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America's Love Affair with Avocado

economist.com

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Re: America's Love Affair with Avocado

#11

Post by philipodonnell »

pmorici wrote: post #2

I don't understand how high avocado prices could cause Chipotle to loose money. Guacamole is an optional add on why wouldn't they just raise the price of the guacamole to reflect the market price of avocado or use avocado futures to hedge their price risk.

Raising prices for a chain like Chiptole is non-trivial. Think about all those menu boards listing the price of adding guacamole, every one of those has to be reprinted, distributed and posted. IT systems updated, etc.

Not saying they don't do stuff like that all the time, there's just more of a lag between a commodity price rising and a chains ability to raise the price of the end product.

These kinds of decisions are made over fairly long time frames. Someone will be studying the likely effect of each possible price, others are forecasting how long avocado prices might stay high. Lots of disagreements, oh Jim thinks it will stay this high for a year, Mary says another month. Those things have to get worked out before even the decision will be made.

It just takes time and it would have to hurt first (sounds like that day is here), but they will eventually raise the price.

Re: America's Love Affair with Avocado

#12

Post by simonsarris »

jcadam wrote: post #8

Personally, I hate avocado in all its forms (guacamole, etc.). I don't understand what people see, err, taste in them. My wife, OTOH, loves avocados (I had never tried avocado before she forced me to sample one while we were dating, which I ineptly pretended to sort of not hate), and if I forget to buy several when I do the shopping, I'll find myself trying to make up a story on the spot about how all the avocados at…

This is a strange way to be mean to your wife? I don't get it. EDIT: sorry! Somehow missed the "forget" part of the sentence.

I don't eat fruit, I don't like the taste. When I see dried mangoes, I buy them for my girlfriend because she loves them.

Re: America's Love Affair with Avocado

#13

Post by msandford »

axaxs wrote: post #9

nearly $2.00 a piece wholesale? I'm curious why the market hasn't been flooded by now. *As pointed out below, it takes at least 5 years for an Avocado tree to produce fruit, which explains why there aren't quick adjustments.

What's the lead time on making an avocado tree? Not as bad as making more programmers I'm sure, but it's not fast either.

Re: America's Love Affair with Avocado

#14

Post by PacifyFish »

simonsarris wrote: post #12
jcadam wrote: post #8

Personally, I hate avocado in all its forms (guacamole, etc.). I don't understand what people see, err, taste in them. My wife, OTOH, loves avocados (I had never tried avocado before she forced me to sample one while we were dating, which I ineptly pretended to sort of not hate), and if I forget to buy several when I do the shopping, I'll find myself trying to make up a story on the spot about how all the avocados at…

This is a strange way to be mean to your wife? I don't get it. EDIT: sorry! Somehow missed the "forget" part of the sentence. I don't eat fruit, I don't like the taste. When I see dried mangoes, I buy them for my girlfriend because she loves them.

He forgot to buy them. He's not being mean, he's being human.

Re: America's Love Affair with Avocado

#15

Post by jcadam »

simonsarris wrote: post #12
jcadam wrote: post #8

Personally, I hate avocado in all its forms (guacamole, etc.). I don't understand what people see, err, taste in them. My wife, OTOH, loves avocados (I had never tried avocado before she forced me to sample one while we were dating, which I ineptly pretended to sort of not hate), and if I forget to buy several when I do the shopping, I'll find myself trying to make up a story on the spot about how all the avocados at…

This is a strange way to be mean to your wife? I don't get it. EDIT: sorry! Somehow missed the "forget" part of the sentence. I don't eat fruit, I don't like the taste. When I see dried mangoes, I buy them for my girlfriend because she loves them.

No malice is intended when I forget the avocados. I just forget them. And then I feel bad.

Re: America's Love Affair with Avocado

#16

Post by drawkbox »

pmorici wrote: post #2

I don't understand how high avocado prices could cause Chipotle to loose money. Guacamole is an optional add on why wouldn't they just raise the price of the guacamole to reflect the market price of avocado or use avocado futures to hedge their price risk.

Probably a reason they are adding other high margin products like queso to offset shrinking margins on avocado. Guacamole is always expensive but worth it.

Though simplicity and just doing the same thing well is really what Chipotle is or was, much like In-N-Out doesn't need gimmicks, just the same good food consistently with well paid employees so it is quality. Hopefully Chipotle doesn't add too many things.

Re: America's Love Affair with Avocado

#17

Post by tgb »

hobs wrote: post #5
tgb wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not what the article claims: > Chipotle, a Mexican-themed restaurant chain, said that “historically high avocado costs” were a big reason why it posted disappointing financial results last year.

What do you think disappointing financial results because of Avacados is claiming then?

The post I replied to is claiming that they lose money on each sale of guacamole. (This is clear from bringing up the possibility of raising prices of the optional add on guacamole.) However, this is clearly much stronger claim than merely that Chipotle is doing worse financially than if their avocados cost less.

Re: America's Love Affair with Avocado

#19

Post by yinghang »

pmorici wrote: post #2

I don't understand how high avocado prices could cause Chipotle to loose money. Guacamole is an optional add on why wouldn't they just raise the price of the guacamole to reflect the market price of avocado or use avocado futures to hedge their price risk.

Qdoba, Chipotle's competitor, actually offers guac for free - which is super interesting to me!

Re: America's Love Affair with Avocado

#20

Post by pdonis »

PacifyFish wrote: post #14
simonsarris wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a strange way to be mean to your wife? I don't get it. EDIT: sorry! Somehow missed the "forget" part of the sentence. I don't eat fruit, I don't like the taste. When I see dried mangoes, I buy them for my girlfriend because she loves them.

He forgot to buy them. He's not being mean, he's being human.

Forgetting to buy them, yes, that's human.

Trying to cover up instead of just saying "Sorry, honey, I forgot", that's at least tending toward mean.

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