The Extent of Fresh Foods Consumed

If quality of life also means access to and consumption of more fresh food in daily practice, then the statistics for packaged food use is a surprise.

In 2016, the top nation spending most of packaged food is Norway, which purchased around twice the amount per capita in fast food obsessed USA. Western nations figure high in packaged food which are mostly sourced in supermarkets, petrol stations and 24 hour corner grocery chains. 

Japan is ranked number 7 in this category, which can be contradictory to its national high age living expectancy, but which can also be explained by a high proportion of its society experiencing a rigorous and demanding urban lifestyle dependent on convenient packaged foods, like from sophisticated vending machines. 

Australia at number ten is no surprise. I have often observed the dominance of processed food on the shelves of the major supermarkets of packaged food, many laden with sugar, most with brightly coloured designs and placed at strategic locations in the layout. There has been an effort to expand fresh food options like sushi, fruit and veg. Admirable is the availability of free fruit for kids in supermarkets in New Zealand.

The inequities in income and purchasing power can come into play for buying more packaged foods. Fresh food is on average more expensive and has a shorter shelf life. 

With packaged food comes the question of how seriously consumers read the detail on the labels. In recent years, packaged food sizes have shrunk for many products despite retaining the same retail price. There is the interesting aspect of extent of disclosure of the source of the packaged offering. As consumers emphasise more on effects on health from manufactured food, small retailers and big chains do continue to provide more information, but it is what is not disclosed that has risen to be of concern.

The arrival of cheaper per unit but more bulk buying models like Costco in new markets and nations can also add to the spend on packaged foods. Bottled drinks, dried fruit and nuts, cooking essentials, frozen options and lollies are often captivating buys for growing families.

The standard of living measure obviously does not just mean more fresh produce but is more of a holistic measure of choice, convenience and cultural options. 

Connecting or Dividing - Reckon for Yourself

There can be a significant and important difference of experience at the grassroots as opposed to what media, politicians and those with agendas want us to believe.

Pronouncements can be made by specific parties to divide, alienate, separate, unify or bond. These can make real impact, true, invalidated or false, on the perceptions and feelings of individuals and groups. The efficiency of social media can amplify the outcomes, whether of benefit or disadvantage to a society's short term or long term interests. 

It was refreshing for me recently to have an opportunity to test reality at the grassroots in one particular nation. One interesting way is to chat with every Uber, private or taxicab driver you come across. These drivers do interact with various individuals who may be silent, talkative or in between in conversation level whilst being their passengers. The opinions of such drivers can provide clearer and more accurate trends happening out there, instead of sifting from skewed and small samples from so called professional survey takers. 

Another opportunity arose in talking with retail workers when making purchases or buying a meal. Do they instinctively smile at you despite the language barrier? Do they try to pull a fast one even if sharing the same culture and language? How is business? How is your day? Do you look forward to quitting time today? Is anyone of a particular background not really fulfilling the stereotyped perceptions and hype emphasised by certain parties with a purpose? 

In a cosmopolitan world, we allow for and try to understand differences, especially in nurturing a diverse nation. What is remarkable is that there can be a quantifiable level of camaraderie in interaction between persons brought up with differences in religion, social experience and access to economic benefits. Politics, power play and competition can accentuate differences but human nature also wants to connect, share and be reasonable.

"You've got to be taught,
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught,
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed,
In your dear little ear,
You've got to be carefully taught!"

That is how Rodgers and Hammerstein articulated racism more than half a century ago to song and dance in the much acclaimed musical "South Pacific". How true do those words still ring true in today's world. Not just in terms of racism, but also in the tensions and dynamics of political shades, religious beliefs and social hierarchies. 

As more societies become increasingly diverse, it is vital for individuals and countries to increasingly think for themselves and not be proverbial lemmings in their hearts following the leads of others who are more vocal, dominant and aggressive. 

Greater mobility, better technology and increased fusion in many aspects of life will pose to each of us to think carefully about the answer to the quintessential question - are we not all human beings?

Travel - To Buy or Not

Just like a Mackers Burger or a Prada handbag can be charged with varying prices around the world, so can an Apple IPhone. 

Would you factor in purchases as part of your next holiday agenda? Shopping in the USA is a significant activity for sports products, clothes and accessories. Local taxes, tips and currency exchange do figure well into such decisions of buying away from home. 

There may be no need to travel as cyberspace does offer a huge convenience and discount on prices and physical delivery. Where nations require you to be a local to be entitled to those attractive prices, there are also ways and means for foreigners to pose as such locals to qualify. The meaning of market bargaining has been expanded with various strong tactics on discounts during a tight time window, bulk empowerment and cutting out on retail front costs. 

Commercialism thrives on convincing a buyer of not to miss obtaining a product, whether through the need to have the latest version, to keep up with trends or with making passé workable but previous editions of the same product. This churns turnover, vital to pump up revenue and meet performance targets to meet shareholder approval and senior executive bonuses. The world is now the endless horizon for possibilities, requiring smart play offs in pricing and availability on markets that can increasingly have higher purchasing power. 

The Technology Price Index of 2017 lists an attractive average price of around $414 for an Apple IPhone in Japan, compared to $575 in Australia. Figures for Malaysia are $532, India 505 and China $471. (All US Dollars quoted). Does that mean just visiting your chosen foreign country to buy at a lower price? It can be more complicated than just this. 

There are product specs that can make technology products not so easily usable in another market or nation. Unlike clothes, barriers do exist to allow a typical consumer access to the best possible price with the most features. They can be compatibility, market protection of margins and economic factors like inflation. 

Overall, it makes for a very interesting and varied field when trying to secure your top ten most exciting personal purchases. A rare book, a motivating sports shoe, a car model or a unique orchid. The best markets to secure products usually synchronise with environments with high governance standards, more open trading conditions and more stable political climates. Where trade and commerce is encouraged, you can usually bet on your best prices for your personal pet list of purchases. Countering this is the high cost of living, unusual constraints on personal freedoms, state of civil unrest and small size of markets in the nations where you want to buy. 

Agendas of Society, Business and Government

At the macro dimension, why do we change things when there are no issues with an incumbent model? Alternatively, why do we not change things when there is an obvious track record of misgivings, defects, negative customer service and poor leadership?

1. The Games the Super Rich and Powerful Play.
Human society and its mechanisms of power, politics and wealth control can be complex but also fascinating. The upper echelon of human beings do not reveal all to the masses to protect and continue the privileges, comfort and excesses of enjoying life at the top. Whether change occurs or not, some group has significant stakes in not wanting to shake or wanting to change the status quo. At the same time, when transactions occur, there is always opportunity for a cut of the action and funds for brokers and middlemen.

2. Relying on Shaping Skewed Opinions Rather Than Doing the Ethical Thing.
The shapers of public influence can be bought with huge money. Whether they are political parties, traditional media, social media, telecommunications players and those that pop up now and then to feed a growing niche, the days of simple social influence are now bypassed by the current age of powerful analytics, tampered messages and hidden networks of sophisticated players. 

3. The Costs of Playing With a Two Edged Sword.
The psyche of human beings can be to undermine or muck up things when it need not be. This used to be referred to as Murphy's Law. At the same time, what seems to be a solution on the surface and interim turns out to generate further problems on implementation. What felt like opportunity could turn a business or organisation on to the slippery slope.

Technology is supposed to provide more ease and improvement in the quality of life, but the very same technology can also intrude your privacy, facilitate breaches, hold one to ransom and encourage alternative thinking. Easier mobility of travel is now accompanied by higher risks in personal and collective security. Carrying out more of our lives depending on the Internet dehumanises each of us more than we know or realise. 

Technology can effectively bring down financial costs, but also at the same time lower practice standards in compliance and play short shift with other drivers.

4. Selective Smokescreens.
The politicians we elect to office make very obvious selective choices in raising issues for impact to their careers and party survival. 

In Australia, the alarming numbers of huge drug seizures, carnage of road accidents, excessive alcohol consumption at sports events, the disenfranchisement of our youth, accelerating health care costs and rising gambling addiction do not raise as many alarm bells in the various levels of Parliament as the personality conflicts in politics, the articulate complaints of so called victims of political incorrectness, the flux of marginal support levels for the Government in power and the balancing of embedded interests behind an elected leader. 

5. The Push for Relentless Turnover.
Contemporary society, perhaps driven by economics academics, seem to be more obsessed with reporting statistics, poll results and trends rather than finding practical solutions. The churning of figures, as seen by daily movements in share prices, index counters and currency exchange, seem to primarily serve hedging and speculative trading rather than provide any useful indicators. This has led to making money out of air rather than based on actual asset values.

6. Who Blinks First?
Hyping up the benefits of change when those changes in reality do not deliver can bring much disappointment and damage to reputation. 

A continuing series of significant misdemeanours inflicted on customers under the same key commercial leadership would have meant the unacceptable loss of face and immediate resignation in Japanese culture. Boards and shareholders in Australia seem to side with senior management rather than employees and other human people - until the swirling fan hits unavoidable shit. 

7. Short sighted Views and Rewards.
We cannot blame only the Millennials for their need for instant gratification. Older generations have shown significant penchant by hugely rewarding individuals and companies for short term but spectacular profits and results, some of which are not sustainable. So problems can be brushed over as long as the big bacon is brought home and there is no need to bother quelling some huge fires in disparate parts of the Empire. 

8. The Rise and Ruse of Public Communications.
The art of convincing, rationalising and justifying developments has taken to a different level in the history of human speak. One finds many official communiques side stepping the core questions, provides answers out of context and paints positive points about an organisation even if that was not asked for. So it can lead to a balletic self talk of supporting spending on white elephants. 

This art of allowing public relations primarily manage an issue, instead of actually removing the causes of the problem, may have seeped internally within a business when the leadership and Board are only told of what they want to hear.

9. Reduced Effectiveness of the Regulatory Authorities.  
Political grandstanding, withholding of funding ( until an event strikes), a non supportive corporate culture and the attitude of key shareholders all can negatively impact on the capability, efficiency and development of reliable regulatory units, either within or external to the business. 

10. The Comfort Zone at the Top of the Tree.
An organisation or business can become so large the reporting lines are sandbagged with provincial passions, territorial possessiveness and distracting politics, until the key interests of the institution or whom they really serve are de-emphasised. There can be smaller institutions which still have a larger than life ego than what they are meant to be.

Value for Money, Experience and Perception

Can we fully rely on perceptions, survey outcomes and statistical sampling?

Around 43000 people in 52 nations over last December and January were asked on their views of the quality of country based products and manufactures. Statista has released the survey outcomes for 2017 and announced that the highest accolades of respect for the latest Made in Country rankings go to Germany, given a score of 100. Think of sports, automobile and machinery labels. 

Most of the countries rated in the top ten are in Europe, with Switzerland narrowly behind Deutschland. The UK scored 91 out of 100, with Sweden taking in at 90 - Italy and France scored in the eighties. Authenticity, sustainability, advanced technology, fair production, security standards and quality were factored in together with other measures like status symbols, value for money, uniqueness and design attractiveness. 

The Made in Germany label long ago was perceived to be poor compared to British Empire standards from a previous century. In 2017, China is ranked 49, India at 42 and Argentina at 30. Australia and NZ are respectively listed at 14 and 15. 

Japan remains the only non- European origin country in the top ten, tying with France and the USA with a score of 81. Both South Korea and Singapore chalked up 56 points, with neighbours Thailand and Malaysia neck to neck around 49 points. Products made in Israel are rated only 36 points.

There can be a combination of circumstances and challenges affecting perceptions of survey participants - historical reputation, marketing vibes, product availability, customer experience, pricing psychology, standards compliance, long term consistency and reliability, customer service, labour and materials sourcing plus political stability of the source country. Entertainment exposure, celebrity use, persistent improvement profiles and customer engagement also significantly help. 

Canada, Japan and Australia are the leading trio with the most positive changes over 12 months in perception for this Made in Country Index. What have these nations made and carried out to deserve this? It also emphasises the continuing efforts by the Japanese in implementing Kaizen. 

Not surprisingly, Italy leads in uniqueness and design; China in value for money; Germany for quality and security standards: Canada for sustainability and fair production; plus Switzerland for status symbols and authenticity.

The Industrial Revolution in western societies from another century continue to embed the quality rankings for products made there in the 21st century. The interesting question going forward is whether China, India, Latin America and selected Asian nations can rise up to this challenge. The other critical question is whether positive perceptions convert into actual purchases, increased business and rising revenues.