Want to go bananas? Cargo shipping is as mouch as oil shipping and the most shipped goods are bananas…
I also have a hard time believing that “Artwork and Sculptures” is #3. Maybe I live in a bubble, but do people really buy physical art more than once a year? Like I’ve commissioned digital art on several occasions, but I can’t imagine art being a significant chunk of anyone’s spending.
Sounds more like a cover category people use to avoid duty taxes. Or the site is completely making up statistic on the spot, looks quite sketchy indeed.
There is also concerts and trade fairs shipping a lot of what could be considered artwork around the world.
Art is used to lounder money … I dont know how much of that makes it via cargo but it has to be something. And sometimes cars and other big things are art. One artwork could easy fit one container … oh and 3d printed stuff. Company have to ship that too …. But arts ranking seems way to high….but searched for us imports and found this … https://www.titlemax.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/the-most...
How the hell are bananas so damn cheap? It is bananas to me!
edit: The two people who downvoted probably think this is a joke. It is not.
On that note, walnuts are so expensive, meanwhile they grow literally everywhere around here with no special care or anything.
Walnut trees are used on roadsides, they're perfect for it, zero maintenance, keeps the soil from moving/sliding and kills weeds. Random people just harvest them if they want to.
The store prices on them make no sense. Just like bananas :D
They wholesale for ~$1.70 per pound. Peanuts wholesale for ~$0.25 per pound.
Yet walnuts sell for like ~$12 per pound and peanuts sell for ~$3 per pound.
Most foods that have sell for 10x wholesale price are delicate AND perishable, so a ton of that food goes to waste. Also, grocers reject a lot because of looks.
None of this is true with nuts.
So why do they retail for 10x wholesale price? I know technically, it's closer to 5x - since they usually retail blanched and the shell is half the weight. Still...
Before that, shipping distances were limited and the majority of what was unloaded had to be trashed before making it to market.
Only one interesting aspect of an extremely interesting historical topic.
Highly recommend starting with the story of Samuel Zemurray for those interested in the topic, who sold his company to united fruit then promptly turned around and took charge of it for the next twenty years in a hostile takeover.