At this season of “Peace on Earth, goodwill
towards men” it is fitting to reflect upon the most effective engine for
peaceful cooperation, learning, discovery, innovation, material progress and
social toleration known to mankind. That
is the voluntary and unhampered exchange of goods and services; the free
market.
But rather than rehash the pronouncements of
deceased economists, I want to share a real life example that I am living
through today. As my friends and blog
followers know, I am at a career crossroads exploring alternate paths. These paths include seeking another job in my
existing career discipline, opening a marketing /media consultancy and
evaluating business opportunities outside of my field.
One of these opportunities involves a
technology that has the potential to make the world a better place while
delivering a handsome payout to its inventor and those who successfully market
it. If the rest of this blog seems a bit
much like a commercial, so be it. I’m
not ashamed to shill for something that produces social good while making a buck
or two for me.
The product is called RD Fresh. It is a mixture of 100% natural and harmless minerals. While not a very new product, it is still
obscure has been under marketed. It was
created by a chef not marketing and sales types. I have joined with some entrepreneurs to
grow market penetration.
When placed in a refrigerator, RD Fresh does two
simple things:
1.
It absorbs moisture thereby:
a.
Reducing spoilage, keeping stored foods fresher
for longer
b.
Enabling refrigeration units to run more
efficiently, cutting back energy consumption and equipment wear out
2.
Eliminates refrigerator odors making food taste
better
Let’s focus on items 1a and 1b. At present, RD Fresh is intended for the
professional food service market although a home use version (Veggie Fresh)
exists. Let’s consider what happens when
restaurants reduce food spoilage and energy costs.
The USDA and other independent sources estimate
that 25%-30% of food in the U.S. gets wasted and thrown away due to
spoilage. The University of Arizona
calculates that the dollar value of wasted food in grocery and restaurant
channels exceeds $30 billion dollars annually.
Therefore, for a small restaurant, a $25 monthly
investment can the save the business a couple of hundred dollars on spoiled
food costs. This adds up to $2,000 to
$3,000 net savings per year. Here is
where economic calculation kicks in.
The owners of that restaurant can choose among three
things to do with the savings:
1.
Increase their own take home pay – spend it on
themselves and increase their personal satisfaction
2.
Reinvest in the business and create a better,
more competitive restaurant
3.
Invest the savings in outside opportunities
In all three instances, this savings on
prevented waste spurs additional economic activity, which helps to create jobs
and incomes for others.
Similarly, the improvement in refrigerator performance
will reduce energy costs. The reinvestment
options on energy savings are the same as above and are additive to them.
Now multiply this by a thousand or a million restaurants,
food stores, hospital, school and military cafeterias. The result is millions of new investments and consumer
spending money flowing back into the economy.
This crates new jobs and new opportunities.
Reducing food waste and lowering energy
consumption has another important benefit.
This can reduce the aggregated
demand for both food and energy thereby making each more affordable for the
disadvantaged and most vulnerable members of society.
All of this would accomplished without one single
arm being twisted, shot fired, bill passed, tax levied or subsidy granted by government. Certainly, RD Fresh is not the miracle cure
that will suddenly transform Earth back into Eden. However, there are countless RD Fresh type
stories out there. Inventors,
innovators, entrepreneurs and investors, each making life a smidge better if
given the chance. And if they fail’ so
be it. Their idea wasn’t as good as they
thought it was. The market decides.
All major faith traditions encourage charity
and almsgiving. There will always be people
who legitimately cannot help themselves, who cannot compete in the
marketplace. It is good for our culture
and our souls to voluntarily help those in real need.
However the role of business in a free market is
to make the world a little better at a time with each and every transaction
between buyer and seller.
Apple’s founder, Steve Jobs, was chided for his
lack of conspicuous philanthropy. Yet
for over 30 years he made the world a better place. He made it possible for people access powerful
computers in their homes. In 2011, Dan Pallotta
wrote in the Harvard Business Review:
“Without Steve Jobs we’d be years away from a
user-friendly mechanism for getting digital music without stealing it, which
means we’d still be producing hundreds of millions of CDs with plastic cases.
We’d still be waiting for a cell phone on which
we could actually read e-mail and surf the web. “We” includes students,
doctors, nurses, aid workers, charity leaders, social workers, and so on. It helps the
blind read text and identify currency. It helps physicians improve their performance and surgeons
improve their practice. It
even helps charities
raise money.
We’d be a decade or more away from the iPad,
which has ushered in an era of reading electronically that promises to save a
Sherwood Forest worth of trees and all of the energy associated with trucking
them around. That’s just the beginning. Doctors are using the iPad to improve
healthcare. It’s being used to
lessen the symptoms of autism, to improve kids’
creativity, and to revolutionize
medical training.
We would be without video conferencing for the
masses that actually works. Computers that don’t keep crashing. Who can
estimate the value of the wasted time that didn’t get wasted?
We would be without the 34,000
full-time jobs Apple has created, just within Apple, not to mention
all of the manufacturing jobs it has created for those who would otherwise live
in poverty.
We would
be without the wealth it has created for millions of Americans who have
invested in the company.”
And that’s the miracle of the market. Peace on Earth, goodwill towards men.
Those interested representing RD Fresh or using
in their kitchen can reach me at: jsiano@tpnaturals.com
.
Related
Posts:
Donald,
Adam, Milton and Will
Capitalism
for B Students
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