Consuming Interest
Consumer Research
By LESLIE ADRIAN PERHAPS out of excessive caution, I have so far only referred briefly to the Association for Consumer Research Limited, the new independent organisation whose purpose is to test well-known branded products for the public and publish its findings in a quarterly called Which?
Now, after three months and the publication of the second issue of Which?, I am glad to re- port that the small team of enthusiasts behind CR have a success on their hands. To be honest, I must also add that I am surprised. The idea of an independent British publication of this kind —already an established form of consumer pro- tection in America and Sweden—is something that has been discussed for years : leading women's organisations, in particular, have pressed for it. But always there has been depressing talk of the expense involved, coupled with the strin- gencies of our libel laws.
The brave ones, who finally decided to stop talking and act, are Dr. Michael Young, a sociologist in charge of the Institute of Com- munity Studies in Bethnal Green, and Miss Eirlys Roberts, whose excellent consumer-research ar- ticles are already well known.
• The scheme was launched on the barest finances. The Association for Consumer Research Limited was registered as a non-profitmaking company and• a small grant obtained from •a charities' trust to cover the cost of introductory circulars. After that, the founders were dependent on the public's response in order to raise the money to buy goods and cover the cost of getting them tested by recognised research laboratories. The subscription was fixed at 10s. a year, includ- ing four issues of Which?
The response has been far in excess of any- thing the founders visualised : the membership to date is 23,000 and is increasing at the rate of 2,000 a week. There has been a good response from trade and business organisations, but 80 per cent, of the membership consists of private individuals. These figures show clearly the grow- ing public mistrust of many of the extravagant claims for proprietary goods and the need for a realistic and expert assessment of what we are offered in the shops. As I have often said in this column, in these days of scientific development and the discovery of new materials, it is impos- sible for the ordinary shopper to know the true value of a product without expert guidance. This is exactly what Which? is now providing.
The current issue examines makes of electric convector heaters, talcum powders, indigestion cures and baby cars. In all cases brand names and Prices are given and the products graded ac- cording to which, in Consumer Research's opinion, is the best buy. I have one or two com- ments to make on the comments they make; but I shall leave them over until next week, in the hope that by that time you will have joined Con- sumer Research (the address is 16 Victoria Park Square, London, E2) and read their magazine for yourself.
I must apologise for the delay in sending out the list of London restaurants; it is currently on the way out now to those of you who have asked for it; and I hope it will be useful (if any- body who has not yet written wants a copy— send a stamped addressed envelope, please!).
Once again, I want to make it clear that this cannot be a definitive list; in fact, it cannot even be a reliable one, given the present state of London restaurants. In Paris a restaurant pro- prietor has not merely to be a good cook (or to employ one); he has to buy good food, because his customers eat for pleasure, and they won't go to him unless they get it. In England we eat for duty : we take people to dinner—or they take us—less for the meal than as a social gesture. A restaurant can serve up almost any kind of rubbish and get away with it.
That is why it is impossible to answer the type of question asked by one gourmet—where can he get certain dishes he likes, well cooked— sole, lobster, wiener schnitzel (*here does one get genuine veal, not slabs of retired fighting ox, in London?') and kebab? The only answer is: no restaurant can be relied upon—not, that is, within the price range I am concerned with. A dish like kebab, for example, is a stern test; not because it is difficult to cook, but because it is tempting for a restaurant to stick some of the scraggier bits of lamb on the skewer.
My advice to this correspondent, therefore, was that he should concentrate on any restaurant he has liked qua restaurant; make himself known there; and see that he gets what he wants. There is not much difficulty in doing this—at least in the smaller restaurants, where managers appre- ciate the diner who knows what he wants. But it doesn't help anybody who only comes up to London occasionally—and it is for them my list is really designed.
This same correspondent, incidentally, has one or two useful contrasts to point to from his own experience on a ranch in Rhodesia. Production there, he admits, is inferior; but their marketing is much better; for instance, `consumers knoW our broilers, for every one is labelled with the brand name; and with the liver, heart, giblet and neck in a Cellophane bag is a small recipe book explaining just what a broiler is and offer- ing twelve proved recipes.'
'One final word,' he adds. 'In our part of the world we get quite a number of spur-winged geese. Give each goose a shot of brandy in the neck with a hypodermic needle before hanging, and you have no idea how good that goose tastes.' We are not likely to see many spur-winged geese, but the same treatment, he says, has 'quite interesting results on a chicken.' And on other birds, I dare swear. It should be worth trying.
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