Group 10

Food Inc.
BIMM Sec. A

Group Members:

Rushil Dembla MM1012607

Himanshu Haryani MM 1012112

Ankita Sharma MM 1012137

Priyanka Vardani MM 1012153

Chetan Ninawe MM1012230

Mayur Purkar MM1012241

Question1: What were the larger issues that the movie addressed?

Answer: The larger issues that were addressed in the movie were as follows:-

1. GENTIC MODIFICATION:- As per the movie almost all the vegetables are available all over
the year despite the fact that they are not grown in that season. For instance Flesh Red
tomatoes were available throughout the year due to the use of ethylene gas.
Adding to it, the animals were also given a diet full of chemicals in
order to increase their body mass to produce more meat. For instance Chicken which was
grown in 70 days during 1950s is now grown in mere 48 days that to with almost twice the
breast size.

2. EXPLOITATION OF FARMERS: - The movie showcased that each and every company is
using a “farmer” tag in their products but in reality there was no importance given to farmers
as these companies ruled them under their strict guidelines. The farmers were hired on
contract basis and if they don’t work as per the guidelines the contract get cancelled in
between. According to the movie, an average farmer with two chicken houses takes a loan of
$500,000 but could earn a meagre $18000 a year and in this way he becomes a slave of the
company.

3. PERCEPTION IN THE MARKET:- In spite of ruthless processing of meat ,these companies

have created a good “image” in the market. The customers are lured by the product line and
thus they don’t feel the urge to investigate the processes of meat production and they
consider it to be hygienic.

4. MONOPOLY:- In 1970s,25% of the meat packaging market was controlled by 5 companies

but as of now more than 80% the meat packaging market is control by top 4 companies. This
shows the monopoly of these four companies of which Tyson is the biggest. Due to mergers
and acquisitions these companies has a hold over the market.

5. REGULATION: - The regulatory agencies in the U.S.A. i.e. USDA and FDA are working in
tandem with these food industries. These organisations dance on the fingers of food
industries and certify their products without essentials checks. For instance FDA conducted
50000 food safety inspections in 1972 while the number reduced to 9164 inspection in the
year 2006.

6. FARMING AND PRODUCTION: - These companies plays a huge role in farming and
production of various countries as they demand a large number of corn to be produced in
order to feed their animals. Corns are comparatively cheaper than the other feeding
substances and it contains higher fat diet that make animals fatter and thus the companies
have to spend less on their diet. The corn production was used to be 20 bushels in a small
 farm some decades ago but now it has peaked up to 200 bushels. Moreover farmers get
more subsidies on more production of corn bushels.

7. HEALTH HAZARDS:- Due to the feed of high corn diet to cows, pigs, chicken and fishes,
there was spread of E.Coli 0157:h7 in them and even if one animal suffers, the chances are
more that all of them may suffer soon. This led to spread of E.coli in the processed meat
which was responsible of 20 deaths in a decade in the U.S.A. An example of a 2 year old
child- Kevin has been shown in the movie who was completely healthy before eating that
hamburger which contained E.coli and died on exactly the 12th day after having hamburger. In
order to kill E.coli bacteria, the meat processing equipments are now being cleansed with
Ammonia which further can prove a hazard.

8. TOLL ON LOW MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES:- The perfect illustration has been given in the
movie that how a middle class family feeds on these fast food knowingly that they are
hazardous to their health but they are relatively cheaper than other fruitful stuffs. As a result
various health problems occurs like obesity, heart strokes etc., for curing of which they don’t
have enough money.

Question 2: Do you see such aspects concerning you as a sales person? Why? Why not?

Answer: Yes, as a sales person I found some aspects which concerns me for the following reasons:-

 Being a sales person is all about convincing others (customers) about your product and how
can I convince others when I myself is not convinced with it.
 Such brutal activities that are carried out in an unethical way, which harms your customers
(as in the movie, people were suffering from E. Coli bacteria). In this way companies would
not be able to maintain long term relationship with customers and definitely it can never
convince any sales person.
 After all, sales person are also human being performing such acts (act which cause the harm
to the life of the customer as well as to the various components of the society) can never
satisfy any human being.
 Ultimately, sales person or their family are also a customer in a way or another and I as a
sales person would not like to harm my family.

Question 3: How do you relate these areas to other things that you as a group use (eg. Soap,
toothpaste, fairness creams, cosmetics, beverages, packaged food and a lot of other things)
as consumers?

Answer: Soap is a product that many people might take for granted or consider rather ordinary. But
for some lathering up can be a treasure part of a morning or nightly routine.

India is a vast country with a population of 1030 million people. Household penetration of soap is
98%. People belonging to different income levels use different brands which falls under different
segment but all income level use soap making it the second largest category in India (Detergents are
No.1).
Soap is primarily targeted towards women as they are the chief decision makers in term of soap
purchase. Medicated positioning like germ killing and anti-bacterial are marketed to families. The
unethical and unsustainable development is also prevalent in the soap industry. The use of alkalis like
additive sodium laureth sulphate in soaps erodes skin cells and causes various diseases (like ulcer) to
its users.

The oils that are used for making soaps are extracted through irrelevant ways (by killing whales, etc.).
The customers are lured by the mesmerized advertisements but they are kept in dark about the harsh
realities of the product. Thus, it is seen that the other area of the consumer goods are also blessed
with unsustainable development and the unethical behaviour. The mass production system is
nowadays considered as a major modus-operandi of the current business houses.

Question 4: There were two kinds of thought processes that emerged in the movie on how one
looks at the customers, product and the market. Describe those and create your own opinion
of the right and wrong.

Answer: The two thought processes that occur in the movie are first, the unethical ways of treating
animals and producing meat in a cruel manner from the animals and second the thought of producer
himself that is to grow the animal naturally and feed them natural products and using the cultural
method of meat processing.

There is a huge difference in the perception of both thought processes. The one thought process that
is of the four companies covering the 80% of meat packaging industry is just focussed towards raising
their market share. These companies want to grow exponentially and achieve the success at every
step at the cost of cruelty to animals and exploitation of farmers. These companies create a fool out of
customers without letting them know and targets sales to soar their profits to peak. These companies
have artificially engineered the food and providing them to the customers in the taste which is
demanded.

While the other thought process that is of Robert Kenner is way too simple. For him the meat
processing should be natural and freedom should be given to the animals to roam around in natural
environment. He has no vision to become another Wal-Mart or any other big brand. He wants to
deliver the best quality of meat to the customers without using the chemicals and high corn diet in
animals.

In our view, the second thought process that is of the Robert Kenner is right. The reason being that
the way animals are treated in his manufacturing process is much better than being cruel to them in
first thought process. Supposedly, if every company in this world aims for high growth and increasing
profits at the stake of humanity, then no one could benefit from it. Ultimately the vicious circle would
reach back to the companies aiming higher and would create a disaster in society.
Question 5: What is not sales?

Answer: Selling is not only to sell the product, but it is selling the product which satisfies the
customer’s value. Selling of any product or service is not sale which:

 CHEAT THE CUSTOMER: What the customer really wants is the quality & healthy products.
But some company aims for mass production only just to make millions of dollars but
indirectly they are staking the customer’s life. For Example, in the movie two and a half year
boy’s kidneys were failed because he was stricken by E.Coli bacteria which were there in the
food (Hamburger). So, it was the food that took the life of innocent boy. This shows how the
companies play with the values, emotions and with the life of the customers.

 WHEN THE PRODUCT IS ADULTERATED: Companies grow because of demand of their

product, If there will be no customer there will be no profit and hence no existence of
company. Now, if the company sells contaminated product, the long term relationship of the
customer with the organization hampers. For example, the meat that the Tyson company sell
was contaminated meat, imaginary tomatoes ripened with ethylene gas, chickens and cows
were fed with corn rather than their natural diet which leads to excess fat in their body.
Genetically modified food (engineered food) lacks the natural and essential nutrients which
drop the metabolic process of the humans. Hence, it leads to non-transparency

 DISRESPESPECT OF THE WORKERS AND ANIMALS: If any product come from the large
assembly where the workers and animals are abused, the product becomes much more
dangerous. When the workers are treated as slaves and are controlled under the thumb of the
company which is unethical and not sales in our point of view. For example, in farms
chickens, pigs and cows were treated brutally and even farmers were forced to do it no matter
whether they are willing to do it or not.

Question 6: What should be the larger vision of sales for an organization in today’s situation?

Answer: In today’s situation the vision of sales for an organization is to provide the customer with a
product which can fulfil their need. The product must be more valuable to their money and it must be
available easily and readily. The product must fulfil all the expectations. The sales department must
provide the product which is according to the standard and norms which are set by the government
and various companies’ law. For example, in food industry the norms set by Agmark and ISI must be
fulfilled and certified so that the customers have faith in our product.

The sales person must provide service to the customers as early as possible with full satisfaction of
customers, with their problems solved. This creates faith in customer mind towards the company and
company benefits from it.