December 2003 Edition
ORGANIC
As consumers in the West grow increasingly hungry for organic food, Chinese farmers see a niche market worth cultivating. Sales of organic food in the U.S. alone reached US$11-billion in 2002, are projected at US$13-billion in 2003 and may reach US$20-billion by 2005. In rural China, the word is out that more and more people abroad are willing to pay extra for a healthier and more environmentally friendly diet. Foreign buyers are paying from 30 to 50 per cent more for organic foods. Organic farmers work without the aid of chemical agents to control insect and weeds or to fertilize fields.
MORE ORGANIC
Sales of organic food in the UK have topped US$2-billion for the first time. Demand for organic products is growing by more than 10 per cent a year, faster than any other food and drink sector. One of the biggest rises was in sales of organic baby food, up 20 per cent over the past year. The supermarket share of the organic market has fallen slightly for the first time in five years. Part of the reason is the growing popularity of farmers' markets, farm shops and direct delivery.
MICROBES
Steel and appliance makers are joining the battle against bacteria with antimicrobial doorknobs and coffee makers. There is even a gleaming 11,000-square-foot, bug-free house in Los Angeles filled with stainless steel and appliances covered with an antimicrobial compound called Agnol. The compound contains ions of silver that interact with humidity in the air to continually suppress the growth of bacteria, mould, mildew, fungi and other microbes. Agnol can be combined with other materials for use on clothing, air and water filters or paints.
CITIES
By 2005, there will be 16 mega-cities on the planet. The largest of them will be Tokyo with 27 million people. Urban dwellers, it is predicted, will outnumber the world's rural population for the first time by 2007.
VODKA
This famous Russian drink is celebrating 500 years since it was first distilled by monks. The clear liquid, these days drunk by people around the world, is thought to have been invented in 1503 by Kremlin monks who used it as an antiseptic before they started drinking it. Studies show Russians drink more hard liquor than any other nation in the world.
GRANTS
A witch has received a US$9,000 grant from the Norwegian Industrial and Regional Development Fund to make and sell potions door to door. Her specialty elixirs include night creams for vivid dreams, a day cream to combat indecisiveness and a foot cream to change a user's bad habits. A government official said her business plan was "pretty reasonable and well thought out".
TRADE
The leaders of Canada and China have agreed to continue boosting trade between the two countries. Canada did C$20-billion in trade with China last year. Canada-China trade tripled over 10 years and is expected to double again by 2010. China exported a staggering C$16-billion of the overall sum exchanged between the countries last year. The remaining C$4-billion flowed into the coffers of the 400 companies doing business in China.
TRENDS
Some of Britain's biggest companies are using postal codes to single out customers who telephone call centres on the basis of their wealth. Sophisticated technology recognizes consumers when they call and divert their inquiry to specially trained workers authorized to give better deals to wealthier clients. Poorer customers are made to wait and may have their calls answered by automated computer systems.
FISH
More than 600 new species of fish have been discovered by a major ocean census and thousands more may be lurking undetected. Some 300 scientists from 53 countries are creating a record of all known maritime life. The 10-year Census of Marine Life project will form an open database of raw material available to everyone. So far, 15,304 species of fish have been logged. Between 2,000 and 3,000 are expected to join the list before 2010 and many will be previously unknown species.
WINE
Last year, the United States sold 74 million gallons of wine around the world. Almost all of it was varietal, or identified by the grape it is made from: cabernet, chardonnay, zinfandel or syrah. Australia, Chile and South Africa, all aggressive wine exporters, also identify most of their wines by the grapes from which they are made. Europe, France in particular, has responded by slowly moving to varietal names as well. Europe has traditionally named wines after the region in which they are produced.
ACCIDENTS
11,449 people were killed in the first nine months of this year in China's mines and factories, a jump of nearly nine per cent over the same period last year. This was despite a nationwide safety crackdown. Fatalities were down slightly in accident-plagued Chinese coal mines but the number of deaths in non-mining industries rose by 19 per cent to 5,203. Some experts blame the rise on China's shift to a market-style economy with private employers pushing workers harder and skimping on safety measures.
RICE
Scientists have found the oldest known domesticated rice. The handful of 15,000-year-old burnt grains was found by archaeologists in Korea. Their age challenges the accepted view that rice cultivation originated about 12,000 years ago in China. The rice is genetically different from modern crops which will allow researchers to trace its evolution. Today's rice is the primary food for over half the world's population, with 576,280,000 tonnes produced in 2002. In Asia, rice is responsible for almost a third of all calorific intake.
MUSIC
Research has discovered that music played in restaurants has a direct impact on the amount spent by diners. Classical music will make customers pay more, bland music is likely to have the opposite effect. Classical music increases spending owing to its "connotations of affluence, sophistication and wealth." When people feel more "cultured and sophisticated" they are more likely to spend money on items they think cultured and sophisticated people would order.
CHICKENS
Never before have chickens been so big, in fact, they are about 20 per cent heavier than 50 years ago. To keep pace with demand, the poultry industry has changed its breeding and raising techniques. The average chicken now has a thicker breast, fatter wings and chubbier drumsticks.
FURNITURE
A group of U.S. furniture manufacturers has asked the U.S. government to impose trade duties on Chinese-made bedroom furniture. The petition states that Chinese bedroom furniture is priced so low that the imports should carry duties that could be more than twice the wholesale price of the furniture.
TRUFFLES
A century ago, France produced 1,500 tonnes a year of this delicacy, but the business is in radical decline. Now, even in a good year, only 35 tonnes are produced. Despite advances in the science of truffle production, the cultivation of the fungus is extremely precarious and labour intensive. Truffle farmers are now warning that the summer heatwave has destroyed half their crop. It is likely that by Christmas, the price is likely to reach double its normal level, reaching the record-breaking sum of US$2,000 a kilogram.
SAND
Saudi Arabia has reportedly imposed strict border checks to enforce a ban on the export of sand. There are fears that the growing demand of the construction industry could lead to a shortage in the desert kingdom. Neighbouring Bahrain needs to import large quantities of sand for reclaiming land from the sea. Though sand remains plentiful in Saudi Arabia, the high costs of bagging and transporting make exploiting it difficult.
MISSISSIPPI
This politically conservative state is cultivating a small but burgeoning trade relationship with Cuba's communist-run government. Ships laden with a growing list of U.S. food and agricultural products such as beef, chicken, rice, and cheese sail regularly from Gulfport to Havana. The exports are legal under an exemption to the U.S.' four-decade trade embargo of Cuba and have spurred hopes that Mississippi will get a healthy share of U.S.-Cuban trade if relations are normalized as expected.
ECUADOR
This country is the most biodiverse in relation to its area. Its forests are home to bears, jaguars, a profusion of birds and many rare plants. Yet Ecuador is losing its trees faster than anywhere else in South America. According to official figures, 370,000 acres of primary forest are felled each year; unofficial sources put the figures twice as high. This means that half of the forests have been lost in the past three decades, much of them to illegal logging.
GRAFFITI
Even the Romans had to put up with slogans scratched on the walls of their fine new buildings by ungrateful locals. Now, researchers in Mexico have invented a new type of anti-graffiti paint. Called Deletum 5000, the product will be released in the new year. Its special ingredient are particles of silica. These particles have had both oil-repellant and water-repellant molecules attached to their surfaces. Deletum 5000 can be painted on to concrete, brick, metal, plastic and wood. and will last for ten years.
INFORMATION
Growing net, computer and phone use is driving a huge rise in the amount of information people use and generate. Researchers estimate that every year 800 megabytes of information is produced for every person on the planet. The study found that information stored on paper, film, magnetic and optical disks has doubled since 1999.
CANDY
This year, confectioners in the U.S. are expected to have generated Halloween sales of US$2-billion. Last year, the country's total confectionary sales were US$24-billion, the highest anywhere. Worldwide sales of confectionary and chewing gum are estimated to reach US$112-billion. Chewing gum sales rose by about 18 per cent in Britain last year and gum and mints have shown blistering growth in emerging markets such as China.
GRASS
Cogon grass, a fast-growing Asian weed that initially hitch-hiked to the U.S. as a packing material, is becoming a worse plant scourge than the infamous kudzu vine in many parts of the U.S. South. Cogon, considered one of the world's 10 worst weeds, kills pine seedlings and is a hot-burning fire hazard that squeezes out native plants and ruins habitats for threatened species such as the gopher, tortoise and the indigo snake. It has invaded every continent except Antarctica.
WEDDINGS
Singapore has begun its latest behaviour modification campaign, a "wedding punctuality" drive to encourage guests to turn up on time for a couples big day. The government is providing 400,000 cards for couples to insert into their invitations. Previous programs have included efforts to encourage citizens to smile more, wave at fellow motorists and switch off mobile phones in cinemas.
Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.
Past issues of the A&A Economic News Digest can be found at http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/index.asp
Posts
