is the price of down going up?

[wayno]

At this summer's Outdoor Retailer show, people couldn't stop talking about bird flu. No, they weren't worried about coming down with the disease it in Salt Lake City, Utah. They were lamenting the dramatic spike it's causing in duck and goose down prices

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-ge ... ocket.html

[Bivouac Gary]

Down pricing has been a major concern for manufacturers for a couple of years now. I just spent the week wandering the country with a representative of Exped doing some training in NZ. They struggle with the pricing every year and it is looking to keep getting harder.

His take on the issue was that along with bird flu issues that have happened the rise of the middle class in China is having a big effect on demand. They are eating fewer ducks with more "western" meat being demanded like beef and as the bulk of the income of a duck farmer comes from the meat declining demand leads to fewer birds being run. A perhaps greater influence is that down duvets are becoming far more popular in China also.

These consumer demand changes drive the down pricing far more than the outdoor industry but we get carried along with them in pricing. Generally we are all about high quality downs but as the price leaps for lower grades more duvet makers etc jump a grade up because the price difference is less than previously. This pushes that loft rating up and more of those jump up a grade leading to a cascade of price rises at all grades of down for all manufacturers.

[wayno]

thanks for that insight Gary...

[GPSGuided]

So a case of, if you love and buy down products, you are driving it up. Lets all convince noobs on the benefits of synthetic insulation!

[simonm]

So a case of, if you love and buy down products, you are driving it up. Lets all convince noobs on the benefits of synthetic insulation!

Or start eating more ducks and geese