Here’s another one for you absolute believers in the wonders of the marketplace to ponder. In a very peeved mood, I sent this e-mail tonight to the makers of Tofutti non-dairy "ice cream" and related products:
This is extremely frustrating.
I live in West Columbia, SC — zip code 29169. I have been deathly allergic to milk my whole life. The last time I was skin-tested for it, the allergist called his staff in to see the reaction — it was that extreme.
I love your product.
I find it almost impossible to get it.
Over the last few years, local supermarkets — most notably Food Lion and Publix — have stocked it off and on. Each will have it a few months, it will go away, and then come back maybe a month later.
The nearest Publix ran out several months ago. I keep asking about it, and am told it must be a problem getting it from the distributor.
Fine. My local Food Lion was at least stocking your vanilla (that, and the Vanilla Almond Bark, are my favorites). I make a point of buying out what they have so they will be motivated to keep it stocked; because of me, they never keep a pint of it more than a week. If market forces work as they should, I should never run out, right?
I dropped by there tonight. I saw they had it on sale. Only one pint was left. As I picked it up, I noticed that the sign said "close-out price."
So it’s going out of stock there, too.
What is the problem? Why can’t your company keep the product in these stores?
One place is left within 10 miles of me that I know of, and I’m worried now it will run out there. A distributor problem is a distributor problem, right? The store in question is 14 Carrot, between here and Lexington. It’s really out of my way, but I intend to go there tomorrow and buy whatever they have.
By the way, the other 14 Carrot that your store locator cites (it was the one closer to me) closed several months ago.
And the Rosewood Market you refer to only carries your "cheesecake" products, which I find to be a little too heavy and rich.
I want to buy what you have to sell. Can you help me out here?— Brad Warthen
You may say, "Hey, they can’t keep stocking it for one customer." Well, I wasn’t the only customer. I monitored the stock at Food Lion closely enough to be sure of that. And besides, how can a product — particularly a specialty product such as this — do better than to sell out within a few days each time it is restocked (I made sure of that, too)?
This is a case in which I keep counting on the market to work. And it keeps letting me down.
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Brad, go to Amazon.com and avoid the sales tax and traffic. Visit Dave’s Site!
This stuff sounds pretty tasty, I may have to try it out.
Hey Dave, how do you order frozen stuff over the Internet? UPS have a refrigerated truck? Just curious.
I was sort of wondering that myself, Herb. I guess they have a way…
Dave, if you want to try it, I recommend you start with the vanilla or vanilla almond bark. Don’t bother with the chocolate. It’s pretty bad.
Brad,
Good read. I have a similiar “market” problem.
I recently purchased a window air conditioner for a room I have just had finished. It is a room over a garage and I just wanted a simple window unit.
I researched several models and decided on a fairly energy efficient model. Went to the store, they didn’ t have it. The rep told me that the newer models weren’t as energy efficient. They were close but not as good. No other differences. I asked a few questions and the rep said they had had a lot of requests for the higher efficiency models and actually had a glut of the newer- less efficient models because people weren’t interested.
I ended up buying the newer- less efficient model when the rep lowered the price for me to get rid of the newer air conditioner.
Obviously this was just me at one store but I found it odd that a newer less efficient model was being turned down by so many folks but the rep said the manufacturer had decided this was best for them. Strange one indeed.
Market works – a good bit of the time. Sometimes the free market is abused severely by some of the same people that promote it so strongly.
They ship in dry ice according to the ship instructions. But you have to have expedited shipments and the charges for that also.
I have a similar question that is related to the newspaper business. I read The State in the morning (home delivery).
When I go out for lunch in Blythewood, I normally try to grab a copy of USA Today out of one of the newspaper vending boxes
outside any one of the restaurants. What puzzles me is that, more often than not, by noontime there may be only one copy (and frequently no copies) of the paper left in the box.
Maybe I’m just stupid regarding the newspaper business, but wouldn’t the smart idea be to increase the number of copies put in each box until you have several days in a row where there’s only one or two remaining the next day?
Oh, yeah… TOFUTTI??? In the words of Alfred E. Neumann, “BLECHHHH!” Gimme that Ben & Jerry’s Plain Vanilla any day.
Hey, I’m still waiting for the return of Apple Slice… Surely there’s a market somewhere for apple flavored soda.
I totally agree, Brad. Everytime I go to the dealership, there are no personal hovercrafts for me to buy. In addition, Wal-Mart never has the teleportation devices I desire.
The market has failed. We need to bring back communism and give it another try.
Packed in dry ice? Are you kidding, Dave? I’m sure Brad wants to pay $20 a gallon for ice cream, though gas may be right there with it pretty soon.
The naive concept of how the free market should work is that it should provide everything that everyone wants, whenever they want to go buy it, at the price they want to pay.
A big store like Food Lion or Publix cannot stock every brand and item. There is intense competition for shelf space, the store wants to turn their inventory, on average, every 4 days. That is why there will still be niche markets for small grocers who specialize in less common, and more expensive products… such as Whole Foods, Fresh Market, and organic stores.
Lee,
Does this mean I’m not going to get that hovercraft?
Herb, if you buy bottled water at a Charlotte Panthers game, water may be at the rate of $20 a gallon. That is how we know we have arrived. haaaaaaaaahaaaaaaa
“The naive concept of how the free market should work is that it should provide everything that everyone wants, whenever they want to go buy it, at the price they want to pay”
One again, a point missed. At least he is consistent.
and to another point –
I don’t think Brad was saying communism is better – just maybe the free market isn’t always on the money either.
Only the truly ignorant and deluded think that socialism and communism will provide more consumer choice, better quality and lower prices.
Unfortunately, there are still many people who want to believe that the market “fails” when it chooses to not provide the low quantities of speciality items that they want, in every little town and village. If you want soy ice cream in avocado flavor, you might not get it delivered to Sandy Run, SC. You might have to move to Chicago, or the same town as the factory.
Missing the point again. Closing in on a new world record.
Brad wrote “This is a case in which I keep counting on the market to work. And it keeps letting me down”
Back to Brad..
I think it fails in quite a few areas. It does seem to be better than the alternatives – or most of them.
Perhaps if you try to describe a case where the market confounds you, you will begin to understand why you fail to understand how the market works.
The free market doesn’t confound me. Why Libertarians can’t seem to elect hardly anyone – well, that doesn’t confound me either.
The fact that Copernicus was ridiculed, and Archimedes murdered, does not mean their description of the heavens and Earth were nonsense. Libertarianism is tied to the free market because that is the only moral social system producing goods and services and organizing human endeavor.
David –
You and Brad keep accusing libertarians of complaining all the time, when we are the only ones offering any ideas for comprehensive tax reform. Psycologists label your behavior as “projection” of your own behavior onto others.
If you are unfamiliar with libertarian (and other ) political philosophies, you will be unable to notice how many of those libertarian ideas have be stolen and implemented by the GOP since 1980, even if it is in the naive and shallow attempts of people like Lindsay Graham and the Heritage Foundation.
At least it is in a direction away from the socialism of the New Deal.
Brad,
I am the VP of Sales for Turtle Mountain, the largest seller of Dairy Free Ice Cream in the US. We would love your business. We are in Publix (under our Purely Decadent brand). If you send me an email with your address I can get you some coupons.
Kevin Brouillette
http://www.turtlemountain.com
Kevin, I visited your website and I compliment your company on an attractive website. You are exactly the kind of entrepreneurial spirit that only the free capitalistic market produces. Way to go. That Purely Decadent looks like good stuff.
There goes the free market, working again, this time to bring boutique ice cream to Columbia.
“You and Brad keep accusing libertarians of complaining all the time, when we are the only ones offering any ideas for comprehensive tax reform. Psycologists label your behavior as “projection” of your own behavior onto others”
My main complaint with Libertarians is that they can’t get elected to city dog catcher or any other position…..
Don’t you just love the “free market” we have?
Greenville-AP) April 25, 2006 –
An Upstate gas station has sued saying that a competitor’s lower per gallon prices at the pump have caused them to lose profits.
Pantry Incorporated owns a gas station in Gaffney. It sued in Cherokee County, alleging that Petro Express had kept prices at two of its Gaffney stations below cost.
With gas prices approaching $3 a gallon in South Carolina, it would seem Pantry’s complaint would not get a lot of support outside a courtroom.
But Pantry’s suit says its competitor violated South Carolina’s Unfair Trade Practices Act. Under the law, motor fuel retailers can’t set prices below cost if the purpose is impair competitors.
Pantry says it has lost $160,000. A judge is expected to hear the motion on July 31st
Source: WISTV.com
Jersey City elected a libertarian mayor to two terms, who cleaned up the place, then went back to being a full-time citizen.
Libertarianism, like free market economics, is not something to be imposed upon people, like socialism, liberalism, progressivism, or a theocracy. It is an educational movement, to create a more enlightened society of self-governing people.
The only Libertarianism that I have any experience with seems to be one of arrogance, constant complaining, few to no solutions, and a ton of election losses.
Anyone familiar with liberarian ideas would recognize how many of them have been implemented by the GOP since 1972, even if they were in a naive form by politicians with only a shallow understanding.
* Earned Income Tax credit for the poor
* Flattened and lower tax brackets
* Deregulation of trucking (quite a bit)
* Airline deregulation (pricing)
* Telecom deregulation (partial)
* Pollution credits for industry
* Stopping yearly CAFE rachets (need to abolish CAFE)
* Welfare to work
* School vouchers
* IRAs, SEPS and individual retirement plans
* Health savings accounts
* End of many agricultural subsidies
* Conservation easements
* Saving wildlife by making sport hunting and fishing profitable to the native peoples
I’ll give you credit for it because I don’t want to look it up to see if you are correct.
What about Libertarians has prevented them from being able to get elected and carry out their own platform?
Too much complaining? Arrogance? Both? If this board is an example, I’d say both 100%.
Most libertarians don’t want to hold office.
The usual sort of personality who wants to be a career politician is precisely the sort of person who should never hold office. Unfortunately, those are the sorts of people who pursue and gain policital power.
That is why we need Constitutions, to strictly limit the power of all levels of government, limit time in office to maybe just one term, limit spending, and forbid borrowing, require referendums for all tax changes, and permit recalls of politicians an repeal of bad laws by initiatives.
PS: If you want to see a lot of libertarian ideas which have been stolen and implemented by other politicians, look at the 100-page plan put forth by the LP in the 1980 campaign.
Brad, I have a problem finding Tofutti, also. The local publix had it and I spoke to their frozen foods manager and he said that he was very frustrated he couldn’t get it for his customers. (Not just me asking for it.)
Yes, there vanilla is the best!! I have tried others and they tasted awful. (Sorry, Mr.Kevin Brouillette of turtlemountain your product falls into the tastes awful category)
Dave, thank you for the website info to buy online. Really can’t afford to do that at this time.
For those of you who have made this a political science/philosophy/economy discussion/slamfest just agree to disagree and get over yourselves.