The Butter War

This is a blog post that I wrote when in China but was unable to publish it due to the internet restrictions: So, a little throw back to China!

So as Ashley and I walked around China I had one goal in mind. To find one object that said “Made in the U.S.A.” written on it.  Everything in the U.S. has “Made in China” printed on it, so I had hoped to find something that was made in the U.S. and sold in China as living proof that we still export something! Well….. That was easer said than done. After three weeks of looking I had found nothing. I started to think that we didn’t export anything in China with our name on it.

But all hope was not lost. One day, as Ashley and I were walking around in a grocery store trying desperately to find food we could identify, we stumbled upon one little gem. In a world where everything is made in China and almost nothing is imported into their country, we did find that one company is trying to break into the market. Not only are they spearheading the charge into this country with their product but they are also boldly printing “Made in the U.S.A.” right on the front! This was a shock because as I did find many American products sold in China, none of them would say “Made in the U.S.A.” Just take a look at the Coca Cola bottle with the Chinese Red star stamped into the bottle cap.

So what was this company that we found representing the U.S. in China? Well it is not electronics, not farming gear, not military gear, not even anything to do with cars, but instead………. Butter. Yes, that’s right; the only product that I found in all of China that would clearly print “Made in the USA” on their products was butter.  Though I have never heard of this butter company I tip my hat to them. Now, one thing to point out is that there was a very small butter section in this store and the only other butter was the very expensive French type you find in the deli section of American stores.  However, in the good old American fashion, we had our butter one dollar cheaper than the French butter.

So there you have it ladies and gentlemen.  All across the country of China you have a battle waging.  Not in the air, land, or sea, but in the butter isle.  France vs. America.  Mano y Mano. The stakes might be higher than anyone might think, for this just might be the chip in the armor for China.  If France and the US can have open, free capitalism in the butter isle of China, then what about the rest of the world? One day everything in China might say “Made in the U.S.A.”!............ That is at least, until China starts making their own butter and selling it one dollar cheaper than us!  We can dream though, we can dream.