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Unless it’s patentable, there’s no economic incentive for any one farmer or farm conglomerate to invest in this research. It would require government or non-pro
by jdavis703 5y ago
Unless it’s patentable, there’s no economic incentive for any one farmer or farm conglomerate to invest in this research. It would require government or non-profit research. And in a world of scarce resources, funding research on a luxury food item would strike many as a waste of taxes or philanthropic funds.
(I’m not saying it’s wasteful, learning the secrets of truffle reproduction could unlock a new branch of scientific study. Just explaining why this is.)
- Cerium 5y agoThere is incentive to discover but not to share.
- MattGaiser 5y agoJust make it a trade secret? A patent is basically making it public in exchange for a guaranteed, albeit short term, exclusive right. Why not just let only a few know and keep it secret from everyone else?
- lumost 5y agoPeople talk, if it’s not patentable it would be pretty hard to prove that one of the salaried researchers new truffle farm business is a trade secret.
- 1123581321 5y agoThat would be an easy criminal case. Trade secrets arguably are better protected by the law than patents for certain types of knowledge.
- ksdale 5y agoLots of businesses have successfully kept trade secrets for decades, many very famous and gigantic company's recipes are trade secrets. Companies know that if they patent it, it will be in the public domain eventually, whereas trade secrets can stay secret indefinitely, theoretically.
- anamax 5y agoGoreTex and Coke are still secrets.
- lumost 5y agoThe vast number of off brand cola and waterproof fabric products would seem to imply that marketing is the operative force rather than the secret recipe.
- quickthrower2 5y agoKnock off Coke that tastes just as good would surely hit at it’s dominance - you’d end up with a levelled playing field more like wine is.
- kadoban 5y agoCoke's secret is marketing, and to a lesser extent being able to use coca leaves due to historical reasons.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- hcknwscommenter 5y agoGoretex is absolutely not a trade secret. It's stretched PTFE (aka ePTFE).
- freeopinion 5y agoThat's the current situation. When they say, "nobody knows" it means that nobody who does know is talking.
- cortesoft 5y agoWell, if it was a trade secret then we still wouldn't know... so maybe it is?
- HWR_14 5y agoIf there was a reliable trade secret, then there would probably be farmers producing outsized yields. Hiding the total production per acre would be difficult in such a top end product where consumers frequently tour the farm.
- dghlsakjg 5y agoEdible foraged mushroom markets are surprisingly opaque. The foragers are unlikely to give anything more than a vague notion of where they find their stuff in my experience. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to learn that there are people that have figured out how to increase yields in the wild or simulate correct growing conditions
- pkaye 5y agoSonoma county is right next to US Davis which is big on agriculture research.