Snack in the box

[tell-me-more]

How much per pound spent in Snack in the box goes to charity?

Please only answer for this particular scheme. I know other schemes where only 8p per pound goes to the charity, but I'm interested in this particular scheme, and I can't find the figure online.

[Buenchico]

Er, who said that Snack-in-the-Box has anything to do with charity fundraising? I've checked their website (including the site map, where such information is often buried away) and can't see any indication that the company is anything other than a wholly commercial venture (and it makes no claims to the contrary).

Further, Googling this line:
"snack in the box" +charity
doesn't produce a single link which indicates that Snack-in-the-Box makes any claim regarding charity fundraising.

Companies which raise funds for charities usually shout the fact from the rooftops. In the absence of any such declarations, I'm confident that the answer to your question is 'zero'.

Chris

[tell-me-more]

I didn't find charity links from googling snack in the box either, but the boxes in the kitchen at my workplace all have NSPCC logos on them.

[tell-me-more]

http://www.franchisedirect.co.uk/directory/sna ckinthebox/1808/

I think the picture in this link _may_ show the NSPCC green dot as well (can just about see it I think)

[Buenchico]

Hmm.

A bit of guesswork here. Although Snack-in-the-Box is a completely separate company to Cadbury, they only sell Cadbury products and have acquired the right to use the Cadbury brand (and associated logos) on their boxes.

I'm wondering if, when those boxes were new, Cadbury (rather than Snack-in-the-Box) was participating in raising funds for the NSPCC. (i.e. you'd have seen the NSPCC logo alongside Cadbury products in your local shop, as well as on the boxes). In which case, old boxes might still be in use, even though the fund-raising ended some time ago. (Cadbury is currently linked with World Aids Day but not, as far as I can see, with any children's charity).

Alternatively, since Snack-in-the-Box is a franchise operation, the guy who delivers your stock is running a completely separate business to any other franchise holder. Maybe he alone is raising funds for the NSPCC. In which case (unless he's entered into a formal arrangement with the charity) he's free to decide what percentage of his profits he donates to charity.

Speak to the guy who delivers the boxes or, if you're concerned that purchasers might be being misled, choose a suitable contact here:
http://www.nspcc.org.uk/whatwedo/aboutthenspcc /Contactus/Contactus_wda33279.html

Chris

[tell-me-more]

I'm fairly sure I've seen the logo on the boxes before, and it seems to be on the box in the link I posted above too.

I thought 8p in the pound was bad, but if it is nothing, that is scandalous isn't it?

[Buenchico]

It would certainly be scandalous if there was deliberate deception but, as I've stated, an individual franchise holder might be forwarding some money himself. Or their might be a 'club' for franchise holders, where members are encouraged to support the NSPCC but it's not actually anything to do with the franchise itself.

Whether 8p in the pound is reasonable or not depends, to some extent on whether that's 8% of the sale price or 8% of the profit. Most supermarket prices, for example, yield only 3% or 4% of the sale price as the company's profit. If a supermarket was to give away 8% of the sale price of many of its items, it could only do so at a loss.

The prices charged by Snack-in-the-box franchisees are generally much higher than those charged by supermarkets but the cost to profit ratio is probably no better than 70:30. i.e. if �1 worth of items are sold, the franchisee might make 30p profit. If he was to give away 8p of that, he'd be giving away over a quarter of his income. Are you prepared to give over a quarter of your income to charity?

If the franchisee was to give away 8% of his 30p profit (rather than 8% of the purchase price), which is still quite generous, only 2.4p of the purchase price would go to charity .

With most charity-linked promotions (such as those run by the manufacturers of confectionery, crisps, washing powders, etc), the charities usually receive between �p and 2p per pound of the purchase price. 8p per pound of the purchase price is simply unheard of. Even 2.4p (i.e. 8% of a 30% profit) would be exceptionally high.

Chris

[buildersmate]

If you want to give to charity, do it by direct gift to the charity itself, preferably including the tax rebate declaration. Don't do it via any of the ridiculous commercial ventures that run off the backs of charities or via chuggers in the street whom I suspect get paid for their efforts.

[tell-me-more]

Chuggers do get paid which is why I only ever give them verbal abuse if anything at all.

I would never give my money to any of these schemes, although I think the snack in the box one is nowhere near as bad as Chari-Snack, which I presumed at first was solely for the benefit of the charity. That's the one that gives 8p in the pound to charity.

I don't feel that's generous when a pound buys you a tiny bag of sweets or nuts and when you can only justify that by fooling people into thinking that the prime beneficiaries are a charity, and not the vendor.

[tell-me-more]

It does say in small print at the bottom of the box that "snack in the box" will donate at least �3,000 annually to the NSPCC, which I presume is for the whole organisation rather than each franchise. Even assuming each box only makes �5 per day, and there are only 20 boxes per city and 25 cities where there are franchises, �3,000 equates to a small fraction of a penny.

I know no company has any duty to fund charities, but this seems to me another attempt to mislead the consumer (although less blatant than Chari-snack).

The NSPCC logo appear first at the top in the centre, and you could easily be forgiven for thinking that "snack in the box" was merely the name of the NSPCC's scheme, rather than a franchise to whom virtually all the money goes.

The prices for mars bars and crisps are about 50p per item, which seems quite expensive to me.

[tell-me-more]

They get paid for crying out loud! And if you're going to say that they increase the funding of the charities they work for by blah blah blah, I'm afraid you need to take into account people like me who would never contribute to a charity that uses them when I might otherwise have done, and who would cancel any standing orders with any charity that uses them.

The question's about businesses that masquerade as charity ventures, but chuggers are even more objectionable. Is obstruction not a crime if you're asking for charity donations?

[PrettyAna80]

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