a related company, Seattle's Best Coffee, does franchise.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about that quip about McDonalds, that their real business is real estate.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
originally posted by Tom Glasgow:
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Who owns the premises Starbucks cafes operate from: Starbucks or the franchise owner?
Click to expand...
no franchises for Starbucks, a related company, Seattle's Best Coffee, does franchise.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about that quip about McDonalds, that their real business is real estate.
Click to expand...
Telling, no?
 
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