Price Gouging at the Supermarket

Searching the Wellcome shelves for milk this morning reminded me of a chapter in the Undercover Economist which discusses how supermarkets price gouge by ostensibly misplacing cheaper substitutes, often relegating them to an obscure shelf on the other side of the shop.

I was looking for milk so I made my way over to the drink aisle where I had previously procured soya milk. Indeed, the familiar soya milk brands were there; however, to my amusement, no cow's milk was to be found, I noticed. Wondering where it could be, since I fancied drinking some, I went to the cereal shelves since, I conjectured, milk must be close by its breakfast staple.

I found the cow's milk in the next aisle, as predicted, but not before the organic soya milk, which stood listlessly next to the cow's milk, caught my eye. There were several varieties, from different brands, and the prices ranged from $14.5 to $20.5HKD. The cheapest soya milk at first blush seemed appealing when compared to the other soya milks; and when weighing whether to drink "conventional" cow's milk or whether to drink organic soya milk, my elitism impelled me to choose organic soya milk, the official, pretentious drink of New York Time's readers.




My ostentatiousness had almost blinded me to price; and it didn't help that Wellcome, the duplicitous retailer it is, decided to put non-organic milk away from its dairy cousins so the thought of paying 16.8HKD for soya milk doesn't seem so absurd with 8.5HKD boxes of milk placed out of sight; such sagacity leads to fatter profits! Thankfully, my wallet abruptly ripped me from this reverie to remind me that for the price of one box of organic soya milk, I could have two boxes of the non-organic kind, if only I would kindly make my way back to the drink aisle. I agreed without scruple and subsequently purchased a double portion of non-organic soya milk.

As the Undercover Economist recommends, it's best to vote with one's wallet to support retailers who will not exploit the merits of organic foods by charging ridiculously high sums for them. Buy "conventional" foods and watch organic prices drop.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• hk
• hong
• kong
• china
• chinese
• milk
• soy
• soya
• wellcome
• supermarket
• economist
• price
• discrimination
• targeting
• shopping
• organic
• food

[mckln]

All the box milk is sold warm since it doesn't require refrigeration until opening. Only fresh milk in glass bottles or cartons would be refrigerated.

[thesource012007]

milk is sold warm depending on packaging type and pasteurized at ultra high temperature.

[johnebii]

all i can say is that's what you get for drinking soy milk. regular cow's milk-about 4 bucks a gallon

[Turbo231]

That's a pretty neat store layout. I do have a question, I live in the U.S. and a majority of our milk, cow or soy, is refrigerated. Is all the milk sold warm, or is there some in the refrigerated section?