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Buy Now, Pay Later Helps JAB Billionaires Build Beverage Empire

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Re: Buy Now, Pay Later Helps JAB Billionaires Build Beverage Empire

#31

Post by ochang »

technics256 wrote: post #17
pasdoy wrote: post #13

Any idea where they get their coffee beans? While working in that industry for traders in UK it was common to lend money to African farmers for them to buy crops and tools (from the same firm) and then agree on a market price per pound produced. The trading firm would then pay the farmer months or years after. It really opened me on the work culture and conditions over there. By conditions I don't mean work hours or…

Please do, or point to some illuminating resources. Thanks!

Not specific to JAB, but there's a podcast episode of Containers [0] following the end-to-end movement of coffee and the surprising amount of middlemen.

[0]: https://medium.com/containers/episode-4-coffee-78ac6571caea

Re: Buy Now, Pay Later Helps JAB Billionaires Build Beverage Empire

#32

Post by jamez1 »

aphextron wrote: post #24
pasdoy wrote: post #13

Any idea where they get their coffee beans? While working in that industry for traders in UK it was common to lend money to African farmers for them to buy crops and tools (from the same firm) and then agree on a market price per pound produced. The trading firm would then pay the farmer months or years after. It really opened me on the work culture and conditions over there. By conditions I don't mean work hours or…

>The trading firm would then pay the farmer months or years after. What is the incentive here for the farmer though? Why would they go along with this rather than just sell their beans at the market price?

They pay them more for waiting, effectively moving the working capital up the supply chain where it accumulates to where it can be used.

Re: Buy Now, Pay Later Helps JAB Billionaires Build Beverage Empire

#33

Post by unknown_apostle »

So they negotiate 300 days of credit and cajoled you into becoming a kind of banker. But hey, why complain? You're being "rewarded" for the waiting while they grow even bigger (and more fragile) on the acquisitions you helped to fund. It's win-win!

This article is yet another example of how not just the financial economy but also the world of "real stuff" has become calibrated on policies of extremely low interest rates. The financialization of everything is complete.

And here's the important bit of the article:

"Sharply higher interest rates or a sudden spike in futures prices could leave traders with losses or stretch their financing needs as hedging costs go up."

The priests have spent a decade praying and sacrificing central bank balance sheets to the gods of inflation. Some day their prayers will be heard but we may not like it when that happens.

Re: Buy Now, Pay Later Helps JAB Billionaires Build Beverage Empire

#34

Post by imtringued »

B1FF_PSUVM wrote: post #3

What I love about these stories is the demonstration of how absurdly rich (as a civilization) we have become. Things that in no way, shape or form are needed for bare survival account for, i don't know, 95% of our expenses? We've always been pretty profligate, but I'd say that for many centuries we did not break 50%. Does anyone have hard data?

Maybe you are rich personally but for the average human this has never been true.

Do you know of any middle income person that owns or rents a dozen apartments? Do you even know a single person that has two?

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