All replies (15)
Hi riri77, I'll be happy to try and find out. But it might take me a moment to get the answer, I'm afraid ;) I will definitely get back to you when I have found out something.
Best regards, Nina
Guest
Dear@Nina_Migros
thank you for your efforts, there is no hurry at all, a sincere answer is more important to me.
Perhaps you can also find out the following: You can see that Migros is always increasing its margins, especially for new products. For example, a new product is cotton candy in a small cup, which has a proud price of 3.50.
Can you say how many grams of sugar are needed for such a cup? It's probably less than 10g, so you can guess the calculated margin, the packaging probably costs more than the contents.
Or does Migros want to reveal the margin used, as I am (co-)owner of Migros as a member of the cooperative, as Migros is currently emphasizing? As the owner, I am surely entitled to know this, right?
Hello @riri77, so it's my turn.
The cotton candy, doesn't it say how much sugar is in it? Should, I would think?
Yes, and the margins... I think you know yourself that no margins are revealed :) Otherwise you should read the articles of association to find out what you are allowed to do as a member of the cooperative and what you are entitled to. Everything is laid down in detail ;)
Best regards, Nina
Guest
Dear@Nina_Migros
Yes, I already suspected that margins are not revealed, and I'm not surprised, but with many products you can very quickly work out for yourself that the margins are over 50%.
I haven't read the articles of association, but in a real cooperative, the cooperative members are actually the owners and have the operational management in their hands via democratic votes. Migros is probably the cooperative in which the owners have the least say, namely nothing at all. I think it's a great pity that this democratic element of a cooperative no longer exists at Migros. And the owners of Migros are not even allowed to know the margins or other such information.
Well, I am very curious to find out how high the proportion of non-food imports from China is.
Best wishes to you too
Guest
@Bodenseeknusperli
Well, the owners of a company are actually allowed to know such things. And the amount of the margin is important, so the owners can see exactly how much their company earns from this or that product. In real companies, it is even the responsibility of the owners to monitor the company's figures.
And I wouldn't subscribe to the statement that other retailers don't have such fair conditions.
Guest
@Bodenseeknusperli
The example with the kitchen string sums up what I'm getting at: comparable products manufactured in Switzerland or Europe are usually cheaper than Migros' Chinese products, which are usually even worse in terms of quality.
If you compare a little or study the purchase prices of such Chinese scrap yourself, you quickly realize that Migros has no shame when it comes to margins and sometimes sets them at well over 50%. So because sales are falling, which according to Migros is of course only due to other factors such as shopping tourism or the strong franc, they are simply squeezing more and more out of their customers. Some of the prices charged are downright cheeky.
@riri77 I'm still waiting for the answer, so I haven't forgotten you.
@Bodenseeknusperli About Cucina Tavola: Not everything comes from China. Many things come from Europe, e.g. almost all the pans, or the drinking and preserving jars. Unfortunately, I didn't find out why the kitchen string comes from China. I'll post here if I find out anything more.
You'll probably hear from me again next week, so I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you a sunny weekend!
Nina
Guest
@Bodenseeknusperli: I did a bit of research on the candy floss. According to Geo, a large portion of candy floss, like you get at the Chilbi, contains about 3-5g of sugar, i.e. about 1 sugar cube.
I estimate that the 30g portion sold by Migros for a hefty 3.50 is about 1/4 of a large portion at the Chilbi, so the amount of sugar used here is about 1g. Of course, there are also manufacturing, packaging and distribution costs, but you can see once again that the margin on this product is well over 50%, because I dare say the cost price is less than 1.
@Nina_Migros: Thanks for sticking with it, I'm not at all surprised that it's taking so long. I even believe that your bosses already knew this percentage before I asked. But because this figure will be very high, I suspect that the question for the people in charge now is rather: do we want to announce this figure at all and what excuse will we come up with if we don't announce it? But let's wait and see what they tell you.
That's right, often a product that doesn't come from China is often cheaper in other stores. You have it in your own hands. You also have to compare and not just want to buy everything in Migros out of convenience. I avoid Chinese products as far as possible.
Another example within Migros: the peeler from M-Budget is "Made in Switzerland", while the one from Cucina & Tavola, which costs three times as much, comes from China.
There are similar examples at Coop, where the comparable Chinese glue is more expensive than the good old Cementit from Switzerland.
Guest
@stecki: Yes, Coop also has these examples, although the proportion of Chinese imports at Coop is massively smaller. At Coop I usually have a choice, I can opt for the Prix Garantie, but I usually also have a more expensive alternative made in Switzerland to choose from. At Coop I also get products from small and micro producers in the region and can support them, I can also support the mountain population by choosing the right products. And above all, Coop has a significantly larger proportion of (real) organic goods, whole product groups of its own brands have already been converted to organic, there are no more conventional goods there. And Coop doesn't always need to advertise its social and ecological commitment, you have to really look for this information. This will also be the reason why many people still believe that Migros is more social, sustainable or ecological than Coop.