Today I purchased a large Nylon spoon - for use with non-stick cookware.

On the front of the package
i) the union flag
ii) Text that says "The best of British"
iii) Text that says "Designed in the UK"

On the back in small text "Made in China"

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 10/04/2023 23:28, alan_m wrote:
>
> Today I purchased a large Nylon spoon - for use with non-stick cookware.
>
> On the front of the package
> i) the union flag
> ii) Text that says "The best of British"
> iii) Text that says "Designed in the UK"
>
> On the back in small text "Made in China"

I think it was in India that a town was named Sheffield, so they could
put made in Sheffield on the cutlery they produced.

--
Colin Bignell

This probably means the tooling and design was here, but actually turning
them out is done in China. One might have thought that plastic moulding was
something so low in labour costs that it would be cheaper to do them here.
Very odd.
I remember I had an electric can opener once. Made in UK, but when it went
wrong and I looked inside the motor and gear assembly were made in China.
This was some years ago, when I could see, so its probably not a new issue
at all.
I go back to the days when things had Empire Made written on them, ie we
must have had an empire then.
Made in Hong Kong was often on toys when I was a child.

Brian

--

--:
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...
briang1@blueyonder.co.uk
Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"alan_m" <junk@admac.myzen.co.uk> wrote in message
news:k9jgsfFomcbU1@mid.individual.net...
>
> Today I purchased a large Nylon spoon - for use with non-stick cookware.
>
> On the front of the package
> i) the union flag
> ii) Text that says "The best of British"
> iii) Text that says "Designed in the UK"
>
> On the back in small text "Made in China"
>
>
>
> --
> mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

Yes, that is right, though which came first I'm not sure.
Perhaps we should start naming towns China and Bangladesh.
Brian

--

--:
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...
briang1@blueyonder.co.uk
Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Colin Bignell" <cpb@bignellREMOVETHIS.me.uk> wrote in message
news:JVOdnTKee4FIDqn5nZ2dnZeNn_Rg4p2d@giganews.com...
> On 10/04/2023 23:28, alan_m wrote:
>>
>> Today I purchased a large Nylon spoon - for use with non-stick cookware.
>>
>> On the front of the package
>> i) the union flag
>> ii) Text that says "The best of British"
>> iii) Text that says "Designed in the UK"
>>
>> On the back in small text "Made in China"
>
> I think it was in India that a town was named Sheffield, so they could put
> made in Sheffield on the cutlery they produced.
>
> --
> Colin Bignell
>

On 10/04/2023 23:28, alan_m wrote:
>
> Today I purchased a large Nylon spoon - for use with non-stick cookware.
>
> On the front of the package
> i) the union flag
> ii) Text that says "The best of British"
> iii) Text that says "Designed in the UK"

I have a Jabra headset here, on the controls, a prominent marking of
equal size,

"Designed and Engineered in Denmark Manufactured in China"

i.e. not hidden.

Other IT equipment comes under the same for traceability, and apparently
avoidance of Chinese spying bugs.

>>
>> On the back in small text "Made in China"

Is your spoon bugged?

--
Adrian C

On 10/04/2023 23:28, alan_m wrote:
>
> Today I purchased a large Nylon spoon - for use with non-stick cookware.
>
> On the front of the package
> i) the union flag
> ii) Text that says "The best of British"
> iii) Text that says "Designed in the UK"
>
> On the back in small text "Made in China"
>
>
>
If specifications were uk then its probably better quality than similar
items left to Chinese spec.

Mike

On 11/04/2023 09:48, Brian Gaff wrote:
> This probably means the tooling and design was here, but actually turning
> them out is done in China. One might have thought that plastic moulding was
> something so low in labour costs that it would be cheaper to do them here.
> Very odd.
> I remember I had an electric can opener once. Made in UK, but when it went
> wrong and I looked inside the motor and gear assembly were made in China.
> This was some years ago, when I could see, so its probably not a new issue
> at all.
> I go back to the days when things had Empire Made written on them, ie we
> must have had an empire then.
> Made in Hong Kong was often on toys when I was a child.

And occasionally, Made in Kong Hong.

Brian Gaff <brian1gaff@gmail.com> wrote

> This probably means the tooling and design was here, but actually turning
> them out is done in China. One might have thought that plastic moulding
> was
> something so low in labour costs that it would be cheaper to do them
> here.

That's mad. You wouldn't even save on freight given
that the raw nylon would still be coming from china.

> Very odd.

Nope.

> I remember I had an electric can opener once. Made in UK, but when it
> went
> wrong and I looked inside the motor and gear assembly were made in China.
> This was some years ago, when I could see, so its probably not a new
> issue
> at all.

> I go back to the days when things had Empire Made written on them, ie we
> must have had an empire then.

Nope, it was long gone before you were born.

> Made in Hong Kong was often on toys when I was a child.

On Tue, 11 Apr 2023 10:37:08 +0100, Mike Rogers <mike@mattishall.org.uk> wrote:

>On 10/04/2023 23:28, alan_m wrote:
>>
>> Today I purchased a large Nylon spoon - for use with non-stick cookware.
>>
>> On the front of the package
>> i) the union flag
>> ii) Text that says "The best of British"
>> iii) Text that says "Designed in the UK"
>>
>> On the back in small text "Made in China"
>>
>>
>>
>If specifications were uk then its probably better quality than similar
>items left to Chinese spec.

AIUI, a manufacturer can get exactly the quality ordered from China.

Also (heard on podcast) that for many items the economists/bean counters
transport costs are so close to zero as to be negligible. Certainly the $1000 or
$2000 for a container from China to Europe isn't much if spread out over the
very many plastic spoons that can fit into one container... a million? (trying
to visualize ten-by-ten packaged spoons, layer them into boxes -- eh...)

Thomas Prufer

On 13/04/2023 17:22, Clive Page wrote:
> On 12/04/2023 07:04, Thomas Prufer wrote:
>> Also (heard on podcast) that for many items the economists/bean counters
>> transport costs are so close to zero as to be negligible. Certainly
>> the $1000 or
>> $2000 for a container from China to Europe isn't much if spread out
>> over the
>> very many plastic spoons that can fit into one container... a million?
>> (trying
>> to visualize ten-by-ten packaged spoons, layer them into boxes -- eh...)
>
> You would think that might apply to really small and light items that
> can be brought here in huge numbers in a container.   But recently I
> went to a talk by one of those in charge of maintaining the fabric of
> St.Paul's Cathedral where they have occasionally to replace old
> stonework, some dating from the time of Christopher Wren.  And they are
> getting some of the new granite and limestone from China.  One would
> think that the cost of transport for huge blocks of stone would be far
> from negligible, but apparent it's cheaper than getting stone of similar
> quality from Britain or France.   I was very surprised.
>
Shipping by sea from China to Felixstowe is probably cheaper than
shipping by road from Felixstowe to London...given the duty on road diesel.

--
"Corbyn talks about equality, justice, opportunity, health care, peace,
community, compassion, investment, security, housing...."
"What kind of person is not interested in those things?"

"Jeremy Corbyn?"

On 12/04/2023 07:04, Thomas Prufer wrote:
> Also (heard on podcast) that for many items the economists/bean counters
> transport costs are so close to zero as to be negligible. Certainly the $1000 or
> $2000 for a container from China to Europe isn't much if spread out over the
> very many plastic spoons that can fit into one container... a million? (trying
> to visualize ten-by-ten packaged spoons, layer them into boxes -- eh...)

You would think that might apply to really small and light items that can be brought here in huge numbers in a container. But recently I went to a talk by one of those in charge of maintaining the fabric of St.Paul's Cathedral where they have occasionally to replace old stonework, some dating from the time of Christopher Wren. And they are getting some of the new granite and limestone from China. One would think that the cost of transport for huge blocks of stone would be far from negligible, but apparent it's cheaper than getting stone of similar quality from Britain or France. I was very surprised.

--
Clive Page

On 13/04/2023 17:22, Clive Page wrote:
> On 12/04/2023 07:04, Thomas Prufer wrote:
>> Also (heard on podcast) that for many items the economists/bean counters
>> transport costs are so close to zero as to be negligible. Certainly
>> the $1000 or
>> $2000 for a container from China to Europe isn't much if spread out
>> over the
>> very many plastic spoons that can fit into one container... a million?
>> (trying
>> to visualize ten-by-ten packaged spoons, layer them into boxes -- eh...)
>
> You would think that might apply to really small and light items that
> can be brought here in huge numbers in a container.   But recently I
> went to a talk by one of those in charge of maintaining the fabric of
> St.Paul's Cathedral where they have occasionally to replace old
> stonework, some dating from the time of Christopher Wren.  And they are
> getting some of the new granite and limestone from China.  One would
> think that the cost of transport for huge blocks of stone would be far
> from negligible, but apparent it's cheaper than getting stone of similar
> quality from Britain or France.   I was very surprised.
>

Cost may be irrelevant. They bought Chinese granite to replace steps
some time ago because nowhere else could provide as good a match to what
they had already.

--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

On Thu, 13 Apr 2023 17:25:59 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
<tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

>On 13/04/2023 17:22, Clive Page wrote:
>> On 12/04/2023 07:04, Thomas Prufer wrote:
>>> Also (heard on podcast) that for many items the economists/bean counters
>>> transport costs are so close to zero as to be negligible. Certainly
>>> the $1000 or
>>> $2000 for a container from China to Europe isn't much if spread out
>>> over the
>>> very many plastic spoons that can fit into one container... a million?
>>> (trying
>>> to visualize ten-by-ten packaged spoons, layer them into boxes -- eh...)
>>
>> You would think that might apply to really small and light items that
>> can be brought here in huge numbers in a container.   But recently I
>> went to a talk by one of those in charge of maintaining the fabric of
>> St.Paul's Cathedral where they have occasionally to replace old
>> stonework, some dating from the time of Christopher Wren.  And they are
>> getting some of the new granite and limestone from China.  One would
>> think that the cost of transport for huge blocks of stone would be far
>> from negligible, but apparent it's cheaper than getting stone of similar
>> quality from Britain or France.   I was very surprised.
>>
>Shipping by sea from China to Felixstowe is probably cheaper than
>shipping by road from Felixstowe to London...given the duty on road diesel.

You clearly haven't noticed that Corbyn is no longer in any position
to be a threat to you daft old gammons.

You should spend a bit more of your ill-gotten gains on some better
quality meths. Your current tipple is the reason for your rapid loss
of marbles.

On 13 Apr 2023 at 18:24:43 BST, "Pomegranate Bastard" <pommyB@aol.com> wrote:

> On Thu, 13 Apr 2023 17:25:59 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
> <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
>> On 13/04/2023 17:22, Clive Page wrote:
>>> On 12/04/2023 07:04, Thomas Prufer wrote:
>>>> Also (heard on podcast) that for many items the economists/bean counters
>>>> transport costs are so close to zero as to be negligible. Certainly
>>>> the $1000 or
>>>> $2000 for a container from China to Europe isn't much if spread out
>>>> over the
>>>> very many plastic spoons that can fit into one container... a million?
>>>> (trying
>>>> to visualize ten-by-ten packaged spoons, layer them into boxes -- eh...)
>>>
>>> You would think that might apply to really small and light items that
>>> can be brought here in huge numbers in a container. But recently I
>>> went to a talk by one of those in charge of maintaining the fabric of
>>> St.Paul's Cathedral where they have occasionally to replace old
>>> stonework, some dating from the time of Christopher Wren. And they are
>>> getting some of the new granite and limestone from China. One would
>>> think that the cost of transport for huge blocks of stone would be far
>>> from negligible, but apparent it's cheaper than getting stone of similar
>>> quality from Britain or France. I was very surprised.
>>>
>> Shipping by sea from China to Felixstowe is probably cheaper than
>> shipping by road from Felixstowe to London...given the duty on road diesel.
>
> You clearly haven't noticed that Corbyn is no longer in any position
> to be a threat to you daft old gammons.
>
> You should spend a bit more of your ill-gotten gains on some better
> quality meths. Your current tipple is the reason for your rapid loss
> of marbles.

Er, is this relevant or germane to the issue in some way? Since it most
obviously is not, one is minded to wonder what you have been smoking or
perhaps injecting.

--
The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

HL Mencken

On 4/11/2023 5:37 AM, Mike Rogers wrote:
> On 10/04/2023 23:28, alan_m wrote:
>>
>> Today I purchased a large Nylon spoon - for use with non-stick cookware.
>>
>> On the front of the package
>> i) the union flag
>> ii) Text that says "The best of British"
>> iii) Text that says "Designed in the UK"
>>
>> On the back in small text "Made in China"
>>
>>
>>
> If specifications were uk then its probably better quality than similar items left to Chinese spec.
>
> Mike

Being a trader is very simple. Go on Aliexpress,
find a spoon, get manufacturer name, contact them,
send artwork for retail packaging, boom - spoon in package, done.

As a trader, I might have a portfolio of a thousand items,
and I cannot afford to spend more time on a single acquisition,
than the description in the preceding paragraph.

For the trader, the spec is "Yup! Looks like a spoon".
If the spoon is ugly, he does not buy it.

It's not the same business model, as when you were a lad.

Paul

On Fri, 14 Apr 2023 02:22:23 +1000, Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> wrote:

> On 12/04/2023 07:04, Thomas Prufer wrote:
>> Also (heard on podcast) that for many items the economists/bean counters
>> transport costs are so close to zero as to be negligible. Certainly the
>> $1000 or
>> $2000 for a container from China to Europe isn't much if spread out
>> over the
>> very many plastic spoons that can fit into one container... a million?
>> (trying
>> to visualize ten-by-ten packaged spoons, layer them into boxes -- eh...)
>
> You would think that might apply to really small and light items that
> can be brought here in huge numbers in a container. But recently I
> went to a talk by one of those in charge of maintaining the fabric of
> St.Paul's Cathedral where they have occasionally to replace old
> stonework, some dating from the time of Christopher Wren. And they are
> getting some of the new granite and limestone from China. One would
> think that the cost of transport for huge blocks of stone would be far
> from negligible, but apparent it's cheaper than getting stone of similar
> quality from Britain or France. I was very surprised.

The reason that ships are used for the heaviest freight like iron ore,
crude oil, cars etc is because once you have it on the ship, it costs
bugger all to move it from one side of the world to the other.

On Fri, 14 Apr 2023 07:20:06 +1000, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:

> On 4/11/2023 5:37 AM, Mike Rogers wrote:
>> On 10/04/2023 23:28, alan_m wrote:
>>>
>>> Today I purchased a large Nylon spoon - for use with non-stick
>>> cookware.
>>>
>>> On the front of the package
>>> i) the union flag
>>> ii) Text that says "The best of British"
>>> iii) Text that says "Designed in the UK"
>>>
>>> On the back in small text "Made in China"
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> If specifications were uk then its probably better quality than similar
>> items left to Chinese spec.
>> Mike
>
> Being a trader is very simple. Go on Aliexpress,
> find a spoon, get manufacturer name, contact them,
> send artwork for retail packaging, boom - spoon in package, done.

Alibaba is even easier.

> As a trader, I might have a portfolio of a thousand items,
> and I cannot afford to spend more time on a single acquisition,
> than the description in the preceding paragraph.
>
> For the trader, the spec is "Yup! Looks like a spoon".
> If the spoon is ugly, he does not buy it.
>
> It's not the same business model, as when you were a lad.

On 13 Apr 2023 17:31:52 GMT, Tim Streater <tim@streater.me.uk> wrote:

>On 13 Apr 2023 at 18:24:43 BST, "Pomegranate Bastard" <pommyB@aol.com> wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 13 Apr 2023 17:25:59 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
>> <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>> On 13/04/2023 17:22, Clive Page wrote:
>>>> On 12/04/2023 07:04, Thomas Prufer wrote:
>>>>> Also (heard on podcast) that for many items the economists/bean counters
>>>>> transport costs are so close to zero as to be negligible. Certainly
>>>>> the $1000 or
>>>>> $2000 for a container from China to Europe isn't much if spread out
>>>>> over the
>>>>> very many plastic spoons that can fit into one container... a million?
>>>>> (trying
>>>>> to visualize ten-by-ten packaged spoons, layer them into boxes -- eh...)
>>>>
>>>> You would think that might apply to really small and light items that
>>>> can be brought here in huge numbers in a container. But recently I
>>>> went to a talk by one of those in charge of maintaining the fabric of
>>>> St.Paul's Cathedral where they have occasionally to replace old
>>>> stonework, some dating from the time of Christopher Wren. And they are
>>>> getting some of the new granite and limestone from China. One would
>>>> think that the cost of transport for huge blocks of stone would be far
>>>> from negligible, but apparent it's cheaper than getting stone of similar
>>>> quality from Britain or France. I was very surprised.
>>>>
>>> Shipping by sea from China to Felixstowe is probably cheaper than
>>> shipping by road from Felixstowe to London...given the duty on road diesel.
>>
>> You clearly haven't noticed that Corbyn is no longer in any position
>> to be a threat to you daft old gammons.
>>
>> You should spend a bit more of your ill-gotten gains on some better
>> quality meths. Your current tipple is the reason for your rapid loss
>> of marbles.
>
>Er, is this relevant or germane to the issue in some way?
Of course it is. Didn't you read the drunken berk's signature?
> Since it most
>obviously is not, one is minded to wonder what you have been smoking or
>perhaps injecting.

On Thu, 13 Apr 2023 17:22:23 +0100, Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> wrote:

>On 12/04/2023 07:04, Thomas Prufer wrote:
>> Also (heard on podcast) that for many items the economists/bean counters
>> transport costs are so close to zero as to be negligible. Certainly the $1000 or
>> $2000 for a container from China to Europe isn't much if spread out over the
>> very many plastic spoons that can fit into one container... a million? (trying
>> to visualize ten-by-ten packaged spoons, layer them into boxes -- eh...)
>
>You would think that might apply to really small and light items that can be brought here in huge numbers in a container. But recently I went to a talk by one of those in charge of maintaining the fabric of St.Paul's Cathedral where they have occasionally to replace old stonework, some dating from the time of Christopher Wren. And they are getting some of the new granite and limestone from China. One would think that the cost of transport for huge blocks of stone would be far from negligible, but apparent it's cheaper than getting stone of similar quality from Britain or France. I was very surprised.

I googled for freight rates, and it seems a 20 ft container is up to 25 metric
tons (25000 kg), 40 ft is 27.6 tons. Without actually asking for a quote: it
looks like it doesn't matter if the container is lightly or fully loaded...

Thomas Prufer

Thomas Prufer <prufer.public@mnet-online.de.invalid> wrote:
> On Thu, 13 Apr 2023 17:22:23 +0100, Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> wrote:
>
> >On 12/04/2023 07:04, Thomas Prufer wrote:
> >> Also (heard on podcast) that for many items the economists/bean counters
> >> transport costs are so close to zero as to be negligible. Certainly the $1000 or
> >> $2000 for a container from China to Europe isn't much if spread out over the
> >> very many plastic spoons that can fit into one container... a million? (trying
> >> to visualize ten-by-ten packaged spoons, layer them into boxes -- eh...)
> >
> >You would think that might apply to really small and light items that can
> > be brought here in huge numbers in a container. But recently I went to
> > a talk by one of those in charge of maintaining the fabric of St.Paul's
> > Cathedral where they have occasionally to replace old stonework, some
> > dating from the time of Christopher Wren. And they are getting some of
> > the new granite and limestone from China. One would think that the cost
> > of transport for huge blocks of stone would be far from negligible, but
> > apparent it's cheaper than getting stone of similar quality from Britain
> > or France. I was very surprised.
>
> I googled for freight rates, and it seems a 20 ft container is up to 25 metric
> tons (25000 kg), 40 ft is 27.6 tons. Without actually asking for a quote: it
> looks like it doesn't matter if the container is lightly or fully loaded...

Perhaps you can combine them: put as much stone to take almost the weight of
the container, and then fill the rest up with lightweight plastic spoons.
The stone displaces maybe 5% of the spoons. You get to carry the stone for
a very small fraction of the cost of a container you were sending anyway.

Theo