Monday 21 December 2009

Backing away from total blind panic

"There is an element of consumers backing away from a total blind panic," says Ed Garner, director of research at TNS Worldpanel. "If you go back a year ago, the roof was falling in and it was awful.

As our contribution to the end-of-year economic stocktake, GOM is pleased to bring to the attention of the nation his eagerly anticipated annual Mince Pie report.

Mince pies December 2009

Sainsbury's Deep Filled
Price for 6: £1.00
Price each: 17p
Price 09/ 08: 72%
27% cheaper than last year but also of lower quality; cardboard-like case; filling a solidified paste with little evidence of fruit or nuts; reflects effective application of value engineering, ie cheaper and not so good

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference
Price for 6: £2.19
Price each: 37p
Price 09/ 08: 107%
7% more expensive than last year; tangy & fragrant filling; light pastry case

Sainsbury’s Connoisseur
Not in evidence at Fetter Lane outlet of Sainsbury's Metro

Konditor & Cook
Price for 6: £5.94
Price each: 99p
Price 09/ 08: 111%
Smallest of the pies we sampled; plump sultanas; falls apart in hand after 30 secs on highest microwave setting; convincing appearance of being hand-made; tart & aromatic filling; pastry to which a rolling-pin has been applied

Gregg’s dahn Leather Lane
Price for 6: £1.40
Price each: 30p
Price 09/ 08: 111% (single pie); 86% (pack of 6 pies)
11% more expensive than last year; but 14% cheaper than last year if you buy six; largest pies we sampled; flying saucer-shaped; after 40 secs of microwave high power, fissures appear in lid and bottom collapses; soft pastry rather than biscuit crumb; bitter & tangy filling, contains fruit; well-filled; moist mincemeat. A man dressed as Father Christmas in the store.

GOM concludes that Greggs' pricing power has become more prominent; and that the offerings of Konditor & Cook are not three times better than Gregg's. However we warn our readers against attempting the Gregg's so-called Cheese & Onion Slice.

GOM also reports that connoisseurs are no longer to be found, at least in the Fetter Lane outlet of Sainsbury's Metro.

These findings seem to run counter to reports from Waitrose of three-bird roasts (turkey, goose and duck) tumbling off the shelves at £120 a pop.

But I've always thought that partial (rather than total) blind panic was a more sustainable stance.

Friday 11 December 2009

Thoughts from the departure lounge

As I sit here struggling with 11 across, [A term of abuse, sounds like Banker (6)], I’m a bit puzzled by one bit of Darling’s rhetoric about City bonuses.

I understand the politically-driven punitive motive (indeed most of us would like to see these fat cats in the stocks) and I understand the hypothesis that it is a good thing to discourage payments that might lead to excessive risk-taking using other people’s money.

But how does this apply to the “guaranteed bonuses” that have become such a bogey for No 11? We learn today that is was only after intervention by the Attorney General that Darling was persuaded not to include guaranteed bonuses in the super tax target area, since to do so would infringe Human Rights legislation.

A guaranteed bonus is, by definition, not performance related. If one accepts that variable pay is more likely to influence behaviour, surely the very fact that these payments are guaranteed makes them less likely to drive day to day risk taking? Why then the bogey status?

Am I missing something here?

Nurse! Isn’t it time for lunch?