Unit pricing: yet another bungle

The Government's introducing a mandatory unit pricing system, to be in place by December this year. It's not an unusual idea: many countries already do this.

What what's unusual is the standard units they've chosen. When you think unit pricing, you'd probably assume the units would be the ones that are already commonly in use: per kg, and per litre.

Why? Your fresh fruit & veg are already priced per kilo. Similarly, when you buy soft drink or milk, it's measured in litres.

Why then would the government come up with a completely arbitrary unit standard: per 100 grams, and per 100ml? Can you imagine buying capsicums, priced per 100 grams? Or will retailers display the old standard price per Kg, and the new price per 100 grams?

As per usual, the Rudd government has taken a good idea, and bungled the implementation.

Comments

Submitted by Joelith on Sat 17/01/2009 - 23:50

I'm sending this from an internet cafe in downtown Luxor!

We already use per 100g and per 100ml. Just look at the back of any product where it lists the sugar, fat and mineral contents. There it will say per serving (different for every product) and per 100g/ml. So it's not unusual to continue that practice.