Tidl. Medlem sa for 12år siden:

Hei.
I siste nr av Vitenskap og fornuft (VOF) brukes både Miracle Noodles og Miracle Rice i oppskriftene. Jeg har aldri hørt om disse produktene før og lurer på om noen vet hvor jeg kan få tak i dem. De er laget med utgangspunkt i konjakkrot.

Takk for alle svar.

Siri

shailene sa for 12år siden:

Her: www.iherb.com/Miracle-Noodle

Mortil1 sa for 12år siden:

De har nylig fått det inn på min lokale helsekost. Kanskje de har det sted i Trondheim og?

Tidl. Medlem sa for 12år siden:

Takk for svar begge to.

Tilhører den lokale helsekosten din en kjede?

Glad i mat sa for 12år siden:

Hei, miracle noodle får stadig bedre distribusjon i Norge. En oppdatert liste finnes på ligger på den skandinaviske hjemmesiden: [url]www.miraclenoodle.se[/url]. Ved å kontakte den norske Importøren i Norge: [url]www.tokay.no[/url] får du beskjed om hvor nærmeste butikk ligger.

Eva sa for 12år siden:

Jeg har kjøpt M. N. på iherb. Sikkert billigst der. :)

wine sa for 12år siden:

iHerb are not your friends, and they are not offering competitive prices to be nice. They are big businessmen with lots of money to invest, and their only interest is profit.

They are able to be competitive because they buy everything in bulk. Due to volume they can send with bulk corporate rates that are not even available in Norway. They also avoid paying VAT and customs tax.

If your package gets caught in customs it will cost you heavily - you will pay the VAT directly; they will still get paid anyway.

The effect? Small Norwegian health shops, run by people who care about what they sell and know what they are talking about, can't compete. They often fail and close down. American big corporate business wins, small Norwegian shop owners lose.

And when the small Norwegian health foods have disappeared, who will you shop from then? You will only have iHerb left to deliver. And when they have a monopoly, what will happen to their prices then? And what will be your options - to wait for new small serious health food shops to rise from the grave?

Purchasing from iHerb is short sighted.

/wine

Eva sa for 12år siden:

Wine. I understand what you mean, and I really feel sorry for small Norwegian health shops! But I have to think on my poor economy. I don't think you should blaim me and all the Norwegians, who loves iHerb. And I don't think you should blame iHerb for thinking profit either. All shops do that. If you want to blame someone, you can blame the people who make the laws and who are responsible for the high prices on things here in Norway. :kadetgaar

wine sa for 12år siden:

Eva, my post was not directed at you personally ;)

The way to make product prices the cheapest for consumers is to have them widely distributed among local retail shops in Norway. You can't possibly pay the lowest price if it needs to include the fees for UPS or DHL from USA?

It is similar to what is known as "Walmartism" in America, and has become a big problem. All the profits going into the hands of only a few big corporations, instead of being distributed widely into the hands of many small shop owners.

Difference is this - the profits from Norwegian purchases with iHerb go to America and don't come back...

But profits to small Norwegian businesses get reinvested into the local economy through spending, employment and taxes. They also allow small Norwegian shops to afford higher volume purchases and thereby get better rebates, which they can use to become more price competitive i.e. reduce prices to their consumers.

Sooner or later iHerb will start raising their prices (profits)... because they can. They know that they are crippling their smaller competition in Norway.

/wine

wine sa for 12år siden:

I would also point out that many small health stores are not motivated by profits alone - like iHerb is...

They are often run by knowledgeable owners who have a genuine passion for health and the products they represent! ;)

/wine

Eva sa for 12år siden:

I know! ;)

Yes, I agree, it would lower the prices on health food items, if they are distributed to the food stores, as they do fx in England. I think it probably will come one day, cause the interest in health foods increases.

And I agree with you in the rest of what you write. It is sad that it should be so, but as I said, I must be selfish and shop on iHerb, because of my economy. I also shop on iherb because there huge selection.

How do you know? :rolleyes:

My english is far from perfect, but I hope you understand :D

wine sa for 12år siden:

Your English is great, and I'm sorry my Norwegian isn't good enough to make myself clear :-/

Sorry, I don't think many more health food stores will start up when they are shut out by iHerb. iHerb has money and marketing behind it, and new shops have high overhead costs and no power to make "special agreements" with suppliers and delivery companies.

How do I know? Let's just say I know from first hand experience ;-) You have to have a personal interest/passion to open small niche shops, whether health food, flowers or a restaurant. Yes you want to be successful, but you do it because you have an interest/love. iHerb does it because they have shareholders and venture capitalists.

Of course its always the consumers who choose which one they want to support ;-)

Huldr sa for 12år siden:

Wine, it's great that you're raising this topic. I agree with you and I wish I could shop locally, I try to do that as far as I can. But with a very low fixed income it's just impossible to get what I need and pay the steep (rather ridiculous, sometimes) prices health food stores demand. It's the big chains and the importers who rule the market, and personally I don't know of any small and independent health food shops, but that might just be because I'm not aware of how the chains and stores are built up.

I don't believe the health food business in Norway is any less profit oriented than Iherb, and they are skimming the market the best they know how especially at this time with raised interest among people in health, raw food, low carb etc. You have to be well situated financially to be able to shop extensively at health food shops with today's prices on health food. If they had any sense they would lower their prices to a reasonable level, of course they would not be able to compete with Iherb, but there must be a middle ground. But it's complicated of course, and the blame can't be put entirely on the health food business, it's also to do with politics. And sadly, individual and idealistic small businesses suffer - as always ...

Huldr sa for 12år siden:

Når det er sagt ville jeg ikke kjøpt Miracle Noodles på iHerb om man finner det lokalt, det blir mye vann å frakte over Atlanteren og lite miljøvennlig, ikke er Miracle Noodles'ene så veldig billige på Iherb heller. Når det gjelder mat prøver jeg å kjøpe det så kortreist som mulig og oppfordrer andre til å gjøre det samme :)

wine sa for 12år siden:

Huldr, I'm sure you would have no problem supplementing your income using your proficiency in English! If your native tongue is not English then you're about as talented as they get ;-)

The nature of any business is to maximise their profit margins, that is inherent to any company/country. But iHerb is a bit special, as they don't compete on a level playing field. Evading Norwegian VAT costs to begin with. Perhaps this is a political issue, but the ramifications affect ordinary Norwegian consumers in the long run. If products and retailers can't establish themselves in the Norwegian market, then consumers become dependent on a mega-retailer in USA with scant regard for the situation in Norway.

But not to belabour the point. When it comes to this particular product, Miracle Noodle, I do buy it locally at a health food shop. And by my math, I don't pay any more than I would through iHerb?

wine sa for 12år siden:

Just found this:

miraclenoodle.se ...but they do have it in Norwegian. Also a list of retailers in Norway (under forhandlere - "Retailer Locator").

Huldr sa for 12år siden:

I didn't mean to say that the VAT issue is political (I don't know much about it, really). I didn't know that Iherb didn't pay VAT. Do you mean to say that they're doing something illegal here? Import is VAT free under 200 NKR, so I don't see how that could affect the customers as long as they order for under 200. But I'm completely ignorant in these matters, so please bear with me!

When I mentioned politics I spoke in a broader sense. For instance keeping welfare at a minimum level and forcing people to make choices that aren't good for the Norwegian economy or for local business or for the environment ... And I suppose the taxes and duties are extensive on health food, and that contributes to the high prices. But I have been a customer in health food shops and have seen how prices have escalated enormously over the last few years. I've seen prices raised 20-30% two times in one year on many products. Someone in this market must be cashing in and being very greedy! I suppose what I have been thinking is that if they see that people are abandoning the Norwegian market they might come to their senses. I don't know. Something has to happen within this market, that's for sure. Maybe going bankrupt because of a big american company is what it takes?? Globalisation is affecting our economy and I don't think it will stop until something has changed dramatically.

But awareness is always good and we have to know what we're doing. I appreciate that you're raising this topic and making people more aware of the consequences of shopping at Iherb. My conscience isn't totally clear either ... and I'll think about my shopping habits and see what I can do. Thank you :)

shailene sa for 12år siden:

I see hairdressers and skin therapists using the same arguments, they complain about shops having to close down because people are buying products online rather than from the shops. I'm not sure I believe prices in general on the "niche" market really are as low as they can be while still making a profit, but this is what they all claim. Or are the prices as high as they are because shops previously have been getting by without having to lower their prices to compete with online shops? Everyone can agree health food is too expensive, so if a shop/chain were able to offer the same products or similar products from different brands at lower prices, I'm sure they would quickly gain a large customer base.. So maybe this simply isn't possible in Norway, I have no idea.

Huldr sa for 12år siden:

Her er en tråd med noen tips om hvor man kan få kjøpt disse produktene. I følge et innlegg koster de 29 kr på Japantorget i Oslo. Med frakt vil jeg ikke tro man kommer noe under dette på iHerb i alle fall - de ligger i vann og er tunge ...

Alynna sa for 12år siden:

De har dette på den lokale helsekosten... men det kostet 37 kr for en bitteliten pakke, og da snakker vi om noe som så mindre ut inkl. væske, enn det en pakke vanlige nudler ser ut, når det er tørket... :rolleyes:

Eva sa for 12år siden:

Interessant diskusjon dette. Jeg kommer til å fortsette med å handle på iHerb, men vil også samtidig være mere nøye med å undersøke prisene i Norge først. :o

Som Alynna sier, så er M. N. veldig dyrt her. Jeg kjøpte 5 pakker M.N. på iHerb til 11.90 USD, plus porto på 6 USD. Så her sparte jeg mange penger! :D

wine sa for 12år siden:

I'm not necessarily saying that online shopping is bad, per se. In this day and age I think that many retail owners need to do a combination of both to stay competitive. Certainly I think people would prefer to buy single samples locally, and perhaps boxes (multiple units) online.

My gripe is with iHerb, specifically. It is nonsensical to assume that Norwegian businesses can grow and become competitive against a mass-volume international distributor in USA - who avoid paying Norwegian VAT and import tariffs like local companies. Norwegian companies can't come close to matching iHerb's UPD/DHL rates either.

This is not to mention the myriad other factors that benefit iHerb in USA. Their labour costs are what, $7-8 an hour? What would employment cost in Norway for people to do the same job (packing and boxing)? Would it be reasonable to pay a Norwegian <50 krona an hour in order to be competitive (even if it were allowed)?

The playing field is not on par, and the only people who win with this disparity in the end are iHerb :eek: Become too dependent on them, and you won't allow Norwegian stores the required volume to become more competitive in the future.

But really, this is not an exercise in morality :p I'll conclude here the same way I started - iHerb are not your friends, and they are not offering competitive prices to be nice. They are big businessmen with lots of money to invest, and their only interest is profit :cool:

Odde sa for 12år siden:

Hmmm, followed the discussion with interest, and i both agree and disagree - lol. I can understand the hesitation and the raised eyebrow on iherb, but i dont really think they are worse then others.

The argument about vat is somewhat less then what it should be, even including vat they would still be a lot cheaper - its the extra costs like fee to postal service for customs handling that would tip the price the wrong way.

And i have to say, you can get a lot of what we earlier had to go to health shops to get in the supermarket - BUT - the prices seem to remain high, and i think most of us have noticed the money these businessmen draws from their companies - just like the shareholders of iherb.

odde

wine sa for 12år siden:

Well I make it out to be 26NOK per bag from iHerb, and I buy mine locally for 29NOK... so not a lot cheaper?

We're all different, but I can live with the extra 3kr to the local health shop owner who introduced me to Miracle Noodle ;)

Judging by his car, he's not making a killing :D