There was big news this last week in case you missed it. No, it was not the budget, it was that nearly £300,000 of cheddar cheese was stolen by fraudsters.
It seemed this was the leading story on all the talk radio shows I had on whilst running errands, last weekend.
Still, it made a nice change from all the anxiety-laden discussion about the budget mind you, which was finally delivered mid-week after about 3 months of talking about it…. anyway back to cheese.
It turns out that a huge delivery of cheddar cheese was delivered by the company to whom they thought was a wholesaler, but in fact was a fraudster.
Obviously, this was a big deal and the dairy is now out of pocket and by the sounds of it struggling with cash flow too.
Even Jamie Oliver got involved… asking us all to watch out for any cheese and help track down the culprits…. it was all very Wallace and Gromit at this point.
Outside of any immediate concern I had about my ham and cheese toasty supply chain (it is secure btw), and consciously avoiding any cheese-related puns out of respect for those involved, it did prompt some more serious questions. Namely
- What due diligence was done setting up the account?
- What controls were in place as part of the credit control process? (limits, signoffs etc)
- Had they never met or been to the location before? (and was this a case of impersonation)
- Were they insured?
Now I don’t know the details of the case and so cannot really comment, although no doubt it is being investigated internally as to what happened.
However, what it did underline was in what seems to be our increasingly digitally-orientated fast-paced world, we still need to have some of the traditional basic controls to protect ourselves.
As we all rush to the bright light of digital, it is all very exciting, but let’s make sure we don’t trip on the way.
Every so often, we need to take a moment to step back, have a look and make sure the process still works.
This was undoubtedly a tough experience for the dairy, Neal’s yard, who have a great selection of cheese btw. I just hope that the publicity from the event, and Jamie’s plea has driven more customers to them to help cover the loss… Sometimes the world works in strange ways like this and I wish them well.
Good news update – there seems to be progress on the case
Box clever
The other story that caught my eye this week was a piece around boxes. In particular Apple boxes (the computers, not Granny Smiths!).
It turns out that Steve Jobs was obsessed with the unboxing experience and believed this created an emotional connection between the consumer and the product. He spent millions on it apparently.
Of course, anyone who owns an Apple product (I do), especially if you bought it new, will know just what a delicious event the unpacking experience is.
For me it comes back to quality, real, thought-through quality.
You can tell when thought has been put into it and when it is more than just a commodity. More often than not we are happy to pay a premium for it.
An Apple a day…
These days so much of the recent discussion on AI or digital seems to be about speed or cost. Responding faster, adding more features or simply providing something cheaper.
However, as these two experiences illustrate, we also need to be careful this does not become a false economy, costing us more in the long run, being a race to the bottom or continually squeezing margins.
This is why we still value handmade goods so much, despite all the technology around us. We appreciate a quality product or premium service as much as we ever have done.
So this is my thought for the weekend. How can I create that upgrade, thinking in a premium-class manner?
After all, it is not necessarily all about doing more, but being smart, thinking, maybe even slowing down a little to take it in that can help… and maybe some of the old ways of doing things are not that bad afterall, not that bad at all.
Have a good weekend everyone.
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