Hard News by Russell Brown

Read Post

Hard News: My Food Bag: is it any good?

163 Responses

First ←Older Page 1 3 4 5 6 7 Newer→ Last

  • Chris Waugh,

    This thread is in danger of sparking a serious case of gustatory homesickness. Quick, think happy thoughts.... "Gung Ho Pizza...." Run be a Kiwi and a fellow Scarfie, so the best of both countries in one happy meal.

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 2401 posts Report Reply

  • Hilary Stace, in reply to Islander,

    Have just been given a packet of pistachio halva! Never had it before. Turkish. Will take it to a family party we are having tomorrow and hope to have a taste. No palm oil.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • Niki Bezzant,

    I also reviewed My Food Bag (the food, not the media coverage). In particular I was interested in the health aspect, which is part of the promotion of the product. http://www.nikibezzant.com/

    Auckland • Since Mar 2013 • 1 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to Niki Bezzant,

    Interesting, Niki. I think you're right that more detail on the nutritional side would be good. But it's always going to be hard to get the quantity right for an average adult, since the range of size is so great, as is the amount of exercise they do, and some people also are just less concerned about their weight and would be turned off by what they felt were stingy portions.

    The classic bag probably suffers from even more variance. It's pitched at a family with "school age children", but there's a big difference in appetite between a 5 year old and a 17 year old. Also, children are notoriously picky. I'd probably have been able to get about a teaspoon of each meal last week into my youngest boy, whereas the eldest would probably eat a near-adult portion some nights.

    That said, I think they would both like the preparation side of it, so that in itself would be a welcome thing. Good chance for the eldest to practice his reading, and the youngest his spoken language.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    On the subject of freebies, I noticed Grant Smithies' column in the SST was dedicated to a review of a (declared) freebie luxury camping experience.

    All very nice, but given the rate card for a whole back page is probably in five figures, I wonder how the ad department feels about being undercut in this way?

    If plugola by underpaid journos becomes the norm, will having a column be like being the doorman of a luxury hotel, where the 'employee' pays the employer for the role, rather than the usual arrangement?

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to BenWilson,

    the eldest would probably eat a near-adult portion some nights

    My experience of teenage boys (on to number 3 and 4 now) is that they each eat approximately double that of their gourmand father from the ages of 15 untilt hey start paying for their own food. We have recently bought a double-door fridge monster to cope with the demand over next few years (though I also use it as a pantry for all sauces, flours, oils, drinks and spreads and anything likely to fall over in the cupboard -- it saves cleaning up after every 4 mag shake in the Port Hills).

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    On the subject of freebies, I noticed Grant Smithies' column in the SST was dedicated to a review of a (declared) freebie luxury camping experience.
    All very nice, but given the rate card for a whole back page is probably in five figures, I wonder how the ad department feels about being undercut in this way?

    There are usually follow-on ads after a freebie. I'm told that the ad rate discounts in newspapers are particularly vicious these days, particularly for late placements that fill up a hole in the ratio.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to Hebe,

    they each eat approximately double that of their gourmand father from the ages of 15 untilt hey start paying for their own food.

    Heh. So if there's an average adult consumption x, then a family of 5 will need anywhere from 3x to 8x, depending on the age of the kids. A product really has to cater for the upper end of the range, since wastage is better than kids going hungry, especially since leftovers can be saved.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to BenWilson,

    wastage is better than kids going hungry,

    Satiation is impossible for teenage boys, I think. Mine say it doesn't matter how much they eat (usually unrefined wholegrains etc) they are never full nowadays. It's sad the mournful look of a teenage boy who can never feel his stomach is full (the pathos is rivalled only by a fat old labrador on a diet).

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Hebe,

    There are usually follow-on ads after a freebie. I’m told that the ad rate discounts in newspapers are particularly vicious these days, particularly for late placements that fill up a hole in the ratio.

    You hope there are follow-on ads, but maybe not. The key selling point of consumer PR is that it's a cheaper way into media than a conventional ad campaign. It will often be accounted to the client in terms of equivalent advertising hours.

    But I reckon the big win in that game is a spot on a 7pm show, and the market has changed enough that I think there are fewer of those consumer-PR gapfillers. Everyone's trying a bit harder, at the moment.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to Russell Brown,

    You hope there are follow-on ads, but maybe not. The key selling point of consumer PR is that it's a cheaper way into media than a conventional ad campaign. It will often be accounted to the client in terms of equivalent advertising hours.

    Agreed. And a piece of editorial space can be so much more valuable than ad space, which people -- as desensitised as they are to sales pitches in a world full of them -- tend to flick over rather than read or watch.

    Diverging slightly: I get very irate at the Press' practice of writing a story about an online business and still not providing the web address (it seems to be a way of pretending that the web is not real and entites on it do not really exist). That was the policy in the late '90s because the management believed mentioning dubdubdub adresses gave legimitacy to the opposition. Now it's pathetic.

    After a couple of conversations recently with MSM people, I am increasingly bemused at the disconnect between the MSM and the web world; why? Is it that over the last decade I have increasingly adopted computer-based comms and working and the MSM people have not caught up. As an insatiably curious fact-gatherer all my life, I cannot understand why the web world is sneered at.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    People are starving because they can’t grow enough food on their own land, the solution has nothing to do with food bags and certainly does not belong in this thread.

    Actually in numerous instances, they can grow enough food on their own land, but they only grow one crop and they're getting screwed down the line in terms of money back to buy the food that 100 years ago they might have grown themselves. Or their ability to grow their own food has been affected by drought, access to water, salination, civil war etc.

    In reality there's enough food in the world to feed everyone a decent meal. In the west we tend to eat too much (and too much of intensively farmed things like meat) and what we don't eat, we throw horrendous amounts away.

    But I'd struggle to link any of this to food bags too.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Hebe,

    That was the policy in the late ’90s because the management believed mentioning dubdubdub adresses gave legimitacy to the opposition. Now it’s pathetic.

    It is still regrettably common in the MSM. Our TV show is thus constrained and it drives me nuts. I feel like we're letting down the viewers for no good reason.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

First ←Older Page 1 3 4 5 6 7 Newer→ Last

Post your response…

Please sign in using your Public Address credentials…

Login

You may also create an account or retrieve your password.