In a supermarket, the price of an item reduced to a unit of measure is helpful in determining relative values. It contributes to a "money's worth" final choice. Coffee might be priced in such a manner as cost per ounce. That may be the only factor to some, I think cheapest is best, but not for others. Taste is a value and is consistent with brands of coffee and that, to others, is an overriding factor. Simple perception based on marketing hype is another factor.
The sale of fruit is often by pound or by unit. The quality and preference of fruit varies. Hermiston water mellons are the best. Oranges, for example, aside from basic differences in type, like navel and valencia, are mostly all alike on the outside.
Some think that small navels in oranges indicate a better orange. What is a better orange? To me it has more orange flavor and sweetness. What is sweetness? This describes sweetness.
Orange sweetness can be measured in simple ways such as this. A unit of sweetness can be expressed as a brix. Perhaps there might be a better standard unit existing for the measurement of a fruit's sweetness/sourness.
Subjective analysis of a an orange's goodness by taste is probably what determines the wholesaler's choice of bulk quantities and price paid. It might also be done by a simple technical measurement tool expressing the "taste good" factor in some measurable units like brix.
What if that measurement tool were applied to oranges sold at the retail level?
If oranges were measured in that manner then the price of oranges could be set by their units of brix not their unit of weight. Each orange would be "weighed"by the buyer or the sales clerk on a brix scale rather than a weight scale to determine price.
An elaborate way to measure value. However, it might appeal to the upscale market that is looking for the best assured taste and willing to pay for it.
I bought some oranges from Safeway yesterday. They were hardly worth eating. No sweet taste. Just pulp without much taste at all. I could take them back but will eat them. Maybe shop elsewhere? I like Safeway but I would have liked to pay for a better orange and maybe even more than for an orange the measured higher per unit on the brix scale.
On the other hand maybe I just should have known that oranges are just not that good at this time of year if that is true. They must be growing good somewhere at this time of year and fruit comes from far away places like grapes from Chile.
Bananas: The fruit you can count on!
Oranges: Where is technology when I need it?
Is there an orange app yet?
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