US-Canada Trade War

Events occurring and how they relate/affect Anabaptist faith and culture.
appleman2006
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Re: US-Canada Trade War

Post by appleman2006 »

mike wrote:
ohio jones wrote:I understand there's a cheese plant in town that some of the Amish farmers sell their milk to. In an attempt to support local businesses, I went to the mom-n-pop grocery, figuring they would have some of their products, but no. I think there's an outlet at the factory, but how far does one take this? One stop for cheese, one stop for bread, another for eggs, one for milk, yet another for veggies, and oh yes, one for apples. I like the idea of local stuff, and if it costs just a little more I can afford that, but I can't afford the time for all that shopping. One stop a week at the hypermarket is almost too much already.
Realities like what you describe are the kind of things that create market forces. There will always be a client base for both the supermarkets and the roadside stands that sell one or two items and those in between. The people who promote local or home-made products can market their advantages such freshness or local-sourced which they can charge a premium for, while the more efficient supermarkets will have the edge on convenience and price.

The retail food economy is a fascinating topic to me as you can probably tell.

My store is in a rural area, and it used to be that we were the only food store of any kind in a 4-5 mile radius. However in the last couple of years, a family-run produce farm and greenhouse started up, and another local greenhouse opened as well. I have been curious to see whether our produce and plant sales would suffer, but they have done nothing but grow, while the other newer businesses seem to be doing fine as well. This year, yet another local startup family farm growing local meats and produce is partnering with us to set up in our parking lot to sell their products on a commission agreement. They will be promoting all natural produce and pasture-raised meats.

I am pretty sure that we can all survive and even thrive because each of us is offering our own niche in the market. The consumers in our area have a wider variety of choices than they used to. I think the variety is good for our local area.
That attitude along explains to me why you are successful at what you do. It is a known fact that even direct competition right next to you is often a good thing rather than a bad thing. A person that looks at competition as a threat rather than an opportunity will not usually go far in business.
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mike
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Re: US-Canada Trade War

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mike wrote:I am not a total export on how large chain store do their pricing but I do know that they are not set up well for quick fluctuations at least here in Canada. And when it comes to staples they often have contracts booked out long in advance meaning they may not actually be seeing the immediate ups and downs of the markets. I am also guessing that if they are getting good deals that they are not passing on that it probably has to do with the fact that on some of these staple products they sell at cost or even less a good part of the time and so use these times to make up the for losses. I am not sure about that last theory though because I am guessing at least one chain would be taking advantage of that and putting on a huge sale.
That makes a lot of sense to me. For example although the cheese and egg market have been in the pits recently, you don't see the chains really promoting them that much in their ads. On the other hand, we independents have been having a heyday offering good deals on these things. I can see how they can't turn on a dime nearly as quickly as independents. For one thing their ads are prepared weeks in advance, where we prepare ours just days in advance. If we get a good deal on Monday, it's in our Friday ad.
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appleman2006
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Re: US-Canada Trade War

Post by appleman2006 »

mike wrote:
mike wrote:I am not a total export on how large chain store do their pricing but I do know that they are not set up well for quick fluctuations at least here in Canada. And when it comes to staples they often have contracts booked out long in advance meaning they may not actually be seeing the immediate ups and downs of the markets. I am also guessing that if they are getting good deals that they are not passing on that it probably has to do with the fact that on some of these staple products they sell at cost or even less a good part of the time and so use these times to make up the for losses. I am not sure about that last theory though because I am guessing at least one chain would be taking advantage of that and putting on a huge sale.
That makes a lot of sense to me. For example although the cheese and egg market have been in the pits recently, you don't see the chains really promoting them that much in their ads. On the other hand, we independents have been having a heyday offering good deals on these things. I can see how they can't turn on a dime nearly as quickly as independents. For one thing their ads are prepared weeks in advance, where we prepare ours just days in advance. If we get a good deal on Monday, it's in our Friday ad.
yup, weeks and even months at times. Chains sit down with us months ahead to plan out their features.
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mike
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Re: US-Canada Trade War

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The cheese market in the US has finally gained some traction in the last few months, which should ease some of the pain for US dairy farmers as this affects milk prices. Now it's the egg market that is taking it on the chin due to oversupply. I literally bought a skid of medium eggs at $.37/dz last week which we gave away one per customer. It's about the same cost as giving a pen or some other trinket away.

I enjoyed selling an Ontario restaurant owner who was traveling through the area $550 worth of cheese for his buffet this morning. The savings over prices in Canada must have paid for a nice bit of his trip expenses...
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ken_sylvania
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Re: US-Canada Trade War

Post by ken_sylvania »

mike wrote:The cheese market in the US has finally gained some traction in the last few months, which should ease some of the pain for US dairy farmers as this affects milk prices. Now it's the egg market that is taking it on the chin due to oversupply. I literally bought a skid of medium eggs at $.37/dz last week which we gave away one per customer. It's about the same cost as giving a pen or some other trinket away.

I enjoyed selling an Ontario restaurant owner who was traveling through the area $550 worth of cheese for his buffet this morning. The savings over prices in Canada must have paid for a nice bit of his trip expenses...
What does a customer do with one egg? Did you personalize them as well?
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PeterG
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Re: US-Canada Trade War

Post by PeterG »

Wow. That explains why eggs were $0.50/doz at the local grocery store.
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mike
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Re: US-Canada Trade War

Post by mike »

ken_sylvania wrote:
mike wrote:The cheese market in the US has finally gained some traction in the last few months, which should ease some of the pain for US dairy farmers as this affects milk prices. Now it's the egg market that is taking it on the chin due to oversupply. I literally bought a skid of medium eggs at $.37/dz last week which we gave away one per customer. It's about the same cost as giving a pen or some other trinket away.

I enjoyed selling an Ontario restaurant owner who was traveling through the area $550 worth of cheese for his buffet this morning. The savings over prices in Canada must have paid for a nice bit of his trip expenses...
What does a customer do with one egg? Did you personalize them as well?
One egg per customer - now that would have been being a real tightwad at a cost of 3 cents per egg. We gave them away by the dozen... no personalization, but that's a great thought. Where are the advertising people that print logos on pens and caps? Surely it could be done on food... has modern technology seriously not come up with this yet?
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mike
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Re: US-Canada Trade War

Post by mike »

PeterG wrote:Wow. That explains why eggs were $0.50/doz at the local grocery store.
If they were large eggs this week, they would be making 5 cents a dozen. When prices get this cheap nobody makes money, but retailers and consumers don't mind the occasional deal like this. Just bad for the producers.
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Remember the prisoners, as though you were in prison with them, and the mistreated, as though you yourselves were suffering bodily. -Heb. 13:3
PeterG
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Re: US-Canada Trade War

Post by PeterG »

mike wrote:If they were large eggs this week, they would be making 5 cents a dozen.
They were mediums, FWIW.
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ohio jones
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Re: US-Canada Trade War

Post by ohio jones »

mike wrote:Where are the advertising people that print logos on pens and caps? Surely it could be done on food... has modern technology seriously not come up with this yet?
Of course they have.
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