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The "Science" of Industry
WHAT DOES EVERY AMERICAN SPEND money on several times a day? Eating.
After a lifetime of eating, what do we all do? Die-a process that usu-
ally involves large costs as we try to postpone it for as long as possible.
We're all customers of hunger and death, so there's a lot of money to be
spent and made.
Because of this, the food and health industries in America are among
the most influential organizations in the world. The revenue generated
by the companies that produce food and health products is stagger-
ing. Many individual food companies have over $10 billion in annual
revenues. Kraft has revenues of roughly $30 billion a year. The Danone
Group, an international dairy company based in France, operates the
Dannon brand and has revenues of $15 billion a year. And of course,
there are the large fast food companies. McDonald's has revenues in ex-
cess of $15 billion a year, and Wendy's International generates almost $3
billion a year. Total food expenditures, including food bought by individu-
als, government and business, exceed $700 billion a year.l
The massive drug company Pfizer had $32 billion in revenue in 2002,
while Eli Lilly &:. Co. chalked up over $11 billion. Johnson and Johnson
collected over $36 billion from selling their products. It's not an over-
statement to say over a trillion dollars every year is riding on what we
choose to eat and how we choose to treat sickness and promote health.
That's a lot of money.
There are powerful players that compete for your food and health289