False Confidence (I Hope…)
I was reading an online industry article this morning: “The Invincibles – Recession Proof Food and Healthy Eating“, and winced when I read this part:
Other food categories that are expected to be virtually immune to the economic storm include French fries, candy and beer, while those expected to suffer include organics and carbonated beverages.
But in an interview the Financial Post, published last week, Wallace McCain who founded the Canadian global giant McCain Foods, famous for its French fries, said that the basics would be the last to suffer.
When asked if French fries are recession proof he gave a resounding yes and said: “The last thing you give up is food. Going to the rink you’ll give up buying an extra cup of coffee, but you gotta eat.”
“I just think if this country goes to hell, we’d be the last one down.”
Deceptively inexpensive convenience foods like Spam, I can understand (even if I don’t condone), but since when did french fries become one of the “basics”??? And candy and beer???
I sincerely hope this is false confidence on the part of Mr. McCain…I’d like to think that – in a tight economy – people’s food purchasing priorities would be a little better than this.
March 30, 2009
I agree. I also read an article last week that said since the downturn in the economy the sales of fast food, candy, alcohol, and tobaco are all up.
It’s hard to beleive people will buy more of these unhealthy things to “releive the stress” of the economy.
Maybe more money spent on healthy food options would actually make people feel better, and be “stressed” less.
April 1, 2009
Just to echo what Makster said, I saw a recent CBC National report that showed while sales for almost everything else in Canada were slumping, alcohol sales continued to grow. In tough times, people apparently need to “take the edge off” a little more. Someone should tell them it’s cheaper to get a gym membership… not to mention much more productive. 😉