Ice blocks

Noticed how almost everything is made in China?

I won’t get into the regulations stuff with manufacturing in China – it’s a very deep rabbit hole I just don’t know enough about.

But I do know there are people smart enough to bring some of those manufacturing capabilities to their own country.

I bought a couple of ice blocks today (the usual suspects you’ll find in every shop freezer) and happened to glance the Made in China label on the back of both of them. I know a lot of stuff is made over there, but this one surprised me.

They’re just ice blocks, it’s no big deal.

…except when they’re Unilever owned, and Unilever have been working on improving their climate action to be one of the true global leaders.

They actually say on their sustainability page that 70% of products sold in Aus are locally made, so I guess this falls in the 30%.

But… ice blocks?

I know even less about food manufacturing, so I’m really curious to know why these aren’t locally made.

…it’s the kind of question I’d put in an email to Unilever (or whoever the contacts are for those particular products) and ask.

Sharing this as a kind of origin story – this is how you might raise queries with a questionable supplier: What are they doing that you don’t like? It’s there a reason they’re doing that? What don’t you know that you can find out?

And away you go.