Current:Home > InvestThe ice cream conspiracy-LoTradeCoin
The ice cream conspiracy
View Date:2024-12-24 00:07:37
Take a look in any supermarket ice cream freezer section and you may see a mystery. There are big containers of the typical ice cream brands: Breyers, Turkey Hill, and Edy's. And there are specialty brands that make gelato, low-fat and vegan ice creams. And then there are the fancy pints: which is mostly Ben & Jerry's and Häagen-Dazs.
Häagen-Dazs has flavors like vanilla, chocolate, pistachio—the sort of flavors that run smooth. And then Ben & Jerry's specializes in chunky flavors: Cherry Garcia, The Tonight Dough, Chunky Monkey, etc. The two hardly ever cross into the other's turf. Why?
It's possible they are experiencing something common to natural competition—they are specializing in what works best for them. But, as Christopher Sullivan of the University of Wisconsin-Madison suspects, the two companies may be engaging in what is known as "tacit collusion," where two parties silently agree to...stick to their own territory.
We try to get to the creamy core of what makes up a conspiracy, and how the consumer eventually loses out in this cold, cold war.
Today's episode was produced by Willa Rubin and Alyssa Jeong Perry. It was engineered by Josh Newell and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. It was edited by Jess Jiang.
Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, NPR One or anywhere you get podcasts.
Find more Planet Money: Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.
Music: "The Cornice," "A Curious Tale" and "Reverend."
veryGood! (1)
Related
- 2 weeks after Peanut the Squirrel's euthanasia, owner is seeking answers, justice
- Texas A&M freshman WR Micah Tease suspended indefinitely after drug arrest
- 840,000 Afghans who’ve applied for key US resettlement program still in Afghanistan, report says
- Inside Keanu Reeves' Private World: Love, Motorcycles and Epic Movie Stardom After Tragedy
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a long record of promoting anti-vaccine views
- Man convicted of 4-month-old son’s 1997 death dies on Alabama death row
- Police officer praised for reviving baby during traffic stop in suburban Detroit
- 'Margaritaville' singer Jimmy Buffett dies at 76
- Democrat Cleo Fields wins re-drawn Louisiana congressional district, flipping red seat blue
- Hollywood labor disputes in 'crunch time' amid ongoing strikes, reporter says
Ranking
- Voters in California city reject measure allowing noncitizens to vote in local races
- Manhunt for murderer Danelo Cavalcante enters second day after Pennsylvania prison escape
- Utah, Nebraska headline college football winners and losers from Thursday of Week 1
- SpaceX launch livestream: Watch liftoff of satellites from Vandenberg base in California
- Man killed by police in Minnesota was being sought in death of his pregnant wife
- New Mexico reports man in Valencia County is first West Nile virus fatality of the year
- Unprecedented Webb telescope image reveals new feature in famous supernova
- Hear Tom Brady's Historic First Phone Call With the Patriots After Being Selected 199th in 2000 NFL Draft
Recommendation
-
Ariana Grande's Brunette Hair Transformation Is a Callback to Her Roots
-
Adam Driver slams major studios amid strike at Venice Film Festival 'Ferrari' premiere
-
Utah, Nebraska headline college football winners and losers from Thursday of Week 1
-
College tuition insurance: What it is and how to get it
-
'Full House' star Dave Coulier diagnosed with stage 3 cancer
-
Indianapolis police have shot 3 people, two fatally, over the past 30 days
-
Gold Star mother on Biden at dignified transfer ceremony: 'Total disrespect'
-
Labor Day return to office mandates yearn for 'normal.' But the pre-COVID workplace is gone.