Article by Tracy Thompson
It seemed like a simple question to me. Why can’t I buy bananas grown by my grocery store in Phoenix? Apparently my grocery store doesn’t grow bananas. In fact, the store manager looked at me like I was insane when I asked if I could get the address of the cattle ranch where their cows are raised. They don’t have their own cows. They don’t grow or produce any of the food they sell. It is purchased from other companies. Outsourced.
I briefly considered staging a protest. Perhaps I could get a sign, set up a table just outside the entrance to the store. Yell at people in the parking lot. “Do you know this grocery store outsources? Not just a few select categories! They outsource everything they sell! Boycott!!!
Back to reality…
Bananas have been grown in Hawaii (14,000 tons in 2001), Florida and California. The United States consumes over 6.4 billion pounds of bananas a year. Given the lack of a tropical climate, it is impossible for even a fraction of the bananas consumed in the US to be grown here. Now I’m not going to spend hours researching banana imports or those of other tropical fruits. I think we can all agree that there are fruits and vegetables imported into this country that we all consume regularly.
How often do people stage protests at their local grocery store for outsourcing fruit? It doesn’t happen because we all accept the fact that other countries can produce bananas on a much larger scale and more cost-effectively than can be done in the US. I recall visiting the Dole Pineapple Plantation in Hawaii years ago where they stated that the majority of pineapples were imported from other countries due to cost. Just the other day I grilled a pineapple. No one scolded me for ruining the economy.
Fruit outsourcing is acceptable. Those jobs have been
‘outsourced’ to other countries. We all understand if we want our fruit
available at any time at a reasonable cost, it has to be obtained from other
countries. Outsourced.
At the most fundamental level, there is little difference between the outsourcing of fruit and other goods and services. In reality, some jobs that are outsourced remain in the United States. Others are sent offshore allowing the company to continue to provide goods and services to their customers at a reasonable cost.
In an ideal world, everything could be produced and provided by US workers. Unfortunately it’s just not realistic. How much more are you willing to pay for your fruit, your cell phone, your clothing?
When the time comes for your company to consider using an outsourced services provider, it stands to reason there will be some push back. It is important to be properly prepared with the facts and figures to support the decision. It is also imperative that you have a thorough understanding of the impact this will have on your employee base (both positive and negative) and how growth can be facilitated by outsourcing those which create a financial and human strain on your organization.