Podcast number 3 investigates the competitive market among groups selling baked goods here at Shanghai American School. The annual Relay for Life requires teams to raise 5,000 RMB (equal to about $650) in order to enter in the Relay. The most popular method of raising this entry fee is through bakes sales. This means that the month or so before Relay for Life SAS enters its “bake sale season” when countless teams try and push their products on teachers and students alike.
This podcast will explore the nature of the market for baked goods at SAS, determine the elasticity of demand for baked goods, and explore the prospects for increasing profits among teams hoping to make an easy kuai in the month leading up to the Relay for Life.
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Introduction: So today on SAS Economists podcast we come to examine the economic practices of our beloved catering service, Eurest. For the last several years Eurest has held our stomachs and their breaths, as they poured out food for the school community’s enjoyment. But how much does the community really enjoy the services provided by Eurest?Too often complaints about the variety of food or taste and appeal are expressed by students and teachers when the name “Eurest” is mentioned.
Today, we will examine the alleged gap between price and quality for Eurest’s food. We’ll try to find out whether the prices charged for cafeteria food truly reflect the costs to Eurest, or whether it is monopoly power that result in the prices many students consider to be unreasonable. Does a lack of competition result in x-inefficiency on behalf of Eurest? If students had the benefit of greater variety and the freedom to eat off campus, how would Eurest match up against greater competition? What can the company do to achiever a higher level of customer satisfaction? These questions and more in the first EVER SAS Economists podcast!
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