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Hidden Inflation Everywhere, From Watered-Down Bourbon To Horse-Meat Chili
Wolf Richter www.testosteronepit.com www.amazon.com/author/wolfrichter
We’ve had an endless series of products whose ingredients have been cheapened in order to maintain the price. Consumers won’t be able to taste the difference, the theory goes. So, as the horse-meat lasagna scandal in Europe is spiraling beautifully out of control, we’re now getting hit where it hurts: Maker’s Mark is watering down its bourbon.
Unlike the horse-meat folks, Maker’s Mark announced it. They even had an official reason. “Fact is, demand for our bourbon is exceeding our ability to make it, which means we’re running very low on supply,” said the missive that COO Rob Samuels sent to his customers. They’d add water to the remaining batch—it would lower alcohol content from 45% to 42%—so that there’d be enough for everybody.
The uproar was immediate. The company, a subsidiary of Beam, Inc., though still run by the founding family, had to deal with the clamor. Chairman Emeritus Bill Samuels, Jr. crafted the response. The company’s focus over the past 50 years has been on “product quality and consistency.” And the primary measure of that consistency was “the unique Maker’s Mark taste profile,” he wrote. “That’s all that truly matters in the end.”
So why not just run out and play on scarcity? Knob Creek, my personal favorite and also a Beam subsidiary, had done that successfully in 2009. Samuels did not provide an answer. Or why not raise the price to lower demand instead of watering down their bourbon? Well, he wrote, “We don’t want to price Maker’s Mark out of reach.”
Fighting inflation by watering down bourbon. But there was nothing to worry about. He and Rob personally tested batches of watered-down bourbon, and they all had “the same taste profile that we’ve always had.” Their Tasting Panel and “structured consumer research” agreed: “there’s no difference in the taste.”
Nobody noticed a difference in the taste either when horse meat replaced beef in frozen lasagna. It was found out through testing. Turns out, there was a vast trading scheme that involved slaughter houses in Romania, traders in Cyprus and the Netherlands, and companies in France, including a subcontractor of the brand Findus, which shipped the meat to tax haven Luxembourg where it was manufactured into frozen dishes that then spread to freezers across Europe.
At first it was just lasagna in Britain. Then lasagna in France and elsewhere. Now they’re finding horse meat in other frozen foods. In France, for example, cannelloni, spaghetti bolognese, moussaka, and hachis parmentier were hastily yanked off the shelves at six supermarket chains. On Wednesday, another French brand, Picard, found horse meat in its frozen lasagna and chili con carne. It suspended the sale of all products containing “beef” that had been supplied by one of the parties in the Findus web.
In Britain, an investigation has started. Catherine Brown, chief executive of the Foods Standards Agency, called for retailers to test their dishes containing “pork,” “chicken,” and other meats. Retailers were currently focusing on “comminuted” beef, she explained, “the stuff where meat is ground up to the point that it is not readily recognizable.”
While I have not knowingly eaten horse meat in Europe, I had horse meat in Japan, carnivore that I am. As sashimi, served raw, thinly sliced, with raw onions, fresh ground ginger, in a vinegar-soy sauce. Delicious. But there is a dilemma. In France, horse meat consumption has plummeted from 1.8 kg per capita (4 pounds) in 1979 to a measly 0.34 kg (12 ounces) in 2009. It now makes up only 0.4% of total meat consumptions—not counting the “beef” in frozen foods. In other European countries, demand for horse meat has collapsed similarly. Prices are low. The meat isn’t toxic. So why not feed it to people who don’t know what they’re eating? Just grind it up, stuff it in manufactured lasagna or whatever, hide it inside an enticing package, call it “beef,” freeze it, and when consumers stick it in the microwave, they’ll never know. Because they can’t taste the difference.
“Industrial terrorism,” it was called in France. Findus and every company in the trading web claim to have been victimized, much like consumers. But if they’d wanted to know what that cheap meat was and where it had come from, they could have found out. Or they could have refused to buy meat of shady origin. But they didn’t want to. What mattered was the cost of the meat. It would keep profit margins high and avoid price increases.
As the belts of consumers are being tightened notch by notch, price pressures become enormous. Consumer product companies are reacting in a myriad ways [to the.... The “Pauperization of Europe”]. Some are disclosed or obvious, others are hard to detect. But it’s an insidious form of inflation that doesn’t show up on the price tag and isn’t counted in the inflation statistics. But you’re eating lower quality food, and you’re getting less for your money that is constantly being debased, and then, when you finally had it, you end up self-medicating with watered-down bourbon.
So I love steaks. Rare. But now we find out about the potentially deadly industry practice of mechanical tenderization. It has been going on for decades, with innumerable victims. Yet the industry resists even the most basic labeling requirement that would save lives. Read.... The Beef Industry’s Deadly Secret: “Blading” and “Needling”
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Giddyup! My thoughts exactly.
Not to mention, it's likely still the healthiest ingredient in there.
Between HFCS, cotton seed oil, soybean oil and all of those random chemicals present, there isn't any processed food I eat any longer.
I'm not sure there's a processed food out there that actually contains Chicken any longer.
Pick up a can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup, which is advertizing "ALL NATURAL INGREDIENTS" on its label.
And then look at the ingredients: Chicken (Soy).
What the fuck does that mean?
And you gotta know that Soy means GMO Soy.
Maker's Mark is godawful. Water might help it
I don't mind Oban's price increasing since they keep it real
I wrapped a newspaper 'round my head
So I looked like I was deep
I said some mumbo-jumbo, then
I told him he was going to sleep
I robbed his rings and pocketwatch
And everything else I found
I had that sucker hypnotized
He couldn't even make a sound
I proceeded to tell him his future, then
As long as he was hanging around
I said "The price of meat has just gone up
And your old lady has just gone down!"
Its the goldman business model, instead of robbing their customers, food companies do whatever it takes to kill their customers.
GMO, BPA, mislabel, Chinese shit grown in china, shady middlemen, fake oil, fake ingredients, unsanitary, make the nastiest shit you possibly can call it organic and natural and try to jump on top of new additives that can kill.
Sell at the higest possible price with the lowest quality the customer can know about.
The thing that gets me is the thousands of grunt workers, not one of them- even the ones that get fired ever, ever makes 1 tweet, takes 1 pic, says one thing on the internet about what really goes on.
WTF is this idiocy?
Is capitalism so dead that the idea of raising prices in order to successfully meet demand is no longer a consideration?
Scarcity in a free-market is a sign of an undervalued item. Increase the price until a sustainable balance is reached, while using the profit to increase production (if the assumption that it is a sustainable demand is made). Otherwise, enjoy your fifteen minutes of "supra-normal" profits.
As always, this shit ain't that hard.
In case you are wondering, if that idiocy comment was on the lyrics to "Cosmic Debris" by Frank Zappa, that's what it was.
We live in the age of greed, you can't trust anything or anybody. They are all out to rip you off and steal your wealth.
That was original, when did this thought emanate from your cranial cavity?
Everyone who just tried raising prices went out of business. You have to remember that wages are not keeping up at all.
Your correct on all counts. Wages haven't been keeping up for years even before the 2008 depression. And add to the fact that inflation aka hyperinflation is starting and they are doing everything they can to not raise prices. Because when they start to raise prices people won't buy pure and simple. So they debase the product with lesser ingredients and/or give you smaller servings. This is what you call stealth inflation but it still is inflation.
Personally the issue is not that they are using horse meat, I would eat it.(if I had no options)
But,here's the RUB, hiding it from the public is the real issue.
In these times of $7.00+ for a whole small fryer,and $9.00 a pound ground chuck, I can dig it, just be HONEST.
to the best of my knowledge, there are no inedible mammals on the planet. (even if there are some your normal senses would tell you not to).
i love horses, i just cant eat a whole one anymore.
Having owned a horse I will say this, I would rather eat a horse then ride one, unless of course I was packing into the high country, then I would wait until I got to my desired elevation and then eat it since it is all down hill from there.
It's freaking alcohol. If demand is so high as to cause scarcity, an increase will be successfully absorbed, as some will switch while others will pay the higher price to ensure they get what they want. In this scenario, you keep adjusting the price until supply and demand schedules meet. (J.B. Say's "markets clear")
Overwhelming demand is not a condition that causes bankruptcy. Regardless of wages falling behind.
well run companies put their products quality and their companies reputation above all else, even short term profits. Give Coca cola a call with a product complaint and see what happens - you will hear back from a manager and he will make it right. There is no way they would ever cheapen or endanger the quality or taste of Coke. Whoever made the decision to water down Makers is a business dipshit..
The restaurant industry has never been busier changing menus because of food inflation.
It sucks going to a restaurant now because you never know how they will screw you. Order a hamburger and you have to ask for the mayo, mustard, ketchup. Lasagna out of a freezer, I just give up and go to the Chinese buffet and eat what I want.
My wife works in the industry and it amazes her when we eat out how awful and cheap the food is getting. Loads of pasta seasoned to hide the bland, changes in wines, cheeses, you name it.
Restaurants are like gas stations, everyone pays attention to price. When gas goes up 10 cents everyone freaks out, same with the value menu. Of course the owners will try to substitute away if possible.
Welcome to the 70s again.
And exactly like the in the 70s, it's ultimately the Keynesians fault. Debase the currency, and you destroy the sustainable base of production, as it becomes overrun by easy money.
hahaha; you love bogey men; Don Corleone was a Keynesian!
Now I capische!
Next you'll tell me he was a lousy Commie!
That's "io capisco".
Horse meat! Whinnying! er, Winning!
More horsepower in every bite!
Why is horse meat complaining!? Horse meat more is culinary than cat and dog! Just don't touch Putin Horse (capital offense).
Cousin Boris! That is you? They are eating still neighbor's dogs at Homeland? We here get plastic special card-it makes you food rich. People with food love to trade for them! Is this crazy place or what?
In 1980, neighbor cat is sneak in Boris apartment. Is how you say, take-out-dinner!
Not is "take-out", is "eat-in". Whatever is call, Boris learn must first shave pussy.
Cheval burger was on the big board menu at US franchise buger chains in Quebec well into the 80s. I think we'll be looking back fondly on that when the chien burger shows up shortly. Give it a sexy name, an outrageous calorie count, and it'll sell. Maybe we can call it the Marmaduke here.
"Yeah but nag tastes good."
Every bit of horsemeat I've seen for sale in grocery stores here in Japan carried a Canadian Food Inspection Agency stamp. Roasts, individually wrapped and stamped. I've eaten it, raw, and it is damn good.
I had never in my life, seen horsemeat for sale in a Canadian grocery store, though I've never been to a grocery store in Quebec.
It's just meat. That said, put it on the goddamn label so people can their own decisions.