Two options: Low supply or high demand. In my experience, arugula is easy to produce. And I haven’t seen people falling head over heels for it.
So what gives?
Don’t look at me. I had to look up what the hell that was. But apparently it’s not that hard to grow…
http://www.squidoo.com/arugula
Here’s my guess:
It’s a result of price descrimination.
In The Undercover Economist Tim Harford talks about how retailers utilize different item variations to maximize on price sensitivity. It’s actually pretty interesting. You can read it in chapter 2 here. And here’s an article where he focuses on the Starbucks example.
Just based off of what I’ve read, arugula sounds like it has a decently high snob factor, and is basically a substitute for lettuce. My guess is the higher price is a way for retailers to offer those who are willing to pay more for their lettuce products something more expensive to buy.
Exactly! Low demand but easy production. It’s also sort of a delicacy, I guess, with connections to Italian cuisine.
But the price baffles me.
a decently high snob factor
Yep
Alright. That makes some sense. I’ll read into those.
But I’d still think that independent sellers would push the price down.
Rocket has a bit of a taste to it - somewhat spicy.
Maybe it’s because it can’t be preserved very well by drying or refrigerating. It needs to be very fresh.