I’ll always remember the month I spent travelling the
Australian Gold Coast as one of the greatest in my life. Some friends and I
rented a place in Byron Bay, surfed every day surrounded by easy going people
and always had the fridge stacked with bacon and fruits.
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
One of the major concerns on the average backpacker’s mind
is food. Especially if you’re a big guy who’s used eating around six meals per
day. The local supermarket (HomeBrand I think it was called) had this great
thing where after 21:00pm they would sell grilled chicken for half price. No
need to tell you I was starting to look like a grilled something by the time I
left.
This was in the beginning of 2004 when I was just a stupid
kid (later became a stupid adult) without any professional education or real
understanding of the market forces. But this grilled chicken thing will follow
me every time I’ll walk into any grocery store.
Stop Playing With Your Food
I hate waste, especially when it comes to food. My father in
his endless wisdom always said food was for eating and was appalled by the
concept of “food fight” or any other use of food other but eating it.
The first thing my Economics professor taught me was how
prices are determined by supply and demand. In other words, people will present
a certain demand for a product at any given price. Since then I can’t help to
think about that Aussie grilled chicken every time I go out to buy some milk.
How come a box of milk with an expiration date due in a week
cost the same as milk which expires in another two weeks?
Basically they are
not the same product. The value each milk box brings me is different. One has
double the value of the other. The demand for week old milk is far lower than
the demand for fresh milk but still they both cost the same. Does that sound
right to you?
My suggestion is simple; once a dairy, meat, Vegetable or
any expire-able product is close to the end of its shelf life, just cut the
prices accordingly and trust me – it will be sold.
Once the price drops -> demand goes up. Especially for such
basic goods. Simple as that.
