Dick Smith now attacking Aldi's

Plain Truth · Guru

Dick Smith now attacking Aldi's

Meredith · Senior Member

Dick Smith is a hypocrite, he made his fortune selling cheap imported electronics, he didn't have such a conscience about imported goods when it was his company.

dabbler · Guru

Dick Smith made his fortune selling electronic components, a large proportion of which were probably manufactured right here in Australia. As well as selling to the hobbyist market, that business would have encouraged and enabled quite a few electronic engineers who still manufacture in this country.

When he sold his electronics business to Woolworths, they (unsuccessfully) morphed it into an electrical retailer. Dick Smith wasn't responsible for it's change in direction or subsequent failures.

I don't agree with DS on everything, but he is correct. Aldi isn't here to do favours for us, it's here to return profits for it's European parent, who now hide put in low tax Ireland.

-- Edited by dabbler on Wednesday 26th of September 2018 08:04:09 PM

PeterX · Senior Member

He discusses the situation in the articuler below ...

Googling
Dick smith made fortune from china imports

locates following article

excerpt below

From
www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/dick-smith-out-of-a-job-after-closing-his-foods-business/news-story/1f2e8f838ac452424249e618d4635ab9

Smith acknowledged there was an ironic twist in him leaving food manufacturing citing cheap imports.

Many have made the point that five years after setting up shop in that Neutral Bay carpark as an electronics manufacturer, he ultimately concentrated his business on selling imported electronics. Ive been accused of making my money out of importing, and then saying I want to help Australian farmers, he says. But the truth is, back then, the government took away the protection of local industry, and the Australian electronics manufacturers closed down.

Smith said he had absolutely no choice, after the Whitlam government in 1973 implemented 25 per cent, across-the-board tariff cuts. For locally produced two-way radios, general purpose radios and TV sets, which Smith was by this stage making locally, there was a flood of imports into the local market for the first time that were much cheaper than their local competitors.

I thought I would go broke, Smith said. Australian suppliers were all going broke. AWA and Astor closed down.

He said he was faced with an impossible choice: source his electronic goods from offshore, or go broke: I was forced into it. Now the only way I could carry on was by importing. As he faced oblivion, he was thrown a lifeline: Luckily, a friend said: Dick, I will take you up to Japan and show you how to import.
In the process of changing himself from a local electronics manufacturer to importer, Smith learnt an important truth: Australians want the cheapest products, and the only way to compete was to import them.

Decades later, and to his own cost, it is a lesson Smith learned from the other side of the battle with Aldi.

He has told The Australian his original idea for Dick Smith Foods in 1999 was motivated by Paul Newmans legendary pasta sauce for charity.
I saw a bottle of Paul Newmans pasta sauce in my pantry. I thought: I could do something like that. Ill copy Paul Newman and Ill give it to charity.
I also thought Id have a ¬different angle, and Id sell it to benefit the local farmers.

The business started well, but once Aldi set up shop less than two years later, things started to change. Ever since Aldi got going, weve been on the back foot, Smith said.
Naively, I thought everyones prepared to pay a few more dollars for our farmers. But people warned me, people will just buy the cheapest goods.

-- Edited by PeterX on Wednesday 26th of September 2018 08:24:19 PM

-- Edited by PeterX on Wednesday 26th of September 2018 08:24:45 PM

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

So to quote Dick "He said he was faced with an impossible choice: source his electronic goods from offshore, or go broke: I was forced into it. Now the only way I could carry on was by importing. As he faced oblivion, he was thrown a lifeline: Luckily, a friend said: Dick, I will take you up to Japan and show you how to import.
In the process of changing himself from a local electronics manufacturer to importer, Smith learnt an important truth: Australians want the cheapest products, and the only way to compete was to import them."

So the sauce was OK for the goose but not now for the gander? confuse cry

Dick's current philosophies are laudable ... but in the current world of globalisation (whether we like it or not) we are all in the one single market ... nurtured and supported by governments in all the countries Straya deals with - read "free" trade agreements.

Aldi still supply the highest percentage of Strayan goods on their shelves - far more than Coles and Woolies. Praps the profits of Coles and Woolies remain in Straya - but they go to their shareholders NOT the farmers Dick is so concerned about.

Additionally, Aldi source much of their fruit and vegies from local suppliers rather than through huge contracts like Coles and Woolies that screw the farmer/producer to the wall.

...and unfortunately, as Dick also says - "But people warned me, people will just buy the cheapest goods", and probably so does everyone of us on this and other forums.

Jest sayin' hmm

Cheers - John

PeterX · Senior Member

Article has link to the mentioned Dick Smith Video
www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/unlimited-greed-dick-smith-unleashes-on-aldi/news-story/0c74569f4377d7c3820a227571dd0c24

dogbox · Guru

they maybe supplying a large portion of Australian goods but the point dick is making is all the profits go overseas to low tax countries because our company tax rates are higher so we loose the tax benefit. just like so many other companies.
if you think like some political parties you might think that is okay an you can tax the companies that pay their taxes more to make up for the loss.

PeterX · Senior Member

Mentioning globalization , made me think of a recent article in the press , that said Australia only had 23 days supply of petrol, if imports currently in transit are excluded.
And all this cheap stuff we import is made in places like China/nda etc where workers earn very low wages , like a few dollars a day.
I recall there used to be a repair industry once , now its much cheaper to throw in bin and buy another Item.

The hammers that Bunnings sell for say $15 each probably are priced in china at 50c each in lots of 500

-- Edited by PeterX on Wednesday 26th of September 2018 09:02:04 PM

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

Where does most of Australia's oil come from?

Australia produces most of its oil and gas from sedimentary basins in northern South Australia, inland Queensland, Bass Strait, offshore Western Australia and the Timor Sea. But there is also some production in onshore Western Australia and in NSW.

Where does Australia get petrol?

Australia is currently dependent on imports for more than 90% of its fuel needs. The crude oil comes from the Middle East and is processed at refineries in South Korea, China and Singapore. It is then shipped to Australia as diesel, aviation fuel and petrol.

Australia has the 20th-largest crude oil imports (461,900 barrels / day) in the world. The top 10 countries by oil imports are: European Union, China, United States, India, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Philippines, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom.

How much oil does Australia produce?

Australia is currently believed to have reserves of about 3.9 billion barrels of crude oil - about 0.2 per cent of the world's total - and produces about 180 million barrels a year.

May 2018 - Australia is an island nation that depends heavily on imported fuel and our stockpile is critically low. According to recent reports, we have just 22 days worth of crude oil, 59 days of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), 20 days of petrol, 19 days of aviation fuel, and 21 days of diesel in reserve.

Sorry for continuing off topic cry

Cheers - John

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Trickle down theory? Pffft is working !!!

dorian · Guru

So Dick Smith is whining because he wasn't able to compete with a company that sold mostly Australian produce to Australian customers from Australian bricks-and-mortar stores using Australian labour?

Kebbin · Guru

This stinks of envy and loathing it's from the small minded and ill informed brigade that are destroying this country!

-- Edited by Kebbin on Thursday 27th of September 2018 06:01:05 AM

PeterX · Senior Member

RE "... So Dick Smith is whining because he wasn't able to compete with a company that sold mostly Australian produce to Australian customers from Australian bricks-and-mortar stores using Australian labour? ...."

His food mentioned in articale is australian product and uses Australians to produce

So lets look at "...Mostly Australian Produce ..."

https://www.choice.com.au/shopping/packaging-labelling-and-advertising/labelling/articles/supermarket-country-of-origin-labelling

<SNIP>

Looking for evidence of local sourcing

We looked at a subset of 240 products 60 different product types each with product representation from a market-leading brand and an equivalent Aldi, Coles and Woolworths brand to see if local sourcing was evident from the label.

At first glance, it appeared that 80% of market-leading brand groceries in the sample were sourced locally, compared with 69% from Woolworths, 67% from Coles and 63% from Aldi. But once you eliminated all those that were simply 'packed in', 'processed in' or 'made in' Australia, you were left with a much smaller proportion you could be confident were sourced predominantly from local suppliers based on their country of origin statements just 41% of Coles, 39% of Woolworths, 31% of market leaders, and 13% of Aldi products in our snapshot.

Hoping to get to the bottom of the issue, we asked the retailers directly. Aldi provided information about where its fresh foods are sourced and outlined its commitment to transparency in front-of-pack labelling, but gave no additional clarification about where it sources its private label products beyond what's stated on the label. Both Coles and Woolworths chose not to respond.

While all three retailers were compliant with current mandatory country of origin labelling requirements, and aren't required by law to supply more details than they have, more transparency wouldn't go astray. Is it really that hard to tell consumers where the cashews in a pack of cashews come from?

<SNIP>

Bagmaker · Senior Member

you people might trying going the ball instead of the man sometimes.
Is what Dick says wrong?

PeterD · Guru

Meredith wrote:
Dick Smith is a hypocrite, he made his fortune selling cheap imported electronics, he didn't have such a conscience about imported goods when it was his company.

I see no hypocrisy with him running his DSE store. Most of the stuff he imported was not available from Oz manufacturers. When he made his money he did not spirit it away in offshore tax havens. He spent it expanding his empire and employing locals to run it. He made a tidy profit when he sold it and invested some of it in other Oz enterprises and philanthropy. Please get your facts right and stop spreading your slander.

kesue · Senior Member

Like it or not Aldi provided a lot of competition to the big two supermarkets who had it sown up nicely between them for years. I think Dick Smith is a sore loser who is obviously out of touch with the general public. Many people are doing it tough and cannot afford the extra money to buy the dearer brands as he thought they would. Aldi are here to stay so get over it.

dogbox · Guru

PeterD wrote:

Meredith wrote:
Dick Smith is a hypocrite, he made his fortune selling cheap imported electronics, he didn't have such a conscience about imported goods when it was his company.
I see no hypocrisy with him running his DSE store. Most of the stuff he imported was not available from Oz manufacturers. When he made his money he did not spirit it away in offshore tax havens. He spent it expanding his empire and employing locals to run it. He made a tidy profit when he sold it and invested some of it in other Oz enterprises and philanthropy. Please get your facts right and stop spreading your slander.

I remember listening to an interview on radio an dick was criticized for driving a Toyota landcruiser his reply was if Australia manufactured a viechle that could compare he would buy one. the same as selling imported products if he could source them from Australia he would but we let our manufactureing capacity go over seas . when he sold imported goods he paid his tax in Australia so I don't see him as a hypocrite

Bryan · Guru

dogbox wrote:
they maybe supplying a large portion of Australian goods but the point dick is making is all the profits go overseas to low tax countries because our company tax rates are higher so we loose the tax benefit. just like so many other companies.
if you think like some political parties you might think that is okay an you can tax the companies that pay their taxes more to make up for the loss.

Very true dogbox. Everyone who can, will try and legally pay as little in tax as possible which is one of the reasons tax accountants are prolific. Other multi nationals do the same as Aldi. I think its very wrong but I don't blame Aldi or the multinationals, I blame the Government. Profits earned in Australia should be liable for Australian tax and the current legal loopholes should be closed.

But then I think, when did Australia last have a Government staffed and run by true patriots instead of career politicians looking after their own.

Lesley F · Senior Member

I don't know too much about D.S. history, but as a frequent aldI shopper, their employers are definately Australian.

Recoup · Guru

Bryan wrote:

But then I think, when did Australia last have a Government staffed and run by true patriots instead of career politicians looking after their own.

Well ,I can answer that , during the Whitlam years , 1972-75 ,cheers

John Pilger - The forgotten Coup

hako · Guru

I'm amazed that people still think Chinese labour is low paid like a few dollars a day - Forbes quotes average Chinese wages in major cities where all the electronics are being made as being higher that E.U. countries such as Croatia, Lithuania and Latvia.

Good Luck.

Desert Dweller · Guru

Poor old Dick.

Izabarack · Guru

Bagmaker wrote:

Is what Dick says wrong?

Not in the least.

Iza

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

Much of what Dick says in the video and the news articles is factual.

However, when factual content is stirred up with emotive rhetoric (and Dick is a master at emotive language) and delivered emotionally it stirs the emotion in the listener/reader. Particularly if the listener/reader is already pre-disposed to the opinions being emotively presented.

Cheers - John

PeterD · Guru

rockylizard wrote:
Much of what Dick says in the video and the news articles is factual.

I don't think you could spot anything that can not be proven incorrect. He would be very careful not to say anything that would lead to a successful court case against him.

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

All strength to Dick's arm and may his campaigning bear fruit. However, I offer the following -

".....Dick Smith has unloaded on Aldi, accusing the company of draining enormous wealth from Australia." factual or emotive?

Our most successful retailer was once Australian-owned, but no longer. Its now the German-owned Aldi. - 'most successful?' factual or emotive?

"Aldi are not only known as our most successful (?) food retailer at the moment. Theyre also known as being the lowest cost food retailer, but being the most profitable." factual or emotive?

"...theyve worked out a way of sacking Australians..." factual or emotive?

We all love low prices, but not so low that more and more of our young people can never have a proper full-time career, or our farmers are forced into bankruptcy. factual or emotive? Anyone aware of the contracts that Cole and Woolies have with farmers/producers? The farmer/producers are not the winners in those - just ask the farmer.

"....How many more shops are they going to open? How many people are they going to sack?" factual or emotive?

Perhaps they could float on the stock exchange and let us share some of the wealth." ... and then, just like Coles and Woolies, the 'profits/benefits' will go to the shareholders and not the farmers that Dick is so concerned about ... and probably the 'low prices' may not be so low to the customer.

I, like most Strayans, expect to see fairness and openness in the business we engage with.

However, how often, even on this forum, is there bubbling enthusiasm for those "Aldi specials" - camping gear, worktools etc etc.

Cheers - stay well and travel safely - John

Kebbin · Guru

So Rocky, Dick loving Australia and trying to to get Australian produce on the shelves has him being loathed by some why? Is it jealousy
,envy or what? It's far better than posting false or misleading information and having people believe that, isn't it? As reported by Peter Aldi only have 13% Australian product, but people do not care about better quality just initial cost.

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

I very much doubt Dick is being 'loathed'.

His drive to get more Strayan produce on shelves is indeed laudable - and I, like many, many Strayans, applaud his ambitions.

However, the majority of those who actually spend the money on such foods and produce aren't supporting him - his own product lines were unsustainable due to the prices he had to sell the product to be above break-even.

So, is the problem -

the government/s for nurturing, indeed chasing, international trade?
the government/s for creating (maintaining?) an environment that is not supportive of Strayan enterprise - particularly manufacturing?
the unions for driving up the cost of labour and conditions?
workers for accepting, indeed sometimes asking for, the unions pay rise and better conditions campaigns?
large supermarkets (Coles/Woolies) running expensive reward schemes, 'little grocery item' promotions etc which reflect in the prices they must charge for product to maintain their profitability AND maintain good share dividends to shareholders?
the consumer, who decides 'from the hip pocket', which products and businesses they will support?

I agree with most of Dicks' intentions in this, and other campaigns he gets into ... it is just that he gets far too emotive and sometimes his 'good story' gets a bit muddled in his emotional tirade.

If he couldn't make his 'Dick Smith' products competitive/profitable - when he took no recompense, and profits by the producers were kept to a minimum - how on earth does he expect any other Strayan producer to compete?

Enter businesses that will compete, at a price that the public will bear - and provide a return to the owners/shareholders.

Interestingly, he did, at one time, run a very profitable business which employed Strayan people - selling imported product.

Cheers - stay well and travel safely - John

Kebbin · Guru

This is what I mean about misleading information Rocky, you fail to mention that the electronics he was importing largely if not entirely were not available in Australia so why demonise the man?

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

We could keep going round and round endlessly kebbin and ultimately we will simply have to agree to disagree.

I am NOT demonising Dick Smith. He is an astute businessman who has been successful in almost all of his endeavours.

However, back when he was 'just beginning' decades ago this was his business -

In the process of changing himself from a local electronics manufacturer to importer, Smith learnt an important truth: Australians want the cheapest products, and the only way to compete was to import them."

Dick also says back in those days - "But people warned me, people will just buy the cheapest goods" Obviously, despite selling imported goods, because manufacturing in Straya was far too expensive to continue, he made his fortune. Yes, he is now both philanthropic and an advocate for Straya and its future - and good on him.

Today, he is actively, and very loudly, trying to get people to change their habits of the past 50 years - they wouldn't buy his Dick Smith products so he is continuing to attempt to change the buying habits of this nation.

More strength to his arm - it is a valuable and laudable outcome he is trying to achieve.

He just needs to temper some of this emotive and emotional tirades - he is losing more people to his cause then he is gaining by yelling at them emotively.

cheers - John