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And yet Gum Arabic is extremely cheap for the amounts needed. At $4-$7 per Kg in the US, the cost per Coke can would be in the order of 0.025 cents (guesstimat
by oersted 2y ago
And yet Gum Arabic is extremely cheap for the amounts needed.
At $4-$7 per Kg in the US, the cost per Coke can would be in the order of 0.025 cents (guesstimate).
This is interesting considering that 80% of the supply comes from Sudan.
It is a nearly universal ingredient in processed foods and professional kitchens. I wonder how the economics work to push the price down.
EDIT: Apparently naturally abundant Acacia trees produce it with barely any oversight and it is easy to harvest in large quantities compared to how much volume is needed in end-products. I suppose if Sudan tried to squeeze their monopoly other suppliers would easily come up in other regions. The reason for the monopoly must simply be a combination of a favorable environment and the fact that they are willing to do it very cheaply because unfortunately they don’t have many other options to sustain themselves.
- geraneum 2y ago> I wonder how the economics work to push the price down. Maybe it’s not only the economic strategies that push the price down?
- xyst 2y agoTime to start up a business as a “conflict free” gum arabic supplier. Maybe they will make a movie about it: Lord of Gum <WIP>
- sudahtigabulan 2y agoIt's not "lord of gum", it's "gumlord".
- deadbabe 2y agoI like his way better
- RandomBacon 2y agoI think they are referencing the Nicolas Cage movie, Lord of War.
- the-chitmonger 2y agoHow about Gumdog Millionaire?
- trhway 2y agothe conflict in Sudan isn't without usual players and the non-"conflict free" gum money go to Putin too : https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/20/africa/wagner-sudan-russia-libya-intl/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/20/africa/wagner-sudan-russia-li... "The Russian mercenary group Wagner has been supplying Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces with missiles to aid their fight against the country’s army, Sudanese and regional diplomatic sources have told CNN."
- cess11 2y ago"I wonder how the economics work to push the price down." Nomads and colonisers mostly. Interesting keywords/phrases to look into might include janjaweed, Muammar Ghadaffi, Omar al-Bashir, genocide in Darfur, United Arab Emirates, anglo-egyptian forces. There are also tangential events worth looking into, like the 1998 attack on the Al-Shifa factory.
- dod9er 2y agoThey should just pull a Trump and call IT a Deal.
- bpodgursky 2y ago> I suppose if Sudan tried to squeeze their monopoly other suppliers would easily come up in other regions. There are a lot of goods like this, where the market has consolidated around the cheapest supplier for convenience but if that supplier disappeared the next-cheapest one would be fine at 10% more. It looks like a catastrophic chokepoint on the economy but it's really not a big deal.