"You Serious, Clark?" ??????
Good Saturday morning all and welcome to our 16th edition of "With That Said" (WTS), a weekly LinkedIn newsletter powered by your friends at Supply Chain Now .
Oh, the gift that keeps on giving. For many on our team, a big part of the holidays is gathering the family and watching Clark Griswold & Cousin Eddie create chaos in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation". The scene pictured above is from the opening sequences, where the Griswolds are on a mission to find the perfect Christmas tree...and hilarity ensues.
With that as a backdrop, let's take a closer look at a few supply chain facts & trivia related to Christmas & the holiday season in general:
?? Let's start with Christmas tress. DYK: each year, 25 to 30 million Christmas trees are sold in the United States. And more & more Americans are opting for fake trees. In 2004, 27.1 million real trees were sold; and only 9 million fake trees were sold. 14 years later, in 2018, that wide gap had shrunk quite a bit: 32.8 million real trees vs 23.6 million fake trees. Scott Luton recently converted from real to fake. How about you? Real or fake? For more factoids on Christmas tree season, check out this great blog article from our friends at BlueGrace Logistics .
?? How about all the holiday sweets? Approximately 1.7 billion candy canes are made each year around the world. Somewhere around 150 million chocolate Santas are made each year. According to Statista , 59% of Americans put lip balm in their families stockings; 49% put toothbrushes and other oral care products in stockings; and a lucky 42% of Americans get cash in their stockings.
?? Amongst the sweets consumed this time of year, millions of chocolate coins will be produced & eaten during Hanukkah, which will be begin on December 18th this year. According to Amy Reiter in a piece for Food Network : "Hanukkah gelt, those shiny, foil-wrapped chocolate coins we give to kids — or devour ourselves, when no one's looking — are a holiday staple in many Jewish households. They have a nostalgic worth way beyond their actual flavor or their price tag, which is usually around $1.50 per sack, though you can pay significantly more for higher-end organic, fair-trade "artisan" coins." Read "4 Things You May Not Know About Hanukkah Gelt" here .
?? Next up: wrapping paper. Speaking of recent changes, Scott says that he & Amanda Luton have committed to not using any wrapping paper in 2022. We'll be auditing them in January ??. DYK: it has been estimated that the U.S. produces about 4.6 million pounds of wrapping paper every year, with about half of that being sent eventually to landfills. Great read here from our friends at Brightly about the various ways that waste increases during the holidays.
In lieu of a one-year membership to the Jelly of the Month Club, our SCN team would like to present you with these gifts of information, insights & analysis:
?? From $20,000 per container back in January 2022, to just $2,000 now. Great read here from Tom Krisher & Paul Wiseman via The Associated Press : "As supply chains unclog, consumers enjoy (tentative) relief"
?? Greg White : "In 2021, Gap Inc. decided to “pack and hold” their overstocks from last fall to be released into this year’s collections. Pack and hold, is a much more palatable way of saying “mothballing” inventory..." Read Greg's latest Supply Chain Commentary on what Gap (and many other retailers) are up to: click here
领英推荐
?? ICYMI: Kevin L. Jackson, CISSP?,CCSP? & Scott hosted an outstanding discussion on "Top 5 Cybersecurity Priorities for Manufacturing Leaders in 2023". We featured outstanding perspective from BRUCE S. SPECTOR & Karen Braxton . Check out the conversation on demand here . Presented in partnership with 微软 (learn more about the new Supply Chain Center).
??? "The Supply Chain Snarl That Almost Stole Chanukah" by Mendel Super - what a great read on dedicated professionals that in 2021 refused to let industry challenges keep families from having menorahs to celebrate Chanukah. Check it out here via Chabad.org .
?? In Scott's weekly Good News message yesterday, he focuses on some of his key lessons learned (or reinforced) in 2022, including: "Being optimistic doesn't eliminate bad days, poor results...or anything else that can mess up your week. However, it will help to enable you to suck it up & try, try again...". Read the full message here.
?? Yesterday, we conducted a "pop-up livestream giveaway", where we thanked some of our listeners by giving out a few of our favorite reads from 2022. Congrats to Jessica L. Riddle, MBA , Allen Jacques & Michelle Springhorn Kingsbury , who were amongst our winners. Check out the replay via YouTube (and follow us there if you don't already!): click here
Finally today, we invite you to join us for one of these upcoming events (click on the graphic to register; don't miss it!):
Have a wonderful weekend all. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, & Happy Holidays to all.
Passionate about sharing stories from across the global business world
1 年Ramsey Midkiff, Amanda Luton - we had to limit the references & quotes from CV here. ?? ?? Check out this full list from The Today Show: https://www.today.com/life/holidays/christmas-vacation-quotes-rcna48344