They kid, but this illustrates (1) that our Galtian overlords aren't inventing, perpetual motion machines, they're finding new ways to overcharge people for fruit and (2) that this is one market that's not all that rational: "In theory, the market should have done away with Edible Arrangements long ago," said American Economic Association president Orley [...] **On the whole**, Inc. 500|5000 CEOs are upbeat. More than 80 percent reported that their businesses are in strong or very strong shape and are poised to grow in the months ahead. Below are the full survey results and more extensive Inc. 500|5000 CEO comments. **Bonus Question: What has been the most difficult part of running your business in the past three months?** "The biggest challenge for us has been the fast rise in the cost of raw materials. Raw latex has jumped over 50 percent in the past six months, and cotton and other materials have also seen dramatic increases. This increases the cost of our products (organic mattresses) relative to synthetic mattresses (almost all the competition). It gets more and more difficult to pass the costs on to customers." --**Michael Penny**, founder, Savvy Rest, Charlottesville, Virginia "Keeping up with orders and growth. Many quotes we have provided over the past year are all starting to hit at once." --**Scott Cummings**, CEO, Excalibur Technology, Barrington, Illinois "Managing the impact of the winter storms." --**Jere Thompson**, co-founder and CEO, Ambit Energy, Plano, Texas "Encouraging [or] convincing others to start growth now--to shake off the dust and take advantage of ... Energy Kitchen's menu has a built-in healthy factor: nothing is over 500 calories and every dish is grilled, baked, or steamed. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York City, Energy Kitchen ranked No. 3,276 on the 2010 Inc. 5000 list, with an impressive growth rate of 59 percent over three years, and sales may accelerate. Randy Schechter, the company's founder, recently told Retail Traffic magazine that the company plans to turn its 10 locations into 1,000 over the next 10 years. One of the fastest-growing purveyors of all-natural frozen yogurt, Red Mango made its U.S. debut in 2007 when it relocated from South Korea to Texas. In 2009, the Dallas-based company opened 42 franchises in its home state and New York and hopes to expand to over 550 locations across the country by 2015. "We're experiencing the strongest franchise growth in our company's history," said James Franks, the company's VP of franchising, in a recent company statement. The self-proclaimed "better burger" joint might just get super-sized in 2011. Smashburger currently operates about 100 stores across the country, but plans to double its juicy footprint in the next year. The chain is expanding aggressively in the Northeast, ... **At the Connecticut headquarters** of Edible Arrangements, any employee who receives a business-related gift of moderate value has to report it to the company's management. Even when--as often happens--the gift is one of the company's own Edible Arrangements fruit bouquets. The staff certainly isn't sick of them either. "Now that we work more in a corporate environment, we don't' see the fruit every day," chief operating officer Kamran Farid says. "When we see an arrangement, you do appreciate it." The top bosses of Edible Arrangements also don't mind receiving their own fruit baskets because they fit in with the company's definition of what is an acceptable gift from outside the walls: Nominal gifts such as food aren't likely to sway buying decisions, and the edible treats can be shared across the entire office so no single employee feels targeted. Edible Arrangements has plenty of experience in the field of gift-giving year round, but other companies can find themselves struggling to identify what is appropriate for employees to be unwrapping in the offices around the holidays. Creating and maintaining a clear gift policy is an easy way to be confront the situation. "If you don't have one, then ...
Key Words: edible arrangements
References:
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2011/04/04/an-apple-wrapped-in-an-enigma-inside-a-basket/
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/inc/headlines/~3/BpluCF_ZXOk/confidence-survey-results-2011.html
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/inc/headlines/~3/HzWSvlXmmFE/10-most-promising-franchises-2011
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/inc/headlines/~3/F2X2VoFujjc/how-to-set-an-employee-gift-policy.html
http://pixelhat.net/
