When Bad Companies are Good

It would be quite logical for me to write that I wouldn't shop at Dick Smith electronics but would still buy Dick Smith food products. Why???? I hear you ask, confused.

I shall tell you. Dick Smith electronics is no longer owned by the man himself. I'm not sure what he thinks about his name still being used. It is owned by the Woolworths group, one of the duopoly. If things continue as they are, most shops in Australia will be owned by one of the two groups. That's not good for small, independent businesses or our wallets.

Dick Smith - as far as I can gather - still owns his food label. He is a passionate believer in buying Australian produced foods owned by Australian companies. Of course, Dick Smith doesn't deal with the food directly, he owns the label which is used on jars and boxes of food made by Australian companies he's chosen. I know that Sanitarium Foods is one such company. If you want to know more about Dick Smith foods, as well as his philosophy, click here.

The other company is Cadbury. I've been writing for some time that, despite their Fair Trade and organic chocolate ranges, I try to avoid buying their products. I stand by that because, as I've written before, they're owned by Kraft which is considered one of the bad boys. I would, however, buy Cadbury ice cream which is made under license by Bulla Dairy Foods, a family owned Australian business. I'm not sure of the agreement but Cadbury ice cream is Bulla ice cream. I'd rather just avoid the confusion and buy Golden North or Maggie Beer instead. We rarely buy ice cream anyway because of the packaging and the unhealthiness so, why not indulge in one of the local but more costly ones as an occasional treat?

I'm now sure I've cleared up any confusion you may have had. NOT.

Cheers.