Why do we pay so much more for so much less?

While strolling through a local supermarket today I had a rude retail awakening. It is an awakening I've experienced before but I must've fallen asleep again. Why the hell do we pay so much more for so much less? Seriously! And we seem to just accept it!

According to www.woolworths.co.nz a 2.25l bottle of Coke is $2.79. A 750ml bottle of "pump" water is $2.35. That's 12.4c/100ml for the coke & 31.3c/100ml for the water. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but water has the following ingredients... water. Coke has water, sucrose, caramel colour, phosphoric acid, natural flavours, caffeine and of course bubbles.

My next assumption would be that sucrose, caramel colour, phosphoric acid, natural flavours, caffeine and of course bubbles would cost more than water, and I would also assume that the process of combining these ingredients would cost more than filling a bottle with plain water.

Conclusion: Why the hell is coke cheap and water expensive!

Sports water and supplement water is much the same if not worse. Same scenario, take water and add, sugar, vitamins, minerals, something hip and trendy like taurine or guarana and is often cheaper than the plain varieties.


 Organic fruit and vegetables vs conventional mass farming (CF), CF = plant, cover in expensive chemical fertilizer allow to grow, cover in expensive chemical pesticide then harvest. Organic farming = plant, let cows crap on them, let birds eat bugs then harvest. I'm not understanding here. Is it just me or is this just plain ridiculous?


It's not limited to drinks, oh no. Canned fruit, in juice vs. in syrup. Or canned asparagus in water vs. brine.  I believe there is a formula here.


Step 1:
(product x) - (ingredient y) = product z or (x-y)=z


Step 2: Cost of x ($x) - cost of y ($y) = cost of product z ($z) or ($x-$y)=$z or at least it would in any normal universe. The correct and amended manufacturers formula looks like.


Step 3: (Also know as the "pull a random number out of your arse to multiply the initial price by")
$z=($x-$y)+ ($x*2.5)

The next thing that irks me about this problem is the fact that we tolerate it. I would even suggest that we expect it. When I mentioned this to my wife she nonchalantly said. "Well all healthy foods are more expensive..." and continued doing what she was doing without giving it another thought.


This just doesn't seem right to me, we're being had by these companies which will possibly lead me to write a conspiracy theory blog. It's no wonder that obesity and it's related illnesses are at epidemic levels in the western world when it's so cheap and easy to fill up on sugar and chemicals and so expensive to eat the whole foods our bodies were designed to use.


What can we do about this?


Stop and think
Mos