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FOOD INC.

JUHI MAHESHWARI 1012350

SHREYAS RAO 1012406

RAJEEV MAYENGBAM 1012409

VAIBHAV VASHISHTH 1012430

SHUBHAM PANDEY 1012445

TANMAY CHANDRAKAR 1012458

GROUP NO : 9

SECTION : D

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Q-1) What were the larger issues that the movie addressed?

A-1)Mass production -- Mass production was one of the most important issues addressed in the

movie. It was carried out on chicken, beef and corn. Genetic modification was done in order to attain

higher productivity and this was achieved by growing the hen in less than the stipulated time i.e. 70

days

Exploitation of farmer -- The farmers were hired on contract basis and the company asked for

frequent up gradation of farms. 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.

Exploitation of consumer-- Due to the feed of high corn diet to cows and pigs there was

spread of E.Coli 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 child Kevin has been shown in the movie who was completely

healthy before eating that hamburger which contained E.coli and died due to tainted meat on exactly

the 12th

day after having hamburger.

Misuse of regulatory system -- Top officials who were serving their term in the existing government

were a part of this food industry. This helped the industry to misuse the power and achieve their

targets. For instance FDA conducted 50000 food safety inspections in 1972 while the number

reduced to 9164 inspection in the year 2006.

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.

Misuse of technology -- All the vegetables is 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. Chicken which was grown in 70 days during 1950s is now grown in mere 48

days that to with almost twice the breast size.

Transparency -- The companies do not maintain transparency in the system. What they show ontheir product and what they behind in the fields are different. Customers are not aware of how the

process of production takes place, they are only given the end product which appears ALRIGHT but

actually it is not.

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Q-2) Do you see such aspects concerning you as a sales person? Why? Why not?

A-2: As a sales person there are some aspects which should be given prior importance. As I am the

part of the company and I have various objectives to achieve and my prime importance is to achieve

the targets of the company but at the end of the day we should not forget that we are also a consumer

and we also have our own family.

Therefore I will be concerned about certain aspects and they are as follows:

y Such brutal activities that are carried out in an unethical way, which harms your customers

(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.

y 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.

Q-3) How do you relate these areas to other things that you as a group use (e.g. Soap,

toothpaste, fairness creams, cosmetics, beverages, packaged food and a lot of other things)

as consumers?

A-3) Soaps: In Chemistry soap is a salt of fatty acid. Soaps for cleansing are obtained by treating

vegetable or ANIMAL OILS AND FATS with a strongly alkaline solution. A common ingredient in

much soap is derived from RENDERED BEEF FAT.

Toothpaste: Most toothpaste contains trace amounts of chemicals that may be toxic when ingested;

toothpaste is not intended to be swallowed. Many, though not all, toothpastes contain SODIUM

LAURYL SULFATE (SLS) and brick powder. These chemicals can cause severe mouth ulcers and

mouth infections.

Sunscreen Cream: This product is used to protect skin from ultraviolet rays but consumers dont

know that this cream led to increase the rate of MELANOMA, another kind of SKIN CANCER.

Additionally, sunscreens when used consistently can cause a deficiency of VITAMIN D.

Soft Drinks: Soft drinks contain chemicals that are hazardous for us. It has been proved that they

can substitute toilet cleaner, it can also be use for removing rust from metal.

Lipstick: this is one of the accessory used by females and it is contains blood of rabbit.

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Q-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.

Ans The two kinds of thought processes that emerged from the movie can be described as follows.

Race to the summit -- In this world of cut throat competition each industry surviving in the society

aim to be the leading company in its sector. To achieve this motto it use various ways which may be

beneficial or harmful to the society. Mass production is a way in which company produces maximum

output. For achieving this it uses various technologies that may be harmful to mankind. This can be

seen from well in the movie where cattle were fed with corn instead of grass. This leads to healthy

growth of corn in quick time but lead to the growth of E.coli. As shown in the movie small child lost his

life after consuming of contaminated hamburger affected with e-coli. So, profit making is fine but not

at the cost of human life. Profit making is not bad, in fact it is the very essence of business but they

fail to understand that it dangerously play with the life of its customer. 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.

Ethics Ethics takes into consideration of customer benefits and values by providing safe products

and services to the consumer. It has more ETHICAL APPROACH towards business .Such

businessmen thinks that if market become only PROFIT ORIENTED; Then one views customer

differently, product differently and finally market differently.

Now what is right and what is wrong? The answer is pretty subjective .Different people will have

different views .But according to us, business should be fair; profit making is of course still the

MAJOR OBJECT of business and cant go TOO ETHICAL in running a business, it wont be feasible.

But it is very important to do business honestly to some extend not cheating the customer.

Q-5)-What is not sales?

A-5 Sales is defined as a transaction or process taking place between two entities where exchange of

values, agent and money happens. Sales management basically deals with managing the

process/resources and then execution of these resources and distribution of people so as to achieve

targets.

Then what is really not sales????

Ethics and values are the most essential requirements in any business which leads to the brand

building of our company. One can make a product and sell it but it is very difficult to convince the

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educated customer. That is why it is very important to have a good name in front of customer which

can only be achieved by having good values and ethics. So ethics and values are most important

credentials and provide a long term relationship with their customers and they are not the part of

sales.

Q-6)-What should be the larger vision of sales for an organization in todays situation?

A-6 In todays situation the vision of sales for an organization is to provide the customer with a

product which can fulfil their needs and desires. The company should not only provide quality product

but these product should also be certified from various quality control board. Today sales are not

restricted up to just selling a product but it focus on providing satisfaction and value to the customer.

The sales and development of any company should be such that it is socially responsible and they

should not mislead the consumer. The company should be loyal to the customer and they must

provide details of the product to the consumer (its ingredients and its source).

This creates faith in customer mind towards the company and this helps in maintaining long and

healthy relationship with the customer.