Coca Cola's beancounters destroy a fine old British business

[Mich the Tester]

One longs for the days when Her Maj would say "Orff with their heads" to encourage the rest of the board.

Indeed. Off with their heads, and I believe the Septics owe us tax receipts backdated to 1776. Bloody upstart colonials.

[Mich the Tester]

yep get used to it.

oh and by the way there are plenty of people in the UK and Europe who fit into the 'anonymous shareholders' category.

You're right, and I wish people were a little more critical in following the decisions of companies in which they hold shares and the effects on people.

But you know, I think it's all going a bit far when a corporate comes in and buys a business it knows can't make it much money, then just closes it while keeping the brand name. Oh, and how can Coca Cola own the name 'Malvern Water'? Surely the people of Malvern and their council should be able to decide on what happens with the name?

There are more examples. Don't expect me to buy 'Waterford Crystal' if it's made in the Czech republic, or Elbonia or wherever it's made these days. Don't expect me to believe the brand 'Royal Doulton' if it isn't from Stoke. I am a stuck up git with a bit more money to spend than the average bod, and if you sell me some brand name, I want to know that the brand actually means something and isn't just some pre-fab marketing slogan dreamt up to enrich culturally illiterate tossers who wear funny looking spectacles and call themselves 'Brand Consultants'.

I think this demonstrates the wisdom of the Italians being so protective of their DOCs and the French giving appelations to more than just wine.

[AtW]

oh and by the way there are plenty of people in the UK and Europe who fit into the 'anonymous shareholders' category.

National Statistics Online - Share Ownership

"Anonymous" individuals only hold 10% of UK shares, most certainly 9.9% of them belong to a handful (0.001%) of investors.

[original PM]

Coca Cola have stopped production of Malvern Water. What a shame; a fine old brand, ...

blah blah..


Sorry, this is turning into a silly and incoherent rant, but I feel Europe is selling its culture down the river for the sake of delivering profits to anonymous shareholders in the US and China.

yep get used to it.

oh and by the way there are plenty of people in the UK and Europe who fit into the 'anonymous shareholders' category.

[Mich the Tester]

Coca Cola have stopped production of Malvern Water. What a shame; a fine old brand, built up over many years and honoured with a royal warrant is killed off by mammon because it can't produce at the kind of scale that the corporates want. Of course, they won't sell the brand; that would allow competitors into the market. Even though I'm not a big bottled water enthousiast, I think it's a real shame and a disgraceful example of asset stripping.

Queen's favourite Malvern Water stops production - Telegraph

Given that, in their own words, Malvern "cannot produce enough Malvern Water on the scale it needs to compete in today’s bottled water sector. Modern bottled water plants are around 10 times the size of Colwall", why did they buy it in the first place?

See the next bit; "That’s why Malvern Water costs more to produce and why a big two litre bottle of mineral water in the supermarket sells for as little as 68 pence. The size of our site – plus the amount of water we can actually extract – means Malvern is expensive to produce and cannot compete on price". Yes, Mr Yankee-Doodle Corporate Fizzydrink-****wit III, THAT'S THE POINT of a premium exclusive brand. Mercedes Benz are expensive too, as making cars in Germany is more expensive than making rickshaws in Vietnam, but people buy them because they are good, and reassuringly expensive. Of course, the only period in MB's history that they nearly went under was when they were merged with Chrysler. Producing cheap stuff is not what made Europe rich. Plenty cheapness is not what made Europe scientifically and culturally advanced.

Doing things well, doing them on a manageable scale, and charging a lot of money for the product or service is what made Europe rich. If the yanks don't understand that, let them stick to making fizzy drinks and hamburgers; that's what they're good at.

Sorry, this is turning into a silly and incoherent rant, but I feel Europe is selling its culture down the river for the sake of delivering profits to anonymous shareholders in the US and China, and I am convinced that a product like Malvern water with such a strong, exclusive brand, could make a healthy profit for a SME and provide jobs for local people.