tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/heinz-1959/articlesHeinz – The Conversation2023-11-16T14:27:53Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2177472023-11-16T14:27:53Z2023-11-16T14:27:53ZCan ketchup really be used as a sports supplement, as a new advert suggests?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559654/original/file-20231115-15-mfi7pq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=37%2C0%2C8206%2C5487&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-0122-small-packaged-portions-2253016641">Yau Ming Low/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the world of endurance sports, how athletes fuel themselves can be the difference between success and struggle. Traditionally, athletes have relied on specialised energy gels for a quick and easily digestible source of carbohydrates during extended workouts. But now a surprising contender has emerged: Heinz ketchup packets, thanks to a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGfkwWTllyo">new ad</a> featuring runners using them as their supplement of choice.</p>
<p>Taste is a crucial factor when choosing supplements, especially during strenuous endurance efforts. Traditional sports foods offer various flavours to cater to athletes’ palates. Heinz ketchup packets bring a familiar tangy taste, but the savoury nature of ketchup might not appeal to everyone during a workout. Personal preference matters, as an unpalatable choice could lead to digestive issues and detract from an athlete’s true potential.</p>
<p>Endurance athletes need to consume carbohydrates for sustained energy during prolonged activities. Carbs are the body’s go-to energy source, especially during intense activities, and Heinz ketchup contains carbs primarily in the form of sugar from the tomatoes. Having a readily available option like ketchup packets could offer a crucial energy boost during training or competition, although the practicality might be a limiting factor.</p>
<p>For workouts lasting under an hour, ketchup packets might suffice. However, standard energy gels on the market have around 25g of carbs, and the <a href="https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/fulltext/2009/03000/nutrition_and_athletic_performance.27.aspx">recommendation</a> for athletes engaging in longer exercises is 30–60g of carbs per hour. Each 10ml packet of ketchup contains 2.6g of carbohydrates. To meet the lower end of this range, runners would need about 12 ketchup packets per hour, posing a logistical challenge during a workout.</p>
<p>Opening and consuming multiple ketchup packets on the go may prove to be an awkward task, potentially detracting from an athlete’s focus and efficiency. As someone who struggles to open a single packet at the best of times, the practicality of relying on a dozen packets during a long run seems doubtful. This raises questions about the real-world applicability of Heinz ketchup as a sports supplement. </p>
<p>Additionally, sports gels often have added electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, and magnesium. These electrolytes are lost through sweat during exercise and replenishing them is important for preventing dehydration and muscle cramping during endurance activities. Heinz ketchup will contain some electrolytes due to the salt content, but sports gels are often scientifically formulated to provide a more precise electrolyte balance, making them the preferred choice for athletes.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TGfkwWTllyo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The new Heinz ad.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ketchup is also highly acidic due to the tomatoes and vinegar. Acidic foods may trigger heartburn and acid reflux, diverting your focus from peak performance. The combination of sugars and acid in ketchup can also <a href="https://www.dentalhealth.org/news/others-play-ketchup-as-tomato-sauce-is-crowned-king-of-the-summer-condiments">wreak havoc on dental health</a> – an often-overlooked factor in athletes. Sauces, such as ketchup, can harm teeth as they are sticky and can cling to them. </p>
<p>On a more positive note, tomatoes contain compounds like <a href="https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-lycopene">lycopene</a> and <a href="https://www.webmd.com/diet/what-to-know-about-dietary-carotenoids">carotenoids</a>. These antioxidants have been shown to <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijsnem/28/3/article-p266.xml">reduce markers of muscle damage</a> after an endurance run. </p>
<h2>Impractical packets</h2>
<p>While ketchup packets may not enhance immediate performance, they could aid recovery following endurance exercise. However, consuming enough of these beneficial compounds from ketchup seems impractical.</p>
<p>If you enjoy ketchup, it can still be included in your diet in moderation. The reality is that the occasional packet is not necessarily going to stop you performing well. However, it is not likely to be a worthwhile supplement. </p>
<p>As a sports nutritionist, my advice if you are considering using Heinz ketchup as a sports supplement is to experiment with it in your training regimen before incorporating it into any important competitions. Testing its compatibility with your body and performance goals ensures that you are making informed choices about your fuelling strategies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217747/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel Kimble does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Heinz is encouraging runners to consume packets of ketchup to boost performance.Rachel Kimble, Lecturer in Sports Nutrition, University of the West of ScotlandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/998122018-07-23T10:22:57Z2018-07-23T10:22:57ZA brief history of ketchup<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228700/original/file-20180722-142438-k7576v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Heinz is why ketchup seemed to become distinctly American.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Mike Blake</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Trade wars have an interesting way of revealing cultural stereotypes. </p>
<p>Countries often propose tariffs not on the most valuable items in their trading relationships – since that would be painful to them as well – but rather products iconic of national character. A good example of this came in the European Union’s retaliation against U.S. steel tariffs. Among the US$3.3 billion in goods it <a href="http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2018/march/tradoc_156648.pdf">slapped a tariff</a> on in May were Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Kentucky bourbon and Levi’s jeans. </p>
<p>Now, American ketchup is being targeted, both by the EU and Canada. The United States’ northern neighbor <a href="https://qz.com/1318475/the-full-list-of-229-us-products-targeted-by-canadas-retaliatory-tariffs/">imposed</a> a 10 percent tariff on the product in July, while the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e3f9b700-809b-11e8-bc55-50daf11b720d">EU has suggested</a> it would be a part of the next round of retaliatory tariffs, which could go into effect <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-19/eu-is-said-to-prepare-car-tariff-retaliation-before-trump-talks">within weeks</a>. </p>
<p>The EU’s threat is mostly symbolic because it is already a significant producer of ketchup – including by American brands like H.J. Heinz – and imports very little of the tomato condiment from the U.S. Canada, however, as recently as 2016 <a href="https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/usa/show/210320/2016/">imported</a> more than half of all the ketchup American companies send abroad. </p>
<p>In either case, at least part of the reasoning behind using it as a weapon in the growing trade war seems to be that ketchup, also spelled catsup, is one of those products that sounds distinctly American, poured generously on burgers and fries at baseball parks and Fourth of July barbecues across the U.S. </p>
<p>But in fact, the irony is that this ubiquitous condiment is anything but American in its origins or in those nationalities that love it the most. As a <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ken-albala-204565">historian of food</a>, I see it as a truly a global product, its origins shaped by centuries of trade. And different cultures have adopted a wide variety of surprising uses for the condiment we know as ketchup today.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228666/original/file-20180720-142432-8diifi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228666/original/file-20180720-142432-8diifi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228666/original/file-20180720-142432-8diifi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228666/original/file-20180720-142432-8diifi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228666/original/file-20180720-142432-8diifi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228666/original/file-20180720-142432-8diifi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228666/original/file-20180720-142432-8diifi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some people even put ketchup on their pizza.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pizza_s_ke%C4%8Dupem.jpg">Wikimedia Commons/Dezidor</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The origins of ‘ke-chiap’</h2>
<p>Although ketchup is <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ketchup">defined</a> by Merriam-Webster as a “seasoned pureed condiment usually made from tomatoes,” in the past it has been concocted from a wide variety of ingredients. </p>
<p>China – another country with which the U.S. is in the middle of a serious trade spat – <a href="http://andrewfsmith.com/books/pure-ketchup">was likely the original source</a> of the condiment with something that sounded like “ke-chiap.” It likely originated as a fish-based sauce <a href="https://www.history.com/news/ketchup-a-saucy-history">many centuries ago</a>, a condiment akin to the many fermented sauces one finds throughout southeast Asia. It was primarily used as a seasoning for cooking. </p>
<p>From there it made its way to the Malay Peninsula and to Singapore, where British colonists first encountered what locals called “kecap” in the 18th century. Like soy sauce, it was deemed exotic and perked up what was a comparatively bland British cuisine, such as roasts and fried foods.</p>
<p>English cookbooks of the era reveal how it was soon transformed into a condiment made with other bases such as mushrooms or pickled walnuts, rather than only fish. <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_compleat_housewife_or_Accomplished_g.html?id=XvMHAAAAQAAJ">E. Smith’s “Compleat Housewife”</a> includes an anchovy-based “katchup” with wine and spices, more akin to Worcestershire sauce than what we think of as ketchup. </p>
<p>A more significant transformation took place in the early 19th century in the U.S. when it was made with tomatoes, sweetened, soured with vinegar and spiced with cloves, allspice, nutmeg and ginger – pretty much the modern-day recipe. </p>
<p>The first published recipe for tomato ketchup was written in 1812 by Philadelphia scientist and horticulturalist James Mease in his “Archives of Useful Knowledge, vol. 2.”</p>
<h2>Heinz makes it ‘American’</h2>
<p>Heinz, the American company perhaps most associated with ketchup, <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/seeing-is-believing-the-story-behind-henry-heinzs-condiment-empire/">didn’t get into the game</a> until 1876, seven years after Henry John Heinz set up the company to sell horseradish using his mother’s recipe. After his initial company went bankrupt, he launched a new one and began bottling tomato “ketchup,” spelled that way to distinguish it from other catsup brands.</p>
<p>From here, ketchup took on a uniquely American character and began its career as not only a universal condiment but a mass-produced brand-name article of trade that could last indefinitely on the shelf, be shipped around the world and used in ways never imagined by its creators. </p>
<p>Like so many other products, it became emblematic of American culture: quick, easy, convenient and too sweet but also adaptable to any gastronomic context – and a bit addictive. Ketchup became the quick fix that seemed to make any dish perk up instantly, from meatballs to scrambled eggs.</p>
<p>In a sense, it also became a “mother sauce,” meaning that one can concoct other sauces with ketchup as the base. Barbecue sauce usually uses ketchup, as does cocktail sauce for shrimp, with the addition of horseradish. Think also of <a href="https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/russian-dressing-51182860">Russian dressing</a> or <a href="https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/18542/thousand-island-dressing-ii/">Thousand Island</a>. Or consider various recipes that are often ketchup laden, like <a href="https://www.thewholesomedish.com/the-best-classic-meatloaf/">meatloaf</a> and <a href="https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/03/thai-sweet-chili-ketchup.html">chili</a>.</p>
<h2>How the world consumes ketchup</h2>
<p>While ketchup is indeed an American staple – <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/12/02/248195661/ketchup-the-all-american-condiment-that-comes-from-asia">97 percent of households</a> have a bottle on hand – it’s very popular around the world, where the condiment is used in a lot of surprising ways. </p>
<p>Although practically sacrilegious in Italy, ketchup <a href="https://www.foodbeast.com/news/think-about-ketchup-on-a-pizza/">is often squirted on pizza</a> in places as far flung as Trinidad, Lebanon and <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-07-02/news/9103160121_1_pan-pizza-poland-limited-menu">Poland</a>. Similarly, ketchup is even used as a substitute for tomato sauce in pasta dishes in countries such as in Japan, which created a catsup-based dish called <a href="https://www.thespruceeats.com/spaghetti-napolitan-japanese-ketchup-pasta-2031629">spaghetti Napolitan</a>.</p>
<p>In the Philippines there’s a <a href="http://www.foodrepublic.com/2015/09/02/banana-ketchup-the-philippines-answer-to-a-lack-of-tomatoes/">popular banana ketchup</a> that was invented when tomatoes ran short during World War II but otherwise looks and tastes like tomato ketchup. In Germany the local favorite is a <a href="http://currywurstmuseum.com/en">curry powder-spiked ketchup</a> that goes on sausages sold by street vendors everywhere. </p>
<p>Without doubt the most intriguing recipe comes from Canada, where people enjoy <a href="http://www.kraftcanada.com/recipes/great-canadian-heinz-ketchup-cake-193998">ketchup cake</a>, a sweet red frosted layer cake that is much better than it sounds. </p>
<p>The modern variety of ketchup even returned home to China to become the base of many Chinese or perhaps more properly Chinese-American dishes like <a href="https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/01/sweet-and-sour-sauce.html">sweet and sour chicken</a>. Ketchup is sometimes a stand in for tamarind in <a href="https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/padthai_67953">pad thai</a>. </p>
<p>But the best recipe comes from my father who once told me that during the Great Depression people without money would ask for a cup of hot water to which they would add some free ketchup and have a meal of tomato soup.</p>
<h2>Ketchup lovers today</h2>
<p>Today, the U.S. is the biggest exporter of ketchup and other tomato sauces by country. In 2016, it exported $379 million worth, or 21 percent of all trade in the product category. While only 1.9 percent of that – $7.3 million – <a href="https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/usa/show/210320/2016/">went to Europe</a>, a whopping 60 percent – $228 million – was exported to Canada.</p>
<p>Heinz is among the <a href="https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/ketchup-market">biggest producers</a>, with a market share of 80 percent in Europe – via <a href="https://www.kraftheinzcompany.eu/news/the-largest-ketchup-factory-in-europe/">factories</a> in the U.K., Netherlands and elsewhere – and 60 percent in the U.S.</p>
<p>Put together, however, Europe actually <a href="https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/import/all/show/210320/2016/">exports</a> the most ketchup, with 60 percent of the global trade – including countries not in the EU. </p>
<p>What does all this mean for the tariffs? Since the EU produces plenty of ketchup within the bloc, its proposed tariff will probably have very little impact. For Canada, however, the effects could be more complicated since it’s unclear whether it can supply enough ketchup domestically or from other countries to meet high demand.</p>
<p>Whether Canadians will find an alternative for Heinz remains to be seen. But what is clear is that while the signature bottle proudly bearing the number 57 may be quintessentially American, its roots are global and its progeny likewise.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99812/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Albala does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Canada recently slapped a tariff on US exports of the tomato-based condiment, and the EU plans to do the same, perhaps on the notion that it’s distinctly American. In fact, ketchup’s origins are global, as are its fans.Ken Albala, Professor of History, University of the PacificLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/979512018-06-14T14:46:51Z2018-06-14T14:46:51ZFrom Salad Cream to the Severn bridge, renaming is an emotive issue<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223021/original/file-20180613-32307-1ok1c6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://twitter.com/hywelplaidcymru/status/982907879823994880">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The American food giant Heinz sparked controversy with a <a href="http://www.itv.com/news/2018-06-05/heinz-salad-cream-could-become-sandwich-cream/">recent proposal</a> to change the name of one of its best known products. If it goes ahead, there will be no more Salad Cream in the world’s kitchens. We will have to make do with bottles of Sandwich Cream instead.</p>
<p>The argument for doing this seems logical enough – apparently only 14% of buyers actually use it on salads. This makes sense to me as a consumer, as I’ve only ever used it to make cheese and salad cream sandwiches – a favourite picnic treat in the UK. </p>
<p>But does it really matter what it’s actually used for? After all, it’s been called Salad Cream for more than 100 years since its launch in 1914. Heinz obviously thinks so, though perhaps it didn’t anticipate the depth of feeling which this proposed renaming would provoke. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/salad-cream-name-change-sandwich-14752030&ust=1529060100000000&usg=AFQjCNGbEq0-fiA8uzOLyU_zcOser-4QAw&hl=en&source=gmail">On social media</a> there has been outrage, disbelief, and comparisons made with previous renaming events – like when Marathon bars became Snickers, and Opal fruits gave way to Starburst. </p>
<p>The depth of feeling surrounding the renaming of these products is interesting to me as <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/onomastics">an onomastician</a> – someone who studies names. As fellow onomastician <a href="http://onomastics.co.uk">Carole Hough explains</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Names are interesting for what they tell us about ourselves and about the people who share or have shared the world with us. The choices we make in giving names to our children, our pets and our homes reflect the things that are important to us.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Names are a phenomenon of interest, hiding in plain sight. They are at the heart of how we communicate with each other, and one of the first things we focus on when learning a new language. </p>
<h2>That’s not my name</h2>
<p>In <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2158244016658935">my own research</a>, I’ve discussed how I am often unwittingly renamed by strangers, who assume the English pronunciation of “Sarah” (pronounced Serruh), rather than the Welsh (and globally more common) pronunciation of “Sara” (phonetically Sᴂᴂ) with two hard “A"s and a rolling "R”. </p>
<p>While I have personally found this irritating, others have <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/tea.21196">written more harrowing accounts</a> of being renamed by teachers who don’t understand how languages other than English are written, with some letters having accents. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Maria_Rivera_Maulucci">María S. Rivera Maulucci</a>, of Columbia University explains:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My parents gave me the name, María, and when I learned to write, my mother taught me to put a slanted line, not a dot, over the letter, i, in my name. Yet in school, what was a source of ethnic pride was erased. I distinctly remember my kindergarten teacher screaming at me: “That is not how you write the letter, i!” She made me erase the accent mark and replace it with a dot. That was when I became Maria.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/18/paul-nuttall-mocked-calling-leanne-wood-natalie-twice-itv-debate/">during a TV debate</a> ahead of the 2017 UK general election, UKIP’s Paul Nuttall annoyed Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood, by twice referring to her as “Natalie” in the space of 20 minutes. Speculation as to why Nuttall made this blunder ranged from confusing her with the actress Natalie Wood, and also the former Green Party Leader, Natalie Bennett. But many on social media <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/18/paul-nuttall-mocked-calling-leanne-wood-natalie-twice-itv-debate/">saw it as evidence</a> of a lack of respect towards women, in that he couldn’t tell them apart.</p>
<p>This was an interesting angle, since the general election ran parallel to the <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/the-handmaids-tale-how-to-watch-uk_uk_591aef6be4b07d5f6ba60493">UK television broadcast</a> of an adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale. Margaret Atwood’s famous novel is the story of a dystopian, patriarchal future, where fertile women are enslaved as “handmaidens”, with every aspect of their former identities removed. </p>
<p>This includes their names, which are replaced by a patronymic made up of the name of their master and the word “of”, to indicate subjugation. The main character’s master is named Fred, so she becomes “Offred”. </p>
<h2>A bridge too far</h2>
<p>Another recent example of a <a href="http://www.itv.com/news/wales/2018-05-14/first-minister-welcomed-renaming-of-second-severn-crossing-months-before-new-name-was-announced/">controversial renaming</a> proposal concerns the bridge in the UK which spans the River Severn – the Severn Bridge, or Pont Hafren, to give it its Welsh name. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223022/original/file-20180613-32327-1ez49vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223022/original/file-20180613-32327-1ez49vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223022/original/file-20180613-32327-1ez49vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223022/original/file-20180613-32327-1ez49vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223022/original/file-20180613-32327-1ez49vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223022/original/file-20180613-32327-1ez49vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223022/original/file-20180613-32327-1ez49vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prince of Wales or Gareth Bale Bridge? How about leaving it alone?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/severn-way-bristol-uk-january-052017-645598015?src=7uLYcowc5SNZqPGZFdzGWA-1-3">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is an important distinction, because all names – whether for products, brands, bridges, or our own personal names – are words which reflect the cultures and languages from which they emanate. </p>
<p>As with all bridges, the Severn Bridge/Pont Hafren, has a foot on two banks. In this case, one in England and one in Wales. Objections to the renaming of the bridge therefore have a cultural and linguistic component, and are linked to the uneasy history between the constituent countries of the UK, particularly the <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qmCuBwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+welsh+language+a+pocket+guide&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjG9u6ikL_bAhUPLVAKHdBoC6sQ6AEIKTAA#v=snippet&q=language%20clause&f=false">oppression of the Welsh language</a>. </p>
<p>The fact that the bridge will be renamed “The Prince of Wales Bridge” has further emotive connotations, due to the complex political tensions regarding the “British” royal family in Wales.</p>
<p>In response, more than 27,000 people have <a href="https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/more-27000-people-sign-petition-14505988">signed a petition</a> against this new moniker. On the other side, newspaper columnist <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-43699083">Rod Liddle reacted</a> by directly attacking not only the Welsh people but also the Welsh language.</p>
<p>His comments were met with astonishment and disdain by the Welsh press and politicians, who pointed out the lack of accuracy of his throwaway comment that the Welsh language has no vowels. It has also <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-racism-against-welsh-people-is-still-racism-96303">been claimed</a> that Liddle’s attack is tantamount to racism.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"982907879823994880"}"></div></p>
<p>Then, following the sensational performance of Welsh footballer Gareth Bale’s at the Champions League final, a fresh <a href="https://www.change.org/p/alun-cairns-mp-rename-the-2nd-severn-crossing-after-gareth-bale">petition was launched</a> – calling for the Severn Bridge to be named after him instead.</p>
<p>As an onomastician, I will be following the Heinz salad cream debate with much interest. I am firmly in camp “remain”, as I have been on other recent issues, including the renaming of Pont Hafren.</p>
<p>But it is not the first time Salad Cream fans have been worried. There was an outcry in the 1999, when Heinz was reportedly considering calling a halt on production altogether. This generated so much publicity that <a href="https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/heinz-relaunches-salad-cream-pounds-10m-trendy-ads/70066">Heinz relaunched Salad Cream</a> the following year with a £10m advertising campaign. A similar end to this scandal would be a mouthwatering prospect for Heinz.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-racism-against-welsh-people-is-still-racism-96303">Why racism against Welsh people is still racism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97951/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara Louise Wheeler does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What’s in a name? A valued sense of history and identity.Sara Louise Wheeler, Darlithydd mewn Polisi Cymdeithasol (Cyfrwng Cymraeg)/ Lecturer in Social Policy (Welsh medium), Bangor UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/735332017-02-24T12:55:01Z2017-02-24T12:55:01ZKraft Heinz’s short-lived Unilever swoop is a warning on weak takeover policy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158125/original/image-20170223-32695-18y8vya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C54%2C2607%2C1692&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kaptainkobold/6143125094/in/photolist-2ECjV-7eamex-5iF2NB-aohkC6-pESXfF-bJLZED-cFemgm-qedYj9-7FpKWx-5x6LMt-fwsxK-4mZF58-amR84U-6Dy5it-4n4JfW-8qi1jM-4qnrsx-7TYCX6-cfmStJ-j9JX5-e7B7p-4n4JHL-4mZGtF-bj69GF-99Tiqa-8kFS7e-7rvmPe-8nttuM-4TSqRT-AT1GK-566F2s-AbSouT-68dm6o-zWE7xR-63rUYc">Alan/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Anglo-Dutch giant Unilever may have (for now) <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39022692">seen off a clumsy takeover bid</a> by Kraft Heinz, but that doesn’t mean questions over corporate takeover policy in Britain have gone away. In fact, it was odd that such a discussion was absent from the UK government’s recent <a href="https://beisgovuk.citizenspace.com/strategy/industrial-strategy/supporting_documents/buildingourindustrialstrategygreenpaper.pdf">industrial strategy proposals</a>.</p>
<p>It was a glaring omission that Greg Clark, the business secretary, appeared to acknowledge in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/22/uk-to-draw-up-response-to-foreign-takeovers-of-firms-business-secretary-bid-unilever-jobs-carmaker-vauxhall">a recent commitment</a> to look at how ministers should handle controversial bids.</p>
<p>Kraft Heinz’s £115 billion bid was swiftly rejected by Unilever. A <a href="https://www.unilever.com/news/press-releases/2017/Joint-statement-from-Unilever-The-Kraft-Heinz-Company.html">joint statement on Feb 17</a> announced the US food group had “amicably agreed to withdraw its proposal”. Clearly, Kraft Heinz had misjudged the hostility from Unilever, the media and from politicians. The firm is owned by <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/warren-buffett-is-4-billion-richer-after-kraft-heinzs-merger-bid-for-unilever-2017-02-17">US investor Warren Buffett</a> and a Mexican private equity firm run by <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-08-29/jorge-lemann-he-is-dot-the-worlds-most-interesting-billionaire">Jorge Lemann</a>. Neither had picked up on the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/a0586fba-060f-11df-8c97-00144feabdc0">intense debate</a> that followed the Kraft takeover of Cadbury back in 2009-2010, or deep concerns over <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/astrazeneca">Pfizer’s failed 2014 bid for Astra Zeneca</a>.</p>
<h2>Bidding down</h2>
<p>Unilever’s management was bound to reject the initial offer, which represented a rather meagre takeover premium of 18%, which <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/d846766e-f81b-11e6-bd4e-68d53499ed71">Unilever felt undervalued the firm</a>. Some £70 billion of the bid would have been in cash, funded by debt. Kraft Heinz already has almost <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/17/business/dealbook/kraft-heinz-unilever-deal-.html?_r=0">$30 billion in long-term debt</a> on its books. An even bigger debt pile could have been a drag on Unilever’s credit rating and might mean higher debt servicing costs.</p>
<p>Unilever shareholders are also overwhelmingly long-term investors who have held their shares for more than five years. They value the long-term trajectory of the firm and were always likely to be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/20/how-unilever-foiled-kraft-heinzs-115m-takeover-bid-warren-buffett">sceptical of a deal</a> which could jeopardise that. No wonder Unilever is now looking at ways <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2017/feb/22/humbled-unilever-show-shareholders-values-loyalty">to reward tbeir loyalty</a>.</p>
<p>Kraft of course is remembered for making jobs promises during the Cadbury deal before swiftly reneging on them, with job cuts and an end to paying tax in the UK. A slap on the wrist ensued <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10166241">from the Takeover Panel</a>.</p>
<h2>State defences</h2>
<p>Last year, in a <a href="http://www.ukpol.co.uk/theresa-may-2016-speech-to-launch-leadership-campaign/">speech</a> which launched her bid to secure the Tory leadership, Theresa May referenced the Astra Zeneca and Cadbury cases: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>A proper industrial strategy wouldn’t automatically stop the sale of British firms to foreign ones, but it should be capable of stepping in to defend a sector that is as important as pharmaceuticals is to Britain.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>May was right. There shouldn’t be an automatic barrier to takeovers as some bring benefits – think of Tata’s <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/06/01/jaguar-land-rovers-turnaround-shows-britains-car-industry-is-any/">careful stewardship</a> of Jaguar Land Rover. However, at the moment there is very limited scope for the UK government to intervene.</p>
<p>This, and post Brexit currency moves, leaves UK firms vulnerable to takeovers, and this can force them to focus on short-term profitability. As a <a href="http://www.policy-network.net/publications_download.aspx?ID=8407">Policy Network report</a> has highlighted, takeovers in the UK are more common, more likely to be hostile and more likely to go ahead than in any other major economy. It suggests that a significant proportion of takeover activity is not beneficial to the creation of long-term shareholder value, the industrial base, the national economy or to society as a whole.</p>
<p>Indeed, most big takeovers fail, as many <a href="http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198706205.003.0018">academic studies</a> show. So some sort of balance is needed when it comes to takeover policy.</p>
<p>And that’s why it was such a curious decision to leave takeovers out of the industrial strategy green paper. Maybe the UK’s financial sector earns too much from mergers and acquisition fees for the government to try to make takeovers harder – in the Kraft–Cadbury case those fees were thought to have run into <a href="http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/business/business-opinion/david-bailey-time-throw-spanner-7091610">several hundred million pounds</a>.</p>
<h2>Going cheap?</h2>
<p>To be fair, Unilever’s ice creams, spreads and soaps may not be seen as strategic technological assets that must be protected, like the pharmaceutical science base. But this is nevertheless a big firm, which employs lots of workers and takes <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/a0586fba-060f-11df-8c97-00144feabdc0">corporate social responsibility</a> seriously.</p>
<p>And, like Cadbury before its takeover, Unilever is a successful firm that has performed well and paid decent dividends. Its share price has risen by 70% since 2010, even before the bid. This is hardly a poorly performing company in need of takeover to insert a new management team to turn things around. Rather, Kraft Heinz probably thought they could get it on the cheap – that post-Brexit-vote depreciation of sterling makes UK assets appealing to foreign buyers. They could then pile their new acquisition with debt and cut costs.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158118/original/image-20170223-24067-10ogf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158118/original/image-20170223-24067-10ogf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158118/original/image-20170223-24067-10ogf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158118/original/image-20170223-24067-10ogf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158118/original/image-20170223-24067-10ogf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158118/original/image-20170223-24067-10ogf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158118/original/image-20170223-24067-10ogf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158118/original/image-20170223-24067-10ogf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Not what it used to be.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/worldoflard/6792303493/in/photolist-bmdkbV-4vFQ7H-9kNZEL-fcgHMF-pBqB4P-7pgSLH-qy1Voa-fcgMRi-fcgKYp-fcvNFh-ybmWZ-37yA1G-jepQHh-7CgpYb-37yA4d-9kJuve-7CcyKe-37yA2S-pn1WtL-fpm5xs-9kMyo5-9kJuLP-StfP-fcgQvz-fcwaDs-qgLHFn-Yeem-aB4FtK-9VAQ4b-7jFCeP-q3W68A-4vFQSR-4vFS9x-9VB3wz-4vKV4L-Ts4s-hEnQB-4vFSo8-4vFRqc-4RXqnj-9VxYSH-4vKVhs-4vKX3h-4vKWts-4vKWTY-sjcoV-fcgAbt-9VAGo9-5HJJBU-4vFS1P">Chris Ballard/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To prevent this kind of poaching, particularly in the white heat of Brexit uncertainty and a weak pound, the government could usefully look at four broad areas when re-examining takeover policy.</p>
<p>First, there should be reforms to the tax system and financial system to encourage longer-term commitment by shareholders. A tapered capital gains tax would act to reward long-term investors while discouraging hedge funds and other speculators trying to make a quick profit from a takeover.</p>
<p>Broader corporate governance changes could also be brought in, such as limiting voting rights in takeover situations until a shareholder had held shares for a year or more. And amendments to the Takeover Code could be used to give greater protection to defending firms. That might include “raising the bar” on obtaining control in takeover situations (to 60% rather than the current 50.1% perhaps).</p>
<p>Perhaps most fundamentally, the government could reintroduce a <a href="researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN05374/SN05374.pdf">Public Interest Test</a> which was largely scrapped in the 2002 Enterprise Act. That could enable an independent body to examine the public interest impact of takeovers above certain thresholds. Effectively, this would at least enable a block to be made in large takeover cases which are not deemed in the public interest.</p>
<p>Together, these measures could have been enough to help Cadbury see off Kraft back in 2010. More broadly, they would throw some sand in the wheels of an inefficient and costly takeover machine just as currency fluctuations make British firms look attractive to acquisitive eyes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73533/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Bailey receives funding from the European Union under its Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange project MAKERS (grant agreement number 691192), the ESRC under its City Evolutions project, and the Regional Studies Association under its ‘New Manufacturing Regions’ research network.</span></em></p>A weak pound is likely to lure more international bidders to UK shores. Time then to make sure we have our defences in place.David Bailey, Professor of Industry, Aston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/44672011-11-30T03:27:51Z2011-11-30T03:27:51ZHouse-brand push boils down to capitalism’s crisis<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6013/original/colestrolleys-jpg-1322614198.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The debate around Coles and Woolworths' home-brand products has been far too simplistic.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Global food giant Heinz has made a bit of a fuss about the growth of private-label or in-house brands in our major supermarkets. </p>
<p>William Johnson, executive chairman, CEO and president of the $US16.4 billion company, <a href="http://m.smh.com.au/business/heinz-hits-out-at-home-brands-20111121-1nr1l.html">complained</a> to shareholders in the US last week that the firm would have to rework its strategy in Australia to “cope with the growing domination of private label goods and the never-ending discounting on branded goods by the supermarket chains.” Johnson labelled Australia as the “worst market” to do business.</p>
<p>Obviously, Heinz and other national brands should be doing everything they can to try and deal with this growth in supermarket private-label brands. It is in their interests to have as much of their product on the supermarket shelves as possible.</p>
<p>Similarly, the two major grocery chains, who command between 70 - 80% of the market, also have every right to do what they like, within the law, to get people to buy their private label products. </p>
<p>By shifting from national brands, such as Heinz, Kellog’s and others, to private label brands on their shelves, Australian supermarkets increase their already substantial control of the distribution chain by entering into highly controlled, vertical networks. In doing this, supermarkets are able to increase their profit margins, and force wholesalers and manufacturers into difficult, and often unprofitable, agreements.</p>
<p>Whether this is good or bad depends on how you look at it. I would argue that two particular perspectives are worth considering, which can be broadly termed the micro and the macro views.</p>
<h2>A micro perspective – consumer behaviour</h2>
<p>One of the arguments arising out of this debate has been that the private labels are “mimicking” the packaging of the national brands so that they can trick consumers into accidentally buying the private label version.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6004/original/milk-jpg-1322612567.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6004/original/milk-jpg-1322612567.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=895&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6004/original/milk-jpg-1322612567.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=895&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6004/original/milk-jpg-1322612567.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=895&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6004/original/milk-jpg-1322612567.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1124&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6004/original/milk-jpg-1322612567.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1124&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6004/original/milk-jpg-1322612567.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1124&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Do consumers care about labelling?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure> <p></p>
<p>So, the argument goes, I walk into the supermarket planning to buy Uncle Toby’s muesli, but grab the Woolworths Select version, because it looks a bit like the Uncle Toby’s version, and not realise the mistake until I get home. I have been tricked into buying the brand because it looked a bit like it. </p>
<p>Yet, the reality of the “mimicking” approach is a bit more subtle than this.</p>
<p>It’s not about consumers making a mistake when they make a choice. Its about consumers feeling okay to make the choice of the in-house or private label brand, because it looks a bit like the national brands. </p>
<p>All consumer behaviour is a balancing of the finite processing resources available to us. Despite what rationalists might erroneously think, people use a whole range of processing shortcuts (we call them heuristics) to make decisions, rather than considering all information equally and reflectively.</p>
<p>If a pack of Woolworths Select muesli looks similar to a pack of Uncle Toby’s or Kellog’s muesli, then it is easier for a consumer to choose it. It sounds silly, I know, but if you think that few of us are pharmacologists, or chefs, then we have to rely on factors other than, say the ingredients, or the materials used, to help us to make a decision. If the product looks (mostly) like the national brand, and it is cheaper, then it is easier for us to choose it.</p>
<p>This is why we all fall for the French jam trick. If we are trying to make an assessment about which jam to choose, and we want something a little bit special, then many of us are drawn toward the jam that purports or looks like it is a little bit French. If you think about it in a rational way, just because it is made in France doesn’t necessarily make it better, but its “French-ness” imbues it with an aura of quality.</p>
<p>For a long time, Coles’ and Woolworths’ Home Brand and Embassy generic labels made good inroads for those who were happy to pay less for products that were perceived to be of lesser quality. Even that form of branding reflected a particular perspective and shortcut for many consumers; “if I buy this brand, I’m not buying into the ‘marketing’ tricks that others fall for”.</p>
<p>This may sound a bit dismissive of human behaviour, but that is the reality of decision-making. We are a product of our finite processing capacity, and also our desire to be as efficient with our time, effort and money as possible. Processing information requires a lot of work, and our default position is to: operate automatically, rely on past experience, and undertake as little effort as possible in our decision-making. Even if we are provided with good information, it is unlikely we will use it.</p>
<p>When we reach for that muesli, our objective is to exercise minimal effort. We are not conscious of this, and we are not alone. We all do it. </p>
<p>All that Coles and Woolworths are doing is exploiting a basic psychological predisposition.</p>
<p>The question is whether we are okay with that.</p>
<h2>A macro perspective - competition</h2>
<p>Purists on the competition side predictably say that the growth of private labels is all good. </p>
<p>As former ACCC chairman Bob Baxt said, “the use of private label is just another form of competition. As long as the labelling is not misleading. I don’t see anything wrong with private labels, in fact it’s another way [in] which companies can compete and thus deliver benefits to consumers.” Like most regulators, Baxt takes a primarily rational view of decision-making – that if consumers are provided with appropriate information, they will make the most appropriate choices.</p>
<p><figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6005/original/woolworthsprices-jpg-1322612698.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6005/original/woolworthsprices-jpg-1322612698.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6005/original/woolworthsprices-jpg-1322612698.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6005/original/woolworthsprices-jpg-1322612698.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6005/original/woolworthsprices-jpg-1322612698.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6005/original/woolworthsprices-jpg-1322612698.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6005/original/woolworthsprices-jpg-1322612698.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Woolworths and Coles have cut milk and bread prices significantly this year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
</p><p>Another long-term assumption is that if consumers are getting lower prices, they will move toward the lower priced goods, which will force the national brands to change their selling propositions (toward a lower-price model). In the end, everyone benefits, because we all get lower prices, businesses become more efficient, and (eventually) consumers are provided with the products that they want.</p>
<p>The pure competition thesis is an appealing one, especially to classical economists, politicians, and lawyers, because, at face value, it says that people should be able to choose how they want to spend their money. </p>
<p>A parallel narrative that tends to go with this is that in the long run, the market will force industries to become more competitive, through consumer choice. Those that aren’t competitive will simply not survive.</p>
<p>The end point is that the market decides whether an industry or supplier should exist, rather than an arbitrary decision made by a government regulator.</p>
<p>So, if consumers care about a particular industry, they will make a choice to buy particular goods to support that industry, even if those goods are more expensive than the alternative.</p>
<p>At a simplistic level, when cast through an economic “prism”, lower prices seem like a great idea. But this approach makes an assumption that we live in a marketplace, rather than a community, and that we are simply consumers, rather than citizens.</p>
<p>This is where a more philosophical and longer-term approach might be appropriate. It may sound a little idealistic (and perhaps naïve), but I would hope that we are more utility seeking “transactors”, looking for something more than lower prices to buy stuff, and satisfying our individual needs and wants.</p>
<p>What makes sense or seems reasonable now – in this case the paradigm of the supremacy of the market, and a drive for competition at all costs – may not make sense as we force more and more industries to the wall through our desperate individual need for lower prices.</p>
<p>At a very practical level, as people lose jobs, and as industries disappear, we may well see a need for more support from government, which will inevitably increase tax burdens, meaning that we have less money to spend on cheaper products.</p>
<p>Another outcome of the desperate race toward cheaper products is that it leads to poorer quality goods, and businesses taking more risks in production to find savings. As goods are sourced from places with less stringent control over production, quality and safety is inevitably compromised.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6010/original/coles-jpg-1322613032.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6010/original/coles-jpg-1322613032.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=987&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6010/original/coles-jpg-1322613032.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=987&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6010/original/coles-jpg-1322613032.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=987&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6010/original/coles-jpg-1322613032.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1240&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6010/original/coles-jpg-1322613032.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1240&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6010/original/coles-jpg-1322613032.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1240&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Understanding consumer behaviour is highly complicated.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span>
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<p>Free marketeers will argue that all this means that those who can afford it should be allowed to spend their money on better quality (and safer) products, if they choose.</p>
<p>Similarly, our desire for lower prices so that we can buy more stuff, also means that we overconsume, with the resulting impact on the environment, our health, and our global community.</p>
<p>There is something missing in this rather simplistic discourse around the market and competition.</p>
<p>As sociologist <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/apr/05/society/print">Zygmunt Baumann</a> says in his book, Does Ethics Have a Chance in a World of Consumers: “All or most currently held views of reason and good sense tend to be praxeomorphic [in other words, they include practice and perception]. They take shape in response to the realities "out there” as seen through the prism of human practice – what humans currently do, know how to do, are trained, groomed and inclined to do.“ </p>
<p>Sometimes we have to challenge a particular ideology – in this case, that lower prices and competition is good for everyone – even if we don’t yet have the language or expertise to say exactly what is problematic about it.</p>
<p>The recent growth of the Occupy movement is indicative of unhappiness with the current frame, even if those involved can’t quite articulate what the answer is.</p>
<p>We are a product of a discourse built around rationalism, economics, and the individual, and many answers may not fit the current frame. But this focus on the market as the only arbiter has not always been the case, and at some point, beliefs and behaviours (and laws) may shift the balance to an alternative ideological frame.</p>
<p>In the short-term, the discussion is probably going to leave us with more questions than answers.</p>
<p>But we should be okay with that? From my perspective, it is the next step in a more enlightened view of the experience of what it is to be human.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/4467/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Harrison does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Global food giant Heinz has made a bit of a fuss about the growth of private-label or in-house brands in our major supermarkets. William Johnson, executive chairman, CEO and president of the $US16.4 billion…Paul Harrison, Senior lecturer, Graduate School of Business, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/44302011-11-29T19:17:10Z2011-11-29T19:17:10ZNudged towards homebrand by our supermarkets; but is it really a choice?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/5992/original/homebrandmilk-jpg-1322546080.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=34%2C22%2C938%2C622&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Homebrand labels have more than 25% of market share in Australia: but do consumers really benefit?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>International food giant <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/heinz-cans-coles-woolworths-20110829-1jid6.html">Heinz has recently again complained</a> about the behaviour of Australian supermarkets Coles and Woolworths, complaining the Australian retailers’ homebrand strategy is creating an “inhospitable environment” for suppliers by restricting consumer choice.</p>
<p>The increasingly widespread use of homebrand, or “private labels” in Australia illustrates the ugly relationship between such strategies, “nudge” theory and the illusion of choice. </p>
<p>Developed by academics such as <a href="http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/richard.thaler/research/">Richard Thaler</a>, director of the Centre for Decision Research at the University of Chicago, <a href="http://nudges.org/">nudge theory</a> works along the lines that most of us will not do what we should unless we get a gentle nudge in the right direction. </p>
<p>Restricting our choices via regulation or other government intervention when it comes to eating unhealthy food, but widening the choices when it comes to healthy food to make us eat more healthy food, is an example of nudge theory. </p>
<p>Once the majority starts eating more healthy food then the rest of us will be nudged into following as we won’t to be left behind. </p>
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<p>When British Prime Minister David Cameron was first elected to office one of the very few academic theories that <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/first-obama-now-cameron-embraces-nudge-theory-2050127.html">really captured his attention was nudge theory</a>, while US President Barack Obama is also said to be a big fan.</p>
<p>But it is in the commercial environment where it has already had a strong foothold for many years. And in Australia the retail environment is one where it has a nice, warm place to call home. </p>
<p>The comments by HJ Heinz CEO William Johnson that it will be consumers who pay the ultimate price is one sign that nudge has an ugly side to it.</p>
<p>The HJ Heinz statement follow earlier complaints by the company and mirror similar remarks by <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/daily-bread-about-to-become-toast-20111120-1npcy.html">Goodman Fielder</a> and Lion Group about what home brands are doing to the retail market.</p>
<p>Home brands have risen very quickly to make up more than 25% market share in just a few years. </p>
<p>This has been due to a number of reasons: increasing number of consumers becoming price sensitive, consumers willing to forego quality for private consumption goods, better marketing of home brand products and the major retailers slowly restricting choice in a follow on from the Aldi strategy. </p>
<p>It is choice though that is the main reason why most consumers still want to go to Coles and Woolworths. Even if an Aldi store is close by, like at my local, the major chain still pulls in consumers. Why? Choice. We all want choice. <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/blogs/blunt-instrument/demise-of-the-killer-tomatoes-20111128-1o316.html">Sadly choice is quickly becoming an illusion</a>. </p>
<p>The big chains realise that there is more profit to be made in home brands, which to most people now look the same as the non-home brands. </p>
<p>A few years ago Woolworths registered thousands of names for wine labels, realising that most consumers’ knowledge of wine brands was limited, with <a href="http://whomakesmywine.com.au/">most unable to tell the difference</a> in taste, quality or name in a rebadged cleanskin Woolworths name, compared to a more commercial brand. They were right. </p>
<p>How to do this in other categories? Nudge. Start removing home brand competitors by hook or by crook, such as through loss leader strategies or aisle placement pricing, and then the consumer is nudged towards the home brand.
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/5993/original/20061114000010799930-original-jpg-1322548084.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/5993/original/20061114000010799930-original-jpg-1322548084.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/5993/original/20061114000010799930-original-jpg-1322548084.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/5993/original/20061114000010799930-original-jpg-1322548084.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/5993/original/20061114000010799930-original-jpg-1322548084.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/5993/original/20061114000010799930-original-jpg-1322548084.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/5993/original/20061114000010799930-original-jpg-1322548084.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">It looks the same, costs less.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span>
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If it looks the same, nearly tastes the same, but is 20-50% cheaper than the name brand which one would you buy? Of course!</p>
<p>And so slowly but surely name brands are being cut back on size, location and range of offering on shelves. The result for suppliers is lower profits, reduced ability to introduce new products and intense competitive pressures. </p>
<p>For the consumer? We think we are the ones benefiting. Lower prices, lower overall spend, more in the trolley and really who can tell the difference between the home brand chocolate biscuit and the name one. But we are wrong. </p>
<p>Our choice is slowly being reduced to perhaps only two or three brands as there is “no demand” for more. The illusion of choice.</p>
<p>But it is also the reality of nudge. Welcome to the retail world of 2011 and beyond. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/4430/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Hughes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>International food giant Heinz has recently again complained about the behaviour of Australian supermarkets Coles and Woolworths, complaining the Australian retailers’ homebrand strategy is creating an…Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.