On Apr 26, 2:48 pm, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:
"Nancy2" wrote in message

oups.com...



On Apr 26, 11:03 am, Puester wrote:
Karen AKA Kajikit wrote:
How come the more 'healthy' a cereal is supposed to be, the more it
tastes like you're eating the box? I just tried the Post 'organics'
apple and cinnamon and it wasn't nearly as nice as it sounded...

What cereal do you eat for brekky?

Rarely, oatmeal or cream of wheat.

Cereal seems to be like a heart-healthy diet: if it tastes good, it's
not good for you.
:-(

gloria p

I generally don't eat cereal for breakfast - just some fresh
grapefruit sections.

But for cold cereal, I like corn flakes, Cheerios, Kix and the
original Nabisco Shredded Wheat, which I believe they don't make any
more - or at least, I can't find it. I don't like those mini things.
I like the big biscuits from Nabisco, that you could break up into
chunks, and then eat with sugar & milk on them.

N.

The original shredded wheat is still being manufactured. Your grocery store
has chosen not to stock it for some reason.

They do stock their own brand, which is awful. It tastes like
cardboard. But then, we're a captive audience for one main chain, and
75% of their shelf space is their own brand. I hate it. I've
complained a number of times, but they're unwilling to change.

N.

"Nancy2" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Apr 26, 2:48 pm, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:
"Nancy2" wrote in message

oups.com...



On Apr 26, 11:03 am, Puester wrote:
Karen AKA Kajikit wrote:
How come the more 'healthy' a cereal is supposed to be, the more it
tastes like you're eating the box? I just tried the Post 'organics'
apple and cinnamon and it wasn't nearly as nice as it sounded...

What cereal do you eat for brekky?

Rarely, oatmeal or cream of wheat.

Cereal seems to be like a heart-healthy diet: if it tastes good, it's
not good for you.
:-(

gloria p

I generally don't eat cereal for breakfast - just some fresh
grapefruit sections.

But for cold cereal, I like corn flakes, Cheerios, Kix and the
original Nabisco Shredded Wheat, which I believe they don't make any
more - or at least, I can't find it. I don't like those mini things.
I like the big biscuits from Nabisco, that you could break up into
chunks, and then eat with sugar & milk on them.

N.

The original shredded wheat is still being manufactured. Your grocery
store
has chosen not to stock it for some reason.

They do stock their own brand, which is awful. It tastes like
cardboard. But then, we're a captive audience for one main chain, and
75% of their shelf space is their own brand. I hate it. I've
complained a number of times, but they're unwilling to change.

N.


Crazy idea: Since the spoon size version tastes the same as the biscuits,
you could choose not to suffer, and buy the small ones. :-)

Dave Smith wrote:

Televisions are cheaper now than they
were years ago.
Computers are much better than they used to be, and a fraction of the
cost.

Slave labor

Music CDs are cheaper now.

Lousier music

Tires are cheaper per mile driven then
used to me.

More likely to peel

Salmon and shrimp are affordable now.

Farmed

Soft drinks are
relatively cheap now compared to years ago.

High-fructose corn syrup

Steve

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:


My point is this:

Finally!!

Cereal is a good example of a product which is made here
in the U.S.,

snipped

Cathy nudges Joe

Not all food products are made/grown in the USA, or are available in the
rest of the world - sad but true.

--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

"Chatty Cathy" wrote in message
...
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:


My point is this:

Finally!!

Cereal is a good example of a product which is made here in the U.S.,

snipped

Cathy nudges Joe

Not all food products are made/grown in the USA, or are available in the
rest of the world - sad but true.

Both true, but irrelevant to this discussion.

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Chatty Cathy" wrote in message
...
Ahem. Silly me, I was thinking about *food* - not other products - as I
assumed that's what we were discussing.

And as for salmon and shrimp - never seen their prices go down in the
20-odd years that I have been buying them. Soft drinks (which is sorta
food-related) haven't got cheaper here either. Maybe I should move to the
USA?
--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy


My point is this: Cereal is a good example of a product which is made here
in the U.S., so at least at this point in history, it is not going to get
cheaper because the manufacturers move production to China or some other
country where workers are paid very little. The only other way cereal could
get cheaper is if the manufacturers lower the quality, and that won't go
over well with retail customers for very long.

You would be surprised at what food (or half-products) get shipped all
over the world. In the case of cereals most of the final product sold in
the US might originate there, but some bits will probably be imported
(the box itself comes to mind; how many of those are 'printed in ...').


The price of cereal will absolutely be affected by two things: The cost of
shipping it, and the cost of manufacturing it. I'm not privy to the labor
costs which food manufacturers have to deal with, but I can tell you this:
The cost per mile for trucking has almost doubled in the past 7-8 years.
That affects every step in the chain of events required to produce and
deliver your food.

You could respond by saying that the manufacturer could absorb some of this
cost, because you pretend to have inside knowledge of their financial
situation, but that would be a silly thing for you to think (this is
directed more at Dave, really). Or, you could say the manufacturer could
raise prices to deal with rising costs, and keep the package size the same.
But, that would be faulty reasoning, in some cases. Manufacturers (and
efficient grocery stores) know what price customers will accept. Raise the
price of an item from $3.25 to $3.75, and it might not affect sales very
much. Move the price to $4.50, and maybe the product stops moving off the
shelves. Perhaps there's something about the $4.00 threshold that turns
people off. Nobody really knows, but we *do* see lots of things priced a
penny shy of the whole dollar amount ($24.99 instead of $25.00). The
psychology's absurd, but there it is.

So, manufacturers decide that raising the price won't work, and they shrink
the package, instead. I'm not saying that a quest for higher profits might
not also be a motive, but it's definitely NOT as simple as just that.

Quite so.

The 'true' cost of one box of cereal on the shelf in the shop (according
to cost-based accounting) can not be calculated without a whole range of
assumptions. Production cost is split into variable cost (raw materials,
electricity used for milling, etc) and depreciation of fixed assets used
in the production process. So depending on how many boxes are sold per
annum, the share per box of the fixed costs will vary. Also if the
product sells well, cost of keeping stock will be negligible. If the
product sells slowly, cost of keeping stock (interest, warehouse space,
admin.) will be higher.

Distribution cost varies depending on another bunch of factors, like
distance between plant and store, handling and storage costs at
wholesalers, distribution frequency, etc.
And BTW, smaller pack sizes push up handling and packaging costs, so
shrinking pack sizes does not automatically translate into higher profits.

The net result is that there is no such thing as 'cost', no matter how
badly the sales reps want that figure, so they can give discounts to 1
cent above it to make their targets. Things are run based on three criteria:
- are we in the same price bracket as the competition
- supply and demand (what can we charge before people stop buying it)
- do we still make some profit at the end of the quarter (US) or year
(rest of world)

Consumers can be manipulated in various ways. I know of one company
(food-stuffs, although not cereal) that keeps 'backup' brands; if the
competition starts a price-war they start flooding the market with the
cheaper brand while keeping the prices on their primary brands high. The
actual product is the same, except for the label (to the level that
halfway through packing a batch the machine is stopped, another roll of
labels goes on, and the rest is packed as 'cheap brand'). Some people
swear they can taste a difference though.

J.

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Chatty Cathy" wrote in message
...
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

My point is this:
Finally!!

Cereal is a good example of a product which is made here in the U.S.,
snipped

Cathy nudges Joe

Not all food products are made/grown in the USA, or are available in the
rest of the world - sad but true.

Both true, but irrelevant to this discussion.


Really? Why is that?

--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy - who knows she is gonna be sorry she asked...

"jack masters" wrote in message
...


JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Chatty Cathy" wrote in message
...
Ahem. Silly me, I was thinking about *food* - not other products - as I
assumed that's what we were discussing.

And as for salmon and shrimp - never seen their prices go down in the
20-odd years that I have been buying them. Soft drinks (which is sorta
food-related) haven't got cheaper here either. Maybe I should move to
the USA?
--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy


My point is this: Cereal is a good example of a product which is made
here in the U.S., so at least at this point in history, it is not going
to get cheaper because the manufacturers move production to China or some
other country where workers are paid very little. The only other way
cereal could get cheaper is if the manufacturers lower the quality, and
that won't go over well with retail customers for very long.

You would be surprised at what food (or half-products) get shipped all
over the world. In the case of cereals most of the final product sold in
the US might originate there, but some bits will probably be imported (the
box itself comes to mind; how many of those are 'printed in ...').


Actually, I wouldn't be surprised. The OP mentioned shredded wheat. I know
EXACTLY where the factories are which manufacture the product for U.S.
markets. They're all domestic.

"Chatty Cathy" wrote in message
...
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Chatty Cathy" wrote in message
...
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

My point is this:
Finally!!

Cereal is a good example of a product which is made here in the U.S.,
snipped

Cathy nudges Joe

Not all food products are made/grown in the USA, or are available in the
rest of the world - sad but true.

Both true, but irrelevant to this discussion.
Really? Why is that?
Chatty Cathy - who knows she is gonna be sorry she asked...


1) Dave said "shredded wheat". Unless he was talking about private label
stuff, it's all made here in the U.S. Therefore, your "not all food
products" statement is irrelevant.

2) "or are available in the rest of the world" - so?

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

1) Dave said "shredded wheat". Unless he was talking about private label
stuff, it's all made here in the U.S. Therefore, your "not all food
products" statement is irrelevant.

2) "or are available in the rest of the world" - so?

So.. you didn't you say earlier on in this thread:

"Widen your thinking to include ALL products, not just food. You've
neverseen the prices on anything go down?"

Now go sit in the corner - again...

--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

Have you tried the Strawberry Promise or 7 Whole Grain Puffs? We like both of those
too. My husband mixes Kashi Go Lean crunch with Nature's Valley flax
something-or-other and adds freeze dried fruits, usually strawberries. Sometimes he
adds flax flakes (also from Nature's Valley) or Meusli.

kimberly

Not yet, but I will, thanks for the recommendation. If you like
yogurt, mix some of the Go Lean Crunch in with vanilla yogurt, SO
good.

Lynne A

"Chatty Cathy" wrote in message
...
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

1) Dave said "shredded wheat". Unless he was talking about private label
stuff, it's all made here in the U.S. Therefore, your "not all food
products" statement is irrelevant.

2) "or are available in the rest of the world" - so?
So.. you didn't you say earlier on in this thread:

"Widen your thinking to include ALL products, not just food. You've
neverseen the prices on anything go down?"

Now go sit in the corner - again...

--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

You said "not all food products", which limited my response to that comment.
Now you want to widen it again?

On Apr 26, 9:46 pm, Jo Anne wrote:

I never ate cereal in my life until recently. Milk makes me gag, and I
could never see the point in eating cereal without it.

But I discovered Kashi GoLean recently. It's *really* good! So, about
twice a week, I have 1/2 cup yogurt, 1/4 cup berries, and 1/2 cup
Kashi GoLean cereal all mixed up.

A nice break from my usual boiled egg.

Jo Anne

I mix it with vanilla yogurt too, Jo Anne. That's breakfast many
mornings since it's so quick, easy, and filling. It seems to satisfy
more with yogurt than with milk.

Lynne A

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:


You said "not all food products", which limited my response to that comment.
Now you want to widen it again?

Widen what??

I've got about 45 minutes of spare time left - so if you really want to
continue this "discussion"... go for it.

p.s. I am a slow reader, so make it "short and sweet"
--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

Steve Pope wrote:

Dave Smith wrote:

Tires are cheaper per mile driven then
used to me.

More likely to peel

No way. Tires these days are far superior to the ones of years past.
It's not unusual to meet younger people who have never changed a flat,
because they never had one.




Brian

--
If televison's a babysitter, the Internet is a drunk librarian who
won't shut up.
-- Dorothy Gambrell (http://catandgirl.com)