Most recently, it was this juice that got our attention. $10 a bottle at Whole Foods. A single serving bottle. No, I'm not exaggerating. (And as a not-so-side side-note, very impressive marketing from these folks: I began my search for their website - and name for that matter - by typing "Whole Foods Juice." Guess what was the sponsored ad that popped up with just those three words? And if they've got AdSense worked out, a link might just appear next to this blog post as well.)
But I digress... this was only the most recent expensive-healthy-natural-food product; I began noticing this trend a while back in a locally-produced show about local small business foodie entrepreneurs selling their wares at the Brooklyn Flea, a market for many things, including local food (that, for the record, I have never set foot in). The products of a chocolatier featured in that program soon thereafter appeared at Whole Foods (again); two truffles for $9 if I'm not mistaken. There was also a girl selling bags of homemade granola for, oh, $9 a bag. (She seemed nice and seemed to make a good product; let me support her biz with this link.)
The granola really piqued our interest because for about six years now, I have made granola every other week and eat the homemade granola for breakfast every day. For the past four years, my husband has also eaten the granola every day, and before we lived together, he too made his own granola. (Now he eats mine, and charmingly says it is the single food he would want if stranded on a deserted .
And the juice! We also invested in a juicer (ok, my husband bought that one - it was essentially the entirety of his dowry that he brought to our joint kitchen). With that juicer, we can buy dirt-cheap apples, carrots, cucumber, ginger, kale, and more, to make our own juices. And then there's my newest hobby, making chocolates. Melt down chocolate bar, stir in spices, add in toasted almonds, chill and eat. Each of these is much more fun, more delicious, and much cheaper to make ourselves.
So we look at these businesses and think, "Why pay ten bucks a pop when we can make it ourselves for a fraction of the cost?" But it got me thinking about this trend, this artisan/fresh/healthy/local food trend. Are the businesses overpricing? Well, you can argue that, in order to stay in business, they only price at the level the market will support, so you can't blame the producer alone. Is their market only wealthy people who can afford to splurge on these things? Do people of modest income actually pay such large portions of their income on these foods? Should they be judged harshly for doing so? That is, is buying $10 servings of juice or chocolates or granola a frivolity that contributes to, say, our national failure at saving money?
Or, is there a positive value judgment people of modest incomes make that they choose to support - even when it means stretching their means - these types of entrepreneurs? It seems that there are so many stories in this post-recession age of downsized corporate types finding their true passion and calling as they embark on endeavours such as these. Do those stories resonate for folks, who spend a little extra to support these small business owners based on their story of pursuing a dream, of seeking satisfaction through artisan cooking and eschewing a cog-in-a-wheel career?
So the real question is, will businesses like these ultimately prove sustainable? Has a new market - a niche economy - developed to support these businesses, at these prices? Or will these small produces ultimately falter, discovering that a recession economy just will not support $5 truffles, no matter how delicious, and local? (Whether they will survive, scale up, and sell out is another story.)
But I digress... this was only the most recent expensive-healthy-natural-food product; I began noticing this trend a while back in a locally-produced show about local small business foodie entrepreneurs selling their wares at the Brooklyn Flea, a market for many things, including local food (that, for the record, I have never set foot in). The products of a chocolatier featured in that program soon thereafter appeared at Whole Foods (again); two truffles for $9 if I'm not mistaken. There was also a girl selling bags of homemade granola for, oh, $9 a bag. (She seemed nice and seemed to make a good product; let me support her biz with this link.)
The granola really piqued our interest because for about six years now, I have made granola every other week and eat the homemade granola for breakfast every day. For the past four years, my husband has also eaten the granola every day, and before we lived together, he too made his own granola. (Now he eats mine, and charmingly says it is the single food he would want if stranded on a deserted .
And the juice! We also invested in a juicer (ok, my husband bought that one - it was essentially the entirety of his dowry that he brought to our joint kitchen). With that juicer, we can buy dirt-cheap apples, carrots, cucumber, ginger, kale, and more, to make our own juices. And then there's my newest hobby, making chocolates. Melt down chocolate bar, stir in spices, add in toasted almonds, chill and eat. Each of these is much more fun, more delicious, and much cheaper to make ourselves.
So we look at these businesses and think, "Why pay ten bucks a pop when we can make it ourselves for a fraction of the cost?" But it got me thinking about this trend, this artisan/fresh/healthy/local food trend. Are the businesses overpricing? Well, you can argue that, in order to stay in business, they only price at the level the market will support, so you can't blame the producer alone. Is their market only wealthy people who can afford to splurge on these things? Do people of modest income actually pay such large portions of their income on these foods? Should they be judged harshly for doing so? That is, is buying $10 servings of juice or chocolates or granola a frivolity that contributes to, say, our national failure at saving money?
Or, is there a positive value judgment people of modest incomes make that they choose to support - even when it means stretching their means - these types of entrepreneurs? It seems that there are so many stories in this post-recession age of downsized corporate types finding their true passion and calling as they embark on endeavours such as these. Do those stories resonate for folks, who spend a little extra to support these small business owners based on their story of pursuing a dream, of seeking satisfaction through artisan cooking and eschewing a cog-in-a-wheel career?
So the real question is, will businesses like these ultimately prove sustainable? Has a new market - a niche economy - developed to support these businesses, at these prices? Or will these small produces ultimately falter, discovering that a recession economy just will not support $5 truffles, no matter how delicious, and local? (Whether they will survive, scale up, and sell out is another story.)
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