The media is filled with a daily diet of reports on the economy - ranging from oil and grocery prices, collapsing housing markets and falls on the stock market, to interest rates, unemployment and recession.

Meanwhile, ordinary people are struggling to put healthy food on the table. The Russians are reverting to traditional red cabbage soup; the Irish to potatoes; and, as our economy sours and incomes are constrained, there is every possibility the amount of money spent on food will reduce and people will return to cheaper fatty food.

Health professionals are referring to this as “recession obesity” and a range of studies that link low incomes to unhealthy eating supports their concerns.

However, throughout the 20th century baked beans have sustained people through many a period of adversity, particularly of the financial kind.

As a true indicator of the impact of the global recession, baked beans sales worldwide have surged 12 per cent since August 2007. People resort to the humble baked bean as an affordable component of the daily diet.

Baked beans provide a very heap source of fibre and protein so it is not surprising people are increasingly turning to them for nutrition.

Australians eat 116 million tins of baked beans a year. They are ever-present in the Australian economy and according to a major retailer, they have a 92.5 per cent household penetration.

Since March 2008 sales have increased but so has the price. In Australia the cost of a standard tin of baked beans has risen by 5 per cent, which is higher than inflation.

Australian manufacturers source most of the navy beans used in baked beans from the US and Canada, and bean prices have risen by 29 per cent since last year.

Bean Growers Australia chief executive Mark Adamson said that the Australian production of navy beans would need to double this year to take advantage of a US baked bean shortage.

“This is an opportunity too good to miss,” he said, and it would help boost our balance of trade. With food prices soaring, many countries are suffering an unprecedented food crisis.

Japan may even be embracing the baked beans solution. A recent survey of 10,000 Japanese exchange students revealed many had acquired a taste for baked beans while studying overseas, and a leading British baked bean manufacturer is investigating Japan as a new export market.

If you run a small business, allow me to help you ride out the recession by showing you how to find more customers.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 at 2:57 am and is filed under Lifestyle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.