tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25204857824628824402024-11-01T00:41:51.904-07:00Exploring the Economics of Tasteby Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01861503922485701596noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520485782462882440.post-40501866139758063382010-12-15T11:48:00.000-08:002010-12-15T12:11:03.508-08:00

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.5px Times} Well, we use "Scoop" loosely, but it’s still kinda cool that this was in last Saturday’s Times, ELEVEN whole days after we put a very similar post up here on “The Biz." We questioned the Dark Side WEEKS ago... While we hope that this means the venerable folks at America’s “Paper of Record” are reading us, we also realize that this

by Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01861503922485701596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520485782462882440.post-11830958581779057202010-12-07T08:21:00.000-08:002010-12-15T11:52:35.661-08:00

The new food safety legislation passed by the Senate last week that will have a revolutionary impact on the way that food is tested, and inevitably produced, in America, will also have a mindboggling price tag. The Omaha World-Herald, a great paper for agribusiness stories by the by, quotes the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) as estimating the cost of the bill at $1.4 billion over the next

by Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01861503922485701596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520485782462882440.post-44531344355887021512010-12-02T14:56:00.000-08:002010-12-15T11:53:51.224-08:00

The current issue of Mother Jones has a story about a group of pro-agribusiness college students who are being simultaneously educated in press relations by “Big Beef” (agree with them or not, you have to appreciate Mother Jones’ anti-establishment literary aplomb). As we’ve discussed here at “The Biz” a few times lately (scroll away), the price on beef commodities and beef futures are soaring

by Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01861503922485701596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520485782462882440.post-67555519403486906512010-11-30T15:56:00.000-08:002010-12-15T11:54:01.627-08:00

While this isn’t exactly a business story, we find ourselves unable to resist posting this story from yesterday’s Times about red bees in Brooklyn. The borough is home to us at “The Biz” so the mere idea that a maraschino factory nearby our home can turn living creatures red is one that is almost too cool not to muse on for a little while. The mind boggles. Enjoy your evenings, for tomorrow

by Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01861503922485701596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520485782462882440.post-58231565385858358152010-11-30T09:18:00.000-08:002010-12-15T11:57:54.492-08:00

Or is there a more logical explanation? We’ll start up the “Doubting Thomas” Machine in a second, but let’s first acknowledge (and stick with the biblical analogy) that Tyson Foods Inc. seems to have rolled away the metaphorical stone at the mouth of the metaphorical tomb in which they seemed to be ensconced after last year's dismal earnings reports. 2009 was a historically tough year for a

by Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01861503922485701596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520485782462882440.post-69732308681785276362010-11-30T08:02:00.000-08:002010-12-15T12:00:11.038-08:00

OpenTable.com, for those of you not “in the know,” is a website that allows diners to make restaurant reservations using the ease of the internet and also track availability at the “hottest” places, giving them a better chance and getting a precious table in temples of the new gastronomy in towns like New York and Chicago. An aggregator like OpenTable should be a boon to the restaurant scene in

by Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01861503922485701596noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520485782462882440.post-15115962244823667722010-11-29T09:16:00.000-08:002010-12-15T12:01:20.816-08:00

Here's a heartwarming (eventually, you need to read through) story from The Times about value-added food programs for the needy this holiday season. For us, it takes an interesting angle that we've become all to familiar with, and are starting to tire of reading. The marriage of "corporate responsibility"and food issues, while laudable and just, seems to be fast becoming the "low hanging fruit"

by Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01861503922485701596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520485782462882440.post-54386705013133765062010-11-19T15:22:00.000-08:002010-12-15T12:01:43.240-08:00

A while back we interviewed a guy named David Hitchner for a piece we were writing on local NYC food businesses, and we thought we'd throw it up on here for the readers of "The Biz."David owns a very cool wine shop and an awesome restaurant in the East Village. If you're a fellow New Yorker, you should really go frequent his establishments. "The Biz" approves. Enjoy; David Hitchner is a

by Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01861503922485701596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520485782462882440.post-47646007191761077262010-11-16T15:40:00.000-08:002010-12-15T12:03:55.840-08:00

The news coverage of America’s most disliked new energy drink has reached almost every corner of media and is, at this point, almost unavoidable. What has not been discussed enough though, and what really interests us here at “The Biz” is the cultural relativism inherent in the American lifestyle that allows a product like Four Loko to be conceived of, produced, funded, tested, approved,

by Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01861503922485701596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520485782462882440.post-81688247036858274852010-11-05T15:23:00.000-07:002010-12-15T12:04:27.441-08:00

As The Times reported Tuesday (and we here at "The Biz" have suspected for a while) The Kellogg's Company is so disappointed with their sales figures for 2010 that they are publicly talking about a bounce back year in 2011. Citing a June 25th recall of their Apple Jacks, Corn Pops, Froot Loops and Honey Smacks brands of breakfast cereal boxes and lower sales figures for

by Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01861503922485701596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520485782462882440.post-8895143673187656372010-10-14T18:00:00.000-07:002010-12-15T12:06:58.796-08:00

According to a piece today on Reuters, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has announced plans to double its commitment to sourcing its produce from smaller farms and ones more local to their retail locations. Yes, that Wal-Mart... "Welcome to Wal-Mart, I'm the Backbone  of America" The company claims that this change to their produce inventory will constitute a $1 billion increase to

by Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01861503922485701596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520485782462882440.post-71247294956170804962010-10-13T19:27:00.000-07:002010-12-15T12:07:28.746-08:00

Because as the price of corn surges higher and higher on the commodities markets, some publications have begun their watch of how it might affect cattle futures, and inevitably the cost of our steaks. And corn isn’t just inching up slowly, today’s WSJ not only refers to a two year high of $5.79 a bushel (a figure that hit the limits allowed by The Chicago Board of Trade), it also shows that corn

by Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01861503922485701596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520485782462882440.post-24075343113616469742010-10-13T11:29:00.000-07:002010-10-13T11:29:46.802-07:00

After recently reading Dan Ariely's wonderful book Predictably Irrational, I decided to conduct an experiment of my own to see how people will, if given the chance, act irrationally in regards to their own best interest when making a decision. The Hypothesis As a formerly employed, commuting New Yorker, I am intimately familiar with the often convoluted, and always unsatisfactory, ways through

by Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01861503922485701596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520485782462882440.post-83628266857818186202010-10-10T12:40:00.000-07:002010-12-15T12:08:19.690-08:00

A few month back, The Washington Post published an article that linked a dip in fast-food breakfast sales to rising unemployment. The argument was made that with fewer people making morning commutes to their jobs, fewer and fewer breakfasts were being purchased at "drive-thru" windows. While the argument holds some water in terms of data relating to breakfast purchases, the 

by Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01861503922485701596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520485782462882440.post-35127133258346738952010-09-24T12:13:00.000-07:002010-12-15T12:08:46.246-08:00

With Kraft foods recent acquisition of English chocolate giant Cadbury, Nestle SA is moving quickly to improve profits in what is currently their most profitable market. Cadbury's British pedigree and strong presence in India, both historically and financially, signify a threat to Nestle, but the Swiss conglomerate apparently has a plan in place to ameliorate that empirical 

by Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01861503922485701596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520485782462882440.post-35936416126608779682010-09-24T11:37:00.000-07:002010-11-30T09:21:18.943-08:00

As the FDA's hearings on AquaBounty's genetically modified fish kicked into high gear this week, new and more vociferous arguments were made on both sides of the issue. CNN.com's "Eatocracy" blog (which has been doing the best reporting on this story) has a story positing the argument from both sides of the scientific perspective. While many of the arguments discussed in the story that are bing

by Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01861503922485701596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520485782462882440.post-46490032080082601192010-09-18T11:11:00.000-07:002010-12-15T12:10:15.436-08:00

In late August, Scientists for The EU announced that an experiment, conducted with the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, into breeding Atlantic bluefin tuna in captivity had yielded the successful creation of a genetically modified species. This new advancement makes bluefin easier to produce, breed to size and cheaper at market allowing the new strain of bluefin to be bigger and cheaper

by Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01861503922485701596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520485782462882440.post-10541531169232784272010-09-10T15:09:00.000-07:002010-11-30T09:19:43.625-08:00

According to a story in today's Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal (it's also been picked up by the AP), General Mills is prepared to fight hard over their right to license the Yoplait yogurt brand that its had the rights to since 1977. A French company named Sodima, that actually owns and produces Yoplait, is attempting to use what they believe is an "out-clause" in their contract with

by Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01861503922485701596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520485782462882440.post-27755534320634124022010-09-10T14:05:00.000-07:002010-11-30T16:31:26.260-08:00

In the coming months we hope to use this space as a place to examine how socio-economic realities and business decisions in financial markets have causal effects, both large and small, on what we eat. Whether we shop for a meal to cook at home for ourselves or choose to have one placed on a table in front of us at a restaurant, our tastes and limitations of choice are being

by Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01861503922485701596noreply@blogger.com0