Consume This - Game Over: Can You Afford To Die?

Game Over: Can You Afford To Die?

11/01/21 • 23 min

Death is one of life’s certainties, but can you afford to die? According to the Ministry of Health the average price of a funeral is $8-10k. While this may not seem like a lot for some people, one in ten New Zealanders have no savings. We examine the funeral industry – can you BYO coffin? Why does it cost so much? Also, why is it so hard to find out funeral costs up front?

We talk to one woman about her experience navigating the death industry after the sudden and unexpected death of her mother. Ex-casket maker Tamara Linnhoff shares inside information about anti-competitive practices in the industry, and Stephen Parkyn, the CEO of ‘Consumer Trusted’ Funeral Directors Lamb & Hayward tells us how regulation could improve things for consumers.

Thanks to this Vee Blackwood, Tamara Linnhoff & Stephen Parkyn for joining us this week.

If you are struggling with the costs of arranging a funeral financial help may be available. More information is available on the NZ Government website, or via the Citizens Advice Bureau.

You can get in touch via [email protected]. For updates follow us on Facebook, Instagram or sign up to our mailing list here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thanks to this Vee Blackwood, Tamara Linnhoff & Stephen Parkyn for joining us this week.

If you are struggling with the costs of arranging a funeral financial help may be available. More information is available on the NZ Government website, or via the Citizens Advice Bureau.

You can get in touch via [email protected]. For updates follow us on Facebook, Instagram or sign up to our mailing list here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

How Instagram Made Me Buy a Worm Farm

Is social media encouraging you to buy things you don’t need? According to podcast host Sophie Richardson the answer is no... but then again, she thinks the worm farm subscription Instagram has just sold her is an essential item!

On this week's episode we explore how Instagram is changing the way we shop. Specifically, we’re on a quest to find out how it convinced Sophie to sign up for that subscription worm farm. How was she targeted, and how did Instagram know exactly what she wanted, even before she did?

Huge thanks to this week's guests Mr. Worm Farm A.K.A. Leo Murray and Victoria University Of Wellington professor Michael Daubs.

You can get in touch via [email protected]. For updates follow us on Facebook, Instagram or sign up to our mailing list here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

The Not-So-Supermarkets

We all have a vague sense that groceries are really expensive. If you’ve been around long enough you might even be thinking ‘it never used to be this way’. But are we really being charged too much? According to the Commerce Commission the answer may well be yes. For the last 12 months they’ve been conducting a market study into the grocery sector. They recently published their draft report, and its findings are pretty damning for the two big supermarket chains. Simply put, they believe a lack of competition in the sector is keeping prices high and profits large. Unsurprisingly Countdown and Foodstuffs disagree with this analysis, maintaining that they have plenty of competition. In this episode of ‘Consume This’ we attempt to find some of it.

We’re joined by Sarah Balle, the founder of a new online only supermarket to find out why it’s so hard to compete with the current duopoly. Another Sarah – boss of Yum Granola, Sarah Hedger – explains how a product makes it onto the supermarket shelves, who sets the price, and importantly why she doesn’t sell it cheaper via her own web shop. The grocery industry needs to change, we need our $$$ to go further, but are the Commerce Commission really up for the fight?

You can find the full Commerce Commission draft report here & our submission to the ComCom market study here. This podcast only scratches the surface, for even more information on our supermarkets campaign check out the Consumer NZ website.

Thanks to this week's guests Sarah Balle, Sarah Hedger and Ramesh Patel.

Consume This is brought to you by Consumer NZ. For updates follow us on Facebook, Instagram or sign up to our mailing list here. You can get in touch via [email protected].

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.