I usually buy 8 pieces of bird's nest a month (for my wife) at a Chinese medical hall, and the total sum would be about $140-$160. Imagine my shock when the aunty manning the shop told me that the total was $225.
I was puzzled. The price per kati was still $115, and the aunty explained that the promotional 10% discount was over. But that did not explain the difference of $60 to $80 for the same 8 pieces.
When I told the aunty that I'd pay a visit to other medical halls, she quickly told me that she could perhaps select 'thinner' pieces which would weight less.
BTW, for the uninitiated, bird's nest - as sold in medical halls - tend to look like those shown in the photo below. To the layman, one piece may be similar to any other, and one may sometimes believe that the people who pack these pieces would adhere to some kind of standard size or weight to make it easier for customers and cashiers working at the medical halls.
I was puzzled. The price per kati was still $115, and the aunty explained that the promotional 10% discount was over. But that did not explain the difference of $60 to $80 for the same 8 pieces.
When I told the aunty that I'd pay a visit to other medical halls, she quickly told me that she could perhaps select 'thinner' pieces which would weight less.
BTW, for the uninitiated, bird's nest - as sold in medical halls - tend to look like those shown in the photo below. To the layman, one piece may be similar to any other, and one may sometimes believe that the people who pack these pieces would adhere to some kind of standard size or weight to make it easier for customers and cashiers working at the medical halls.
As it turned out, the aunty had to dig a long way into the tall glass jar before she could find the 'thin' pieces she promised me. I pointed out that prior to the economic recession, the thin pieces were usually placed at the top of the jar, and her colleagues could easily fish out 8 standard pieces which was within the range of $140 - $160.
As I walked home, I was reminded of a case study I read in Philip Kotler's marketing textbook back in my uni days: to increase usage of Ajinomoto MSG in an increasingly health-conscious marketplace, the manufacturer simply drilled larger holes in the bottle, so that each shake would see a 15% increase in the amount of MSG powder dispensed. (I rediscovered the story here). Looks like this medical hall may have borrowed a leaf from Ajinomoto, and placed the thicker pieces of bird's nest at the top. :-)
1 useful comments:
Ajinomoto does far more horrible things these days, with their aspartame and m.s.g. primacy in the world, as the world's largest manufacturer of both.
They have entered into lobbying in other nations, and for example, succeeded in killing a bill in the New Mexico Senate Public Affairs Committee to create a New Mexico Nutrition Council. These are really evil people who hire really evil lobbyists to get their way, much like Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola, only really much much worse.
Just google and read this article:
AJINOMOTO RECIPE FOR DEATH.
It was written several years ago, and only scratches the surface. Why doesn't the Japanese government limit the excesses of this homicidal company with all of its poisonous products? Why doesn't the USA limit its activities in the United States, where it has two factories making aspartame, one in Iowa and one in Georgia? It is now moving into Thailand with a big investment/conglomerate, and the Thai government sits idly by and does absolutely nothing. The people, unfortunately, will pay the price with neurodegenrative illnesses like Multiple Sclerosis and Lou Gehrig's disease, plus brain tumors, cluster migraine headaches, epilepsy, and grandmal seizures, all of which the US FDA even recognizes as part of the 92 symptoms attributed to aspartame, based on their consumer complaints. 80% of the complaints to the FDA in the past 20 years have been about aspartame, but they continue to give their approval to this poison. It is ludicrous.
Truly,
Stephen Fox
Editor, New Mexico Sun News
Santa Fe, New Mexico
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