25:["$","$L26",null,{"category":"$27","relatedArticles":[{"id":"cG9zdDo1NDU0MQ==","databaseId":54541,"postId":54541,"author":{"node":{"id":"dXNlcjo1MA==","databaseId":50,"userId":50,"avatar":{"url":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/10ca58872f36412ceff58616bb971c22?s=96&d=mm&r=g","size":96,"__typename":"Avatar"},"description":"Amelia Josephson is a writer passionate about covering financial literacy topics. Her areas of expertise include retirement and home buying. Amelia's work has appeared across the web, including on AOL, CBS News and The Simple Dollar. She holds degrees from Columbia and Oxford. Originally from Alaska, Amelia now calls Brooklyn home.","additionalMeta":{"expertise":null,"__typename":"User_Additionalmeta"},"email":null,"firstName":"Amelia","fullName":"Amelia Josephson","lastName":"Josephson","name":"Amelia Josephson","postCount":{"pageInfo":{"offsetPagination":{"total":334,"__typename":"OffsetPaginationPageInfo"},"__typename":"UserToPostConnectionPageInfo"},"__typename":"UserToPostConnection"},"slug":"ajosephson","__typename":"User"},"__typename":"NodeWithAuthorToUserConnectionEdge"},"categories":{"nodes":[{"id":"dGVybToz","children":{"nodes":[],"__typename":"CategoryToCategoryConnection"},"databaseId":3,"categoryId":3,"link":"https://smartasset.com/insights/articles","name":"Insights","postCount":{"pageInfo":{"offsetPagination":{"total":53,"__typename":"OffsetPaginationPageInfo"},"__typename":"CategoryToPostConnectionPageInfo"},"__typename":"CategoryToPostConnection"},"slug":"insights","ancestors":null,"parent":null,"__typename":"Category"}],"__typename":"PostToCategoryConnection"},"content":"$28","date":"2016-10-07T10:00:07","excerpt":"

\n","featuredImage":{"id":"cG9zdDoxNzA0Mjk=","databaseId":170429,"altText":"The Pros and Cons of Recycling","date":"2022-11-08T14:24:01","fileSize":95380,"mimeType":"image/jpeg","modified":"2022-11-08T14:24:01","sourceUrl":"https://smartasset.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/pros_and_cons_of_recycling_1.jpg","__typename":"MediaItem"},"modified":{"datetime":"2023-4-1","readable":"April 1, 2023"},"multipleBylinesByRole":{"editedBy":null,"reviewedBy":null,"writtenBy":null,"factCheckedBy":null,"secondEditor":null,"hideAuthor":null,"__typename":"Post_Multiplebylinesbyrole"},"adTargetingOverrides":{"fieldGroupName":"adTargetingOverrides","pageGroupNewKey":null,"__typename":"Post_Adtargetingoverrides"},"seo":{"canonical":"https://smartasset.com/insights/the-pros-and-cons-of-recycling","metaDesc":"The pros and cons of recycling don't always come up in conversations about greening America. Many people assume that recycling has no downside, but there...","metaKeywords":"","metaRobotsNofollow":"follow","metaRobotsNoindex":"index","readingTime":5,"title":"The Pros and Cons of Recycling - SmartAsset","__typename":"PostTypeSEO"},"slug":"the-pros-and-cons-of-recycling","status":"publish","title":"The Pros and Cons of Recycling","uri":"/insights/the-pros-and-cons-of-recycling","tags":{"nodes":[],"__typename":"PostToTagConnection"},"__typename":"Post","adPageGroupOverride":null,"bylines":{"writtenBy":{"id":"dXNlcjo1MA==","databaseId":50,"userId":50,"avatar":"$29","description":"Amelia Josephson is a writer passionate about covering financial literacy topics. Her areas of expertise include retirement and home buying. Amelia's work has appeared across the web, including on AOL, CBS News and The Simple Dollar. She holds degrees from Columbia and Oxford. Originally from Alaska, Amelia now calls Brooklyn home.","additionalMeta":"$2a","email":null,"firstName":"Amelia","fullName":"Amelia Josephson","lastName":"Josephson","name":"Amelia Josephson","postCount":"$2b","slug":"amelia-josephson","__typename":"User"},"editedBy":null,"reviewedBy":null,"factCheckedBy":null,"secondEditor":null},"category":{"id":"dGVybToz","children":"$2e","databaseId":3,"categoryId":3,"link":"https://smartasset.com/insights/articles","name":"Insights","postCount":53,"slug":"insights","ancestors":null,"parent":null,"__typename":"Category"},"isModifiedBeforePublished":false,"contentBlocks":["

Do you recycle in your home or office? How about when you’re out on the street or in a park? The recycling rate in the U.S. is around 34% and has been for years. The country has struggled to reach recycling rates seen in other developed countries. For a detailed look at the issue, let’s examine some of the pros and cons of recycling.

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For retirement help, check out our 401(k) calculator.

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Pro 1: There’s an Environmental Benefit

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Okay, this one is obvious. When you recycle materials you divert them from the landfills or incinerators where trash usually goes. Whether burned in incinerators or left to rot in landfills, materials in our trash can leach chemicals into the air, ground or water. Recycling reduces the waste that goes to polluting landfills and incinerators and reduces the need to devote land and resources to traditional waste disposal methods.

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Pro 2: Recycling Creates Jobs

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Recycling is a source of jobs in a community. Recycling plants, the manufacture of recycled products and the creation of recycling-related materials like recycling bins all contribute to job growth in the economy. Recycling can be a source of good, middle-class jobs for people without a lot of education under their belt. Along with renewable energy, recycling is a source of green jobs, which some say are critical to a strong 21st-century economy.

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Pro 3: Recycling Raises Overall Environmental Consciousness

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Recycling can be a gateway to other forms of environmental activism. A homeowner might start out by recycling and graduate to composting or installing solar panels. Recycling, particularly in cities that offer curbside pick-up of recyclables, is an easy way to do something good for the environment and it can lead to other green lifestyle changes, too.

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Related Article: States Leading the Charge on Renewable Energy

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Pro 4: Recycling Reduces the Energy Used to Manufacture Goods

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Say a company wants to make a garment. To generate the textile from scratch would mean harvesting the cotton or linen crop, or manufacturing the synthetic fabric. But if the same company uses recycled textiles it can cut out that first step of the manufacturing process, saving energy as a result. To the extent that recycling reduces the need for growing, mining or extracting raw materials it has significant environmental benefits.

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Con 1: Recycling Takes Energy

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Have you heard of the phrase, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle?” Well, some environmentalists argue that “reduce” and “reuse” have more environmental benefits than “recycle.” That’s because if you consume fewer items you’re doing more for the environment than if you consume more and then recycle what you can. That’s because recycling takes energy, as does manufacturing products from recycled materials.

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Con 2: Recycling Can Lead to Pollution

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Some say the environmental benefits of recycling are overrated, not just because it takes energy but because it can lead to pollution. This is said of electronics recycling in particular. Many electronics slated for recycling are shipped overseas to less-developed countries, where they are sorted by hand. During the sorting process, metals and other chemicals may leach into the land and water where the recycling is taking place. This takes a toll on the environment and its inhabitants.

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Check out our retirement calculator.

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Con 3: Recycling Is Costly

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Some critics of recycling say the costs outweigh the benefits and/or exceed community resources. Some towns and cities say they can’t afford to operate recycling programs. In the U.S., landfill space is generally cheaply available, which means that the cost of recycling can exceed the cost of landfill waste disposal in many places.

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Of course, some materials cost more to recycle than others, which is why some city governments choose not to recycle glass or plastic. The costs of recycling can vary not just based on the materials recycled but on the administration of the recycling program and on-demand for recycled materials.

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Con 4: Recycling Isn’t a Slam Dunk

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Some critics of recycling say that recycling gives people the sense that they’re doing all they need to do on behalf of the environment, when in fact recycling alone isn’t enough to, say, fight climate change or eliminate pollution. These critics worry that there will be too many people who shop a lot, eat a lot of animal products and take long-haul flights but think that recycling offsets the environmental impact of their other choices.

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Bottom Line

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Most people agree that recycling has significant benefits, even if it isn’t a perfect solution to our environmental problems. Though it can be a bit of an inconvenience, recycling has empowered households and businesses to feel like they’re doing something to make their community – and their country – a more eco-friendly place.

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Tips for Being Socially Responsible

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Photo credit: ©iStock.com/jat306, ©iStock.com/ms_seal, ©iStock.com/hroe

"],"experts":null,"link":"/insights/the-pros-and-cons-of-recycling","published":{"datetime":"2016-10-7","readable":"October 7, 2016"},"shareInfo":{"title":"The Pros and Cons of Recycling","origin":"/insights/the-pros-and-cons-of-recycling"},"isNewsArticle":false},{"id":"cG9zdDoxODM0OA==","databaseId":18348,"postId":18348,"author":{"node":{"id":"dXNlcjo0Mw==","databaseId":43,"userId":43,"avatar":{"url":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ffa6e4226790e1afdf9ef9b4c92eb712?s=96&d=mm&r=g","size":96,"__typename":"Avatar"},"description":"Alex is a graduate of New York University's journalism school. He has penned and edited articles, features and videos for news, politics and entertainment websites, both in the US and abroad. His specialties are archival research and the history of finance. His areas of expertise include home buying, small businesses and banking. Alex's hobbies include video games, especially RPGs, and following NHL hockey.","additionalMeta":{"expertise":null,"__typename":"User_Additionalmeta"},"email":null,"firstName":"Alex","fullName":"Alex Silady","lastName":"Silady","name":"Alex Silady","postCount":{"pageInfo":{"offsetPagination":{"total":24,"__typename":"OffsetPaginationPageInfo"},"__typename":"UserToPostConnectionPageInfo"},"__typename":"UserToPostConnection"},"slug":"asilady","__typename":"User"},"__typename":"NodeWithAuthorToUserConnectionEdge"},"categories":{"nodes":[{"id":"dGVybToz","children":{"nodes":[],"__typename":"CategoryToCategoryConnection"},"databaseId":3,"categoryId":3,"link":"https://smartasset.com/insights/articles","name":"Insights","postCount":{"pageInfo":{"offsetPagination":{"total":53,"__typename":"OffsetPaginationPageInfo"},"__typename":"CategoryToPostConnectionPageInfo"},"__typename":"CategoryToPostConnection"},"slug":"insights","ancestors":null,"parent":null,"__typename":"Category"},{"id":"dGVybTo4Ng==","children":{"nodes":[{"name":"HELOCs & Equity","slug":"helocs-and-equity","__typename":"Category"},{"name":"Home Buying","slug":"home-buying","__typename":"Category"},{"name":"Home Selling","slug":"home-selling","__typename":"Category"},{"name":"Mortgage Basics","slug":"mortgage-basics","__typename":"Category"},{"name":"Other","slug":"other-mortgage","__typename":"Category"},{"name":"Real Estate Investing","slug":"real-estate-investing","__typename":"Category"},{"name":"Real Estate Trends","slug":"real-estate-trends","__typename":"Category"},{"name":"Refinancing","slug":"refinancing","__typename":"Category"},{"name":"Relocation & Moving","slug":"relocation-and-moving","__typename":"Category"}],"__typename":"CategoryToCategoryConnection"},"databaseId":86,"categoryId":86,"link":"https://smartasset.com/mortgage/articles","name":"Mortgage","postCount":{"pageInfo":{"offsetPagination":{"total":208,"__typename":"OffsetPaginationPageInfo"},"__typename":"CategoryToPostConnectionPageInfo"},"__typename":"CategoryToPostConnection"},"slug":"mortgage","ancestors":null,"parent":null,"__typename":"Category"}],"__typename":"PostToCategoryConnection"},"content":"$31","date":"2014-07-17T12:30:33","excerpt":"

There are many reasons to choose a city to live in, but most of them revolve around our basic needs: employment, cultural stimulation and education. But sooner or later, we all need healthcare, whether it’s a routine doctor’s visit or …

\n","featuredImage":{"id":"cG9zdDoxOTAzMw==","databaseId":19033,"altText":"10 Best and Worst Cities for Healthcare Access for Your Money","date":"2014-07-10T11:17:01","fileSize":78189,"mimeType":"image/jpeg","modified":"2014-07-10T11:17:01","sourceUrl":"https://smartasset.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/07/8866002851_22b20c98e6_z.jpg","__typename":"MediaItem"},"modified":{"datetime":"2023-8-30","readable":"August 30, 2023"},"multipleBylinesByRole":{"editedBy":null,"reviewedBy":null,"writtenBy":null,"factCheckedBy":null,"secondEditor":null,"hideAuthor":null,"__typename":"Post_Multiplebylinesbyrole"},"adTargetingOverrides":{"fieldGroupName":"adTargetingOverrides","pageGroupNewKey":null,"__typename":"Post_Adtargetingoverrides"},"seo":{"canonical":"https://smartasset.com/insights/10-best-and-worst-cities-for-healthcare-for-your-money","metaDesc":"Healthcare is one of the basic necessities of life, so how easy is it to get to in some of the major cities in the country?","metaKeywords":"","metaRobotsNofollow":"follow","metaRobotsNoindex":"index","readingTime":10,"title":"10 Best and Worst Cities For Healthcare For Your Money | SmartAsset","__typename":"PostTypeSEO"},"slug":"10-best-and-worst-cities-for-healthcare-for-your-money","status":"publish","title":"10 Best and Worst Cities for Healthcare Access for Your Money","uri":"/insights/10-best-and-worst-cities-for-healthcare-for-your-money","tags":{"nodes":[],"__typename":"PostToTagConnection"},"__typename":"Post","adPageGroupOverride":null,"bylines":{"writtenBy":{"id":"dXNlcjo0Mw==","databaseId":43,"userId":43,"avatar":"$32","description":"Alex is a graduate of New York University's journalism school. He has penned and edited articles, features and videos for news, politics and entertainment websites, both in the US and abroad. His specialties are archival research and the history of finance. His areas of expertise include home buying, small businesses and banking. Alex's hobbies include video games, especially RPGs, and following NHL hockey.","additionalMeta":"$33","email":null,"firstName":"Alex","fullName":"Alex Silady","lastName":"Silady","name":"Alex Silady","postCount":"$34","slug":"alex-silady","__typename":"User"},"editedBy":null,"reviewedBy":null,"factCheckedBy":null,"secondEditor":null},"category":{"id":"dGVybToz","children":"$37","databaseId":3,"categoryId":3,"link":"https://smartasset.com/insights/articles","name":"Insights","postCount":53,"slug":"insights","ancestors":null,"parent":null,"__typename":"Category"},"isModifiedBeforePublished":false,"contentBlocks":["

","

This is the 2014 version of SmartAsset’s study. See the 2015 version here.

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SmartAsset set out to find the cities that are getting the best healthcare for the cost of their home. This is basically who has the most access to healthcare and is paying the least to be close to it.

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Methodology

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To determine this, we added the number of primary care physicians and hospital beds per 100,000 people (gathered from the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care), and divided that by the median sales price in thousands of dollars in that city. This gave us an average measure of healthcare access per $1,000 of home price. We then ranked the cities by this number.

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Find out now: How much house can I afford?

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The average US city had $175,883 as the median home cost, with 70.442 doctors and 250.410 hospital beds per 100,000 people, for an access figure of 2.202.

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Some broad conclusions came through: Smaller cities with lower than average property costs, especially if they were college towns with or near medical schools, afforded easier healthcare access for your price than larger cities. This usually had to do with both higher property values in larger cities as well as lower numbers of hospital beds.

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The Top 10 Healthcare Cities

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1. Youngstown, OH
Average home value: $64,600
Primary physicians per 100,000: 73.9
Hospital beds per 100,000: 320
Access to healthcare per $1,000 of home price: 6.098

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Although former steel town Youngstown only has a slightly above-average ratio of physicians to the population at large, its abundance of hospital space and lower-cost homes than most of the country means every dollar pays for significantly more access to healthcare than the nearest runner-up. It seems to be easier for a smallish city like Youngstown (population about 67,000) to sustain a healthcare infrastructure than a much larger one. Youngstown also benefits from the presence of Youngstown State University, a relatively large state college with 15,000 students, to provide nurses, lab techs and other trained health workers to support its doctors.

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2. Gulfport, MS
Average home value: $101,200
Primary physicians per 100,000: 67.5
Hospital beds per 100,000: 440
Access to healthcare per $1,000 of home price: 5.015

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The second largest city in Mississippi, Gulfport is about the same size as Youngstown. Though it has a close-to-average number of physicians per capita, it has almost twice the average number of hospital beds. Gulfport has access to the resources of the large Navy ship compositing center there. The city’s major hospital also employs close to 3,000 people.

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3. Toledo, OH
Average home value: $72,100
Primary physicians per 100,000: 64.3
Hospital beds per 100,000: 280
Access to healthcare per $1,000 of home price: 4.775

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Situated in northwestern Ohio along the Michigan border, Toledo’s 287,208 people make it the fourth-largest city in the state. Though its number of physicians per capita as well hospital beds per capita are just on par with the average figures, with its number of physicians slightly below and hospital beds slightly above average, its affordable property values mean residents get more healthcare access for their money on average. Toledo is notably home to much of the country’s glass and auto parts industries, as well as the oldest continually operating minor league baseball team, the Toledo Mud Hens.

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4. Rockford, IL
Average home value: $73,100
Primary physicians per 100,000: 69.1
Hospital beds per 100,000: 240
Access to healthcare per $1,000 of home price: 4.228

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Rockford’s more than 150,000 people benefit in terms of healthcare from a satellite campus of the University of Illinois College of Medicine located there, which means more newly minted doctors may work in the area. The so-called “Forest City” also has a small private college, the University of Rockford, which has hundreds of students in its nursing department.

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5. Peoria, IL
Average home value: $96,500
Primary physicians per 100,000: 62.1
Hospital beds per 100,000: 320
Access to healthcare per $1,000 of home price: 3.960

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Peoria is the oldest European settlement in Illinois. The title of second-largest city in the state (after Chicago) has gone back and forth between Rockford and Peoria in the past. Peoria, like Rockford, has a University of Illinois College of Medicine campus with more than 1,500 students and staff, as well as two major hospitals, OSF Saint Francis and UnityPoint-Methodist. An unusually high number of musical theater composers and lyricists have come from Peoria, including Shirley Temple collaborator Richard Whiting. The headquarters of construction equipment giant Caterpillar is also located in Peoria.

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Find out now: Which neighborhood is best for me?

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6. Topeka, KS
Average home value: $100,000
Primary physicians per 100,000: 65.9
Hospital beds per 100,000: 310
Access to healthcare per $1,000 of home price: 3.759

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Topeka, the Kansas capital, is known for historical civil rights efforts such as Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court verdict, which declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional. Topeka has two major hospitals, Stormont-Vail and Saint Francis, as well as a Department of Veterans Affairs military medical center, accounting for the city’s larger than average number of hospital beds per capita. A private Methodist college, Baker University, maintains its School of Nursing in Topeka.

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7. South Bend, IN
Average home value: $85,700
Primary physicians per 100,000: 62.8
Hospital beds per 100,000: 250
Access to healthcare per $1,000 of home price: 3.650

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South Bend is the surrounding community of the University of Notre Dame, which is located in an unincorporated area just to the north. Health care is the top industry in South Bend aside from higher education, with the Memorial Health System hospitals employing 4,000 people and Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center having about 2,500 employees.

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8. Dayton, OH
Average home value: $93,900
Primary physicians per 100,000: 66.7
Hospital beds per 100,000: 270
Access to healthcare per $1,000 of home price: 3.586

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The Wright Brothers, inventors of powered aircraft, are among the numerous technological pioneers who hailed from the Dayton area. The top employer in Dayton is Premier Health Partners, which operates the city’s major hospitals and boasts a staff of more than 14,000. Miami Valley Hospital and Kettering Medical Center are among the Dayton hospitals that have received high marks from US News and World Report and HealthGrades’ national rankings in recent years.

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9. Wichita, KS
Average home value: $114,200
Primary physicians per 100,000: 66.3
Hospital beds per 100,000: 340
Access to healthcare per $1,000 of home price: 3.558

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Wichita is one of the major aeronautics industry cities in the United States, and boasts the nickname “Air Capital of the World.” Both the 14,000-student public University of Wichita and the University of Kansas School of Medicine operate in Wichita.

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10. Jackson, MS
Average home value: $142,300
Primary physicians per 100,000: 59.3
Hospital beds per 100,000: 440
Access to healthcare per $1,000 of home price: 3.509

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The capital of, and largest city in, Mississippi, Jackson is something of a college town, with about a dozen institutes of higher education. Jackson also has one of the highest numbers of hospital beds per capita in the country.

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The Bottom 10 Healthcare Cities

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10. Portland, OR
Average home value: $271,900
Primary physicians per 100,000: 83.5
Hospital beds per 100,000: 170
Access to healthcare per $1,000 of home price: 0.932

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West Coast cultural capital Portland is known for its well-regarded food and music scenes, but its health care value is hamstrung by the significantly lower-than-average number of hospital beds per capita, along with very high property values.

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9. Washington, DC
Average home value: $358,900
Primary physicians per 100,000: 102
Hospital beds per 100,000: 230
Access to healthcare per $1,000 of home price: 0.925

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There’s no denying our nation’s capital has a lot of sites of interest – a lot of history is preserved there – as well as a lot of doctors, with the greatest number of physicians per capita in the country. However, there are not as many hospital beds as the average, and median home values are above $350,000.

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8. New York, NY
Average home value: $455,200
Primary physicians per 100,000: 95.6
Hospital beds per 100,000: 310
Access to healthcare per $1,000 of home price: 0.891

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Many Big Apple hospitals are regarded as among the best in the country, and some of them are even nationally household names. But despite a greater access to both doctors and hospitals than average, New York’s property values mean owning a home there means paying for significantly less access to healthcare for your money than elsewhere.

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7. Sacramento, CA
Average home value: $255,800
Primary physicians per 100,000: 77
Hospital beds per 100,000: 150
Access to healthcare per $1,000 of home price: 0.887

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The UC Davis Medical Center, located in Sacramento, is a renowned research hospital – but it’s the only major hospital in the California capital built on gold prospecting. Residents’ healthcare access suffers because of this, with one of the lowest numbers of hospital beds per capita among major cities in the country.

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6. Boston, MA
Average home value: $363,200
Primary physicians per 100,000: 98.5
Hospital beds per 100,000: 210
Access to healthcare per $1,000 of home price: 0.849

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It’s hard to think Beantown, home of Boston Medical Center and Massachusetts General, among other notable hospitals, would be a place with low healthcare accessibility, and yet it has lower hospital beds per capita than the national average.

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5. Bridgeport, CT
Average home value: $364,900
Primary physicians per 100,000: 76.6
Hospital beds per 100,000: 200
Access to healthcare per $1,000 of home price: 0.758

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Connecticut’s largest city by population, and a center of the insurance industry, Bridgeport has two major hospitals but only about 80 percent of the average number of hospital beds per capita.

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4. Seattle, WA
Average home value: $339,900
Primary physicians per 100,000: 91
Hospital beds per 100,000: 160
Access to healthcare per $1,000 of home price: 0.738

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The Emerald City may be home to major corporations in a number of industries, but hospitals aren’t one of those major employers – it has one of the lowest numbers of hospital beds per capita among major US cities.

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3. Boulder, CO
Average home value: $418,700
Primary physicians per 100,000: 92.5
Hospital beds per 100,000: 150
Access to healthcare per $1,000 of home price: 0.579

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Rocky Mountain city Boulder is the home of the University of Colorado, the largest institute of higher education in the state with more than 31,000 students, including its medical school. This accounts for the greater than average number of doctors per capita in Boulder, but it, like many of the other entries on the bottom ten, suffers from a lack of hospital beds.

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2. Honolulu, HI
Average home value: $672,300
Primary physicians per 100,000: 87.5
Hospital beds per 100,000: 170
Access to healthcare per $1,000 of home price: 0.383

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Honolulu may benefit from beautiful climate and the cultural treasures of the Hawaiian people, but the Hawaiian Islands’ isolation from any other land means many resources have to be expensively imported, and the isolation makes access to healthcare relatively scarce as well.

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1. San Jose, CA
Average home value: $808,000
Primary physicians per 100,000: 83.2
Hospital beds per 100,000: 160
Access to healthcare per $1,000 of home price: 0.301

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San Jose is the heart of Silicon Valley, and all of the tech money concentrated in the area accounts for the absurdly high property values – the median home costs $808,000. But although that amount buys more doctors per capita in the area than average, there are also much fewer hospital beds than the average available.

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Read the 2015 version of SmartAsset’s healthcare access and home affordability study.

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Sources: 2006 Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care Acute Care Hospital Beds per 1,000 Residents and Primary Care Physicians per 100,000 Residents, National Association of Realtors Median Sales Price Q1 2014

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Photo Credit: flickr

"],"experts":null,"link":"/insights/10-best-and-worst-cities-for-healthcare-for-your-money","published":{"datetime":"2014-7-17","readable":"July 17, 2014"},"shareInfo":{"title":"10 Best and Worst Cities for Healthcare Access for Your Money","origin":"/insights/10-best-and-worst-cities-for-healthcare-for-your-money"},"isNewsArticle":false},{"id":"cG9zdDoxNzE5MA==","databaseId":17190,"postId":17190,"author":{"node":{"id":"dXNlcjo0Mw==","databaseId":43,"userId":43,"avatar":{"url":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ffa6e4226790e1afdf9ef9b4c92eb712?s=96&d=mm&r=g","size":96,"__typename":"Avatar"},"description":"Alex is a graduate of New York University's journalism school. He has penned and edited articles, features and videos for news, politics and entertainment websites, both in the US and abroad. His specialties are archival research and the history of finance. His areas of expertise include home buying, small businesses and banking. Alex's hobbies include video games, especially RPGs, and following NHL hockey.","additionalMeta":{"expertise":null,"__typename":"User_Additionalmeta"},"email":null,"firstName":"Alex","fullName":"Alex Silady","lastName":"Silady","name":"Alex Silady","postCount":{"pageInfo":{"offsetPagination":{"total":24,"__typename":"OffsetPaginationPageInfo"},"__typename":"UserToPostConnectionPageInfo"},"__typename":"UserToPostConnection"},"slug":"asilady","__typename":"User"},"__typename":"NodeWithAuthorToUserConnectionEdge"},"categories":{"nodes":[{"id":"dGVybToz","children":{"nodes":[],"__typename":"CategoryToCategoryConnection"},"databaseId":3,"categoryId":3,"link":"https://smartasset.com/insights/articles","name":"Insights","postCount":{"pageInfo":{"offsetPagination":{"total":53,"__typename":"OffsetPaginationPageInfo"},"__typename":"CategoryToPostConnectionPageInfo"},"__typename":"CategoryToPostConnection"},"slug":"insights","ancestors":null,"parent":null,"__typename":"Category"}],"__typename":"PostToCategoryConnection"},"content":"$39","date":"2014-06-04T12:30:11","excerpt":"

\n","featuredImage":{"id":"cG9zdDoxOTgxODQ=","databaseId":198184,"altText":"Top 3 Ways the Chocolate Industry is Changing","date":"2023-05-08T22:20:42","fileSize":40308,"mimeType":"image/jpeg","modified":"2023-05-08T22:20:42","sourceUrl":"https://smartasset.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/rsz_istock-535414786-1.jpg","__typename":"MediaItem"},"modified":{"datetime":"2024-4-26","readable":"April 26, 2024"},"multipleBylinesByRole":{"editedBy":null,"reviewedBy":null,"writtenBy":null,"factCheckedBy":null,"secondEditor":null,"hideAuthor":null,"__typename":"Post_Multiplebylinesbyrole"},"adTargetingOverrides":{"fieldGroupName":"adTargetingOverrides","pageGroupNewKey":null,"__typename":"Post_Adtargetingoverrides"},"seo":{"canonical":"https://smartasset.com/insights/top-3-ways-the-chocolate-industry-is-changing","metaDesc":"Most of us love chocolate, apart from those who are allergic or are in a taste minority. And the chocolate industry is in rapid flux.","metaKeywords":"","metaRobotsNofollow":"follow","metaRobotsNoindex":"index","readingTime":7,"title":"3 Ways the Chocolate Industry is Changing","__typename":"PostTypeSEO"},"slug":"top-3-ways-the-chocolate-industry-is-changing","status":"publish","title":"3 Ways the Chocolate Industry is Changing","uri":"/insights/top-3-ways-the-chocolate-industry-is-changing","tags":{"nodes":[],"__typename":"PostToTagConnection"},"__typename":"Post","adPageGroupOverride":null,"bylines":{"writtenBy":{"id":"dXNlcjo0Mw==","databaseId":43,"userId":43,"avatar":"$3a","description":"Alex is a graduate of New York University's journalism school. He has penned and edited articles, features and videos for news, politics and entertainment websites, both in the US and abroad. His specialties are archival research and the history of finance. His areas of expertise include home buying, small businesses and banking. Alex's hobbies include video games, especially RPGs, and following NHL hockey.","additionalMeta":"$3b","email":null,"firstName":"Alex","fullName":"Alex Silady","lastName":"Silady","name":"Alex Silady","postCount":"$3c","slug":"alex-silady","__typename":"User"},"editedBy":null,"reviewedBy":null,"factCheckedBy":null,"secondEditor":null},"category":{"id":"dGVybToz","children":"$3f","databaseId":3,"categoryId":3,"link":"https://smartasset.com/insights/articles","name":"Insights","postCount":53,"slug":"insights","ancestors":null,"parent":null,"__typename":"Category"},"isModifiedBeforePublished":false,"contentBlocks":["

Once upon a time, chocolate was unheard of across most of the world. From the 1800s BCE to the 16th century CE or so, it was exclusively consumed by a small group of people – Aztec nobles in what is now Mexico. Nowadays, $20.6 billion worth of chocolate is sold in the United States each year alone, and the worldwide market is projected to approach $100 billion annually in two years. And indeed, Americans love their chocolate fix, as they have for decades. But the ways we’re getting our dose of chocolate are becoming more diverse.

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Check out our budget calculator.

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Darkness Approaching

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For decades, the United States candy landscape was entirely dominated by large, monolithic chocolate companies, such as Mars, Nestle, and Hershey’s, which continue to be the number one, three and six producers of chocolate in the world in terms of revenue, respectively. And almost all the chocolate they sold in previous decades was milk. The more bitter dark chocolate was thought not to match consumers’ tastes.

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While that may have been true, once, and milk chocolate may still reign supreme – with 51 percent of adults listing it as their favorite type – dark chocolate is gaining. Sales of the dark stuff grew 9 percent last year, as opposed to milk chocolate growth of just 6 percent.

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“Dark chocolate has health benefits, and that is a source of appeal, but also I believe people’s palates are really becoming more sophisticated,” said Katrina Markoff of artisan chocolatier Vosges Chocolate. “My culinary school instructors said they were once taught that it would be impossible to make most Americans like dark chocolate. But there is more awareness and curiosity about milk and dark and even different specific varietals.”

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The “health benefits” that Markoff cites as driving the sales of dark chocolate are a relatively new discovery in medicine whose mechanisms are still not fully understood. Studies point to dark chocolate having antioxidant properties that make it beneficial for heart health, and it is now thought that its chemical components can be processed into anti-inflammatory compounds by specific bacteria in the human gut. One food industry analyst has said that dark chocolate’s lower levels of sugar and fat also make it appealing in an environment where people are concerned about obesity.

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Small Treats

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Alongside the rise of dark chocolate, there has also been a perceptible growth in the market share of boutique chocolate firms, otherwise known as those chocolate makers other than the major corporations. The Fine Chocolate Industry Association, which has only been in existence for seven years, calls fine, premium, or boutique chocolate the fastest-growing segment of the confection market, with a 17 percent revenue increase from 2006 to 2011.

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It was historically hard for small businesses to break into chocolate manufacturing because of how involved the processes for turning cacao into chocolate are. After cacao pods are ripe, the beans must be extracted from the fruit (there may be up to fifty in one pod), fermented for a week, then dried for a week.

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It is the dried beans that manufacturers purchase, but even these refined beans must be roasted a precise amount, depending upon the type of chocolate being produced. At this point they’re broken into cacao nibs, slowly ground into a powder and heated to release the oils in the nibs, which separates it out into the substances called cocoa mass and cocoa butter.

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The mass and the butter are then recombined before the chocolate is finished and allowed to solidify. All of this requires specialized equipment and constant monitoring, making it labor-intensive.

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But while making chocolate is time-consuming, companies are able to charge an impressive markup for the final product. Raw cocoa currently costs $2,358.11 a metric ton, which means about $1.05 a pound. Cacao can also be pretty efficiently converted into chocolate – it takes 500 grams, or 1.1025 pounds, of dried beans to make a pound of chocolate. Meanwhile, Vosges sells its Barcelona three-ounce chocolate bar, which also contains fleur de sel and almonds, for $7.50. Diced almonds can be had at wholesale for $5.50 a pound from JustAlmonds, and fleur de sel for $178.49 for 13.2 pounds, or $13.52 a pound, at Saltworks.

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Assuming the bar contains one-tenth of an ounce of almonds and one-fifth of an ounce of salt, the materials cost for that chocolate bar amounts to $0.22 of chocolate, $0.03 of almonds, and $0.02 of salt. That $0.27 is marked up close to 2,800 percent for the $7.50 finished bar, though that doesn’t account for labor or equipment.

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This kind of profit margin means that entrepreneurs in the chocolate field can raise the overhead necessary for chocolate-making machines from their investors. In a healthy market for small-producer chocolate, this means that the initial risk of buying the many necessary supplies is both lessened and promises greater reward.

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As a consequence, the chocolate industry is no longer relegated to locations like the headquarters of the largest companies, like Hackettstown, NJ for Mars and Hershey, PA. The Deseret News reports that there are major “craft chocolate” makers headquartered in California, which has fourteen such companies, along with eight in New York, seven in Hawaii, four each in North Carolina, Oregon, and Texas, and three in Utah. That’s much greater coverage of geographical area than just the East Coast locations where the major corporations operate.

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Related Article: Best Cities for Coffee Fanatics – 2017 Edition

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A World of Growth

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The demand from these artisan companies for exotic strains of chocolate has spurred the growing of cocoa beans in countries other than the traditional producers in West Africa and South America. Vietnam, for example, had fewer than 2,000 hectares (roughly 4,900 acres) of chocolate plantings ten years ago, and now boasts about 54,000 acres, NPR reports. That’s a gain of more than 1,000 percent in a decade! Though cacao still isn’t one of the country’s major cash crops, more boutique chocolate producers cropping up means greater demand for this country’s “bold, characterful” beans.

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“Single-origin chocolate is still a small sector of the market, but customers are willing to pay a very high premium for it,” Markoff said. “Just like a drinker can detect the terroir of a wine, the qualities imparted to it by its native soil, the same is true for the chocolates of a country. It is a one-of-a-kind experience, something you cannot taste except by having a piece of single-origin chocolate.”

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The large candy makers were once able to control the market because of a lack of interest and knowledge about chocolate alternatives. But now that the public is aware, the genie seems impossible to bottle back up – artisan chocolatiers are able to offer a range of taste, variety, and quality, thanks to the small size of their operations, that the larger producers can’t match.

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And so far it appears a public that has tasted the “food of the gods” (that’s what chocolate’s scientific name, Theobroma cacao, means, after all) prepared with artistry will continue to demand that same kind of quality. While companies like Hershey’s and Mars will still sell chocolate bars by the millions, the growth of boutique chocolatiers doesn’t show any signs of stopping, and sweet-toothed entrepreneurs will continue to start small chocolate businesses in locales across the nation, which will import their raw materials from all around the world.

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Tips for Financial Planning

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Have financial questions beyond the economics of chocolate? Consider working with a financial advisor. Finding a financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can have a free introductory call with your advisor matches to decide which one you feel is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

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"],"experts":null,"link":"/insights/top-3-ways-the-chocolate-industry-is-changing","published":{"datetime":"2014-6-4","readable":"June 4, 2014"},"shareInfo":{"title":"3 Ways the Chocolate Industry is Changing","origin":"/insights/top-3-ways-the-chocolate-industry-is-changing"},"isNewsArticle":false},{"id":"cG9zdDo1NjUz","databaseId":5653,"postId":5653,"author":{"node":{"id":"dXNlcjo4","databaseId":8,"userId":8,"avatar":{"url":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/8ac90f95273c7c36fbcb2b648b56509b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","size":96,"__typename":"Avatar"},"description":"Thierry Godard is former Editor at SmartAsset who writes on a variety of personal finance issues. He is an expert on topics including home buying, saving money and budgeting. Thierry has a degree in Journalism from CUNY Baruch College.","additionalMeta":{"expertise":null,"__typename":"User_Additionalmeta"},"email":null,"firstName":"Thierry","fullName":"Thierry Godard","lastName":"Godard","name":"Thierry Godard","postCount":{"pageInfo":{"offsetPagination":{"total":45,"__typename":"OffsetPaginationPageInfo"},"__typename":"UserToPostConnectionPageInfo"},"__typename":"UserToPostConnection"},"slug":"tgodard","__typename":"User"},"__typename":"NodeWithAuthorToUserConnectionEdge"},"categories":{"nodes":[{"id":"dGVybTo5Mg==","children":{"nodes":[],"__typename":"CategoryToCategoryConnection"},"databaseId":92,"categoryId":92,"link":"https://smartasset.com/credit-score/articles","name":"Credit Score","postCount":{"pageInfo":{"offsetPagination":{"total":96,"__typename":"OffsetPaginationPageInfo"},"__typename":"CategoryToPostConnectionPageInfo"},"__typename":"CategoryToPostConnection"},"slug":"credit-score","ancestors":null,"parent":null,"__typename":"Category"},{"id":"dGVybToz","children":{"nodes":[],"__typename":"CategoryToCategoryConnection"},"databaseId":3,"categoryId":3,"link":"https://smartasset.com/insights/articles","name":"Insights","postCount":{"pageInfo":{"offsetPagination":{"total":53,"__typename":"OffsetPaginationPageInfo"},"__typename":"CategoryToPostConnectionPageInfo"},"__typename":"CategoryToPostConnection"},"slug":"insights","ancestors":null,"parent":null,"__typename":"Category"}],"__typename":"PostToCategoryConnection"},"content":"$41","date":"2013-06-06T16:49:17","excerpt":"

\n","featuredImage":{"id":"cG9zdDo1NjU1","databaseId":5655,"altText":"Don’t become a Victim of Debt Settlement Company Fraud","date":"2013-06-06T16:42:07","fileSize":71715,"mimeType":"image/jpeg","modified":"2013-06-06T16:42:07","sourceUrl":"https://smartasset.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2013/06/scam.jpg","__typename":"MediaItem"},"modified":{"datetime":"2023-8-23","readable":"August 23, 2023"},"multipleBylinesByRole":{"editedBy":null,"reviewedBy":null,"writtenBy":null,"factCheckedBy":null,"secondEditor":null,"hideAuthor":null,"__typename":"Post_Multiplebylinesbyrole"},"adTargetingOverrides":{"fieldGroupName":"adTargetingOverrides","pageGroupNewKey":null,"__typename":"Post_Adtargetingoverrides"},"seo":{"canonical":"https://smartasset.com/insights/dont-become-a-victim-of-debt-settlement-company-fraud","metaDesc":"It is a sad day when a debt settlement company is charged with the same fraud perpetrated by the creditors with whom they are attempting to settle with.","metaKeywords":"","metaRobotsNofollow":"follow","metaRobotsNoindex":"index","readingTime":3,"title":"Don’t become a Victim of Debt Settlement Company Fraud","__typename":"PostTypeSEO"},"slug":"dont-become-a-victim-of-debt-settlement-company-fraud","status":"publish","title":"Don’t become a Victim of Debt Settlement Company Fraud","uri":"/credit-score/dont-become-a-victim-of-debt-settlement-company-fraud","tags":{"nodes":[],"__typename":"PostToTagConnection"},"__typename":"Post","adPageGroupOverride":null,"bylines":{"writtenBy":{"id":"dXNlcjo4","databaseId":8,"userId":8,"avatar":"$42","description":"Thierry Godard is former Editor at SmartAsset who writes on a variety of personal finance issues. He is an expert on topics including home buying, saving money and budgeting. Thierry has a degree in Journalism from CUNY Baruch College.","additionalMeta":"$43","email":null,"firstName":"Thierry","fullName":"Thierry Godard","lastName":"Godard","name":"Thierry Godard","postCount":"$44","slug":"thierry-godard","__typename":"User"},"editedBy":null,"reviewedBy":null,"factCheckedBy":null,"secondEditor":null},"category":{"id":"dGVybTo5Mg==","children":"$47","databaseId":92,"categoryId":92,"link":"https://smartasset.com/credit-score/articles","name":"Credit Score","postCount":96,"slug":"credit-score","ancestors":null,"parent":null,"__typename":"Category"},"isModifiedBeforePublished":false,"contentBlocks":["

It is a sad day when a debt settlement company is charged with the same type of fraud perpetrated by the creditors with whom they are pledging to define agreements with. This is exactly what happened recently when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a civil suit against Mission Settlement Agency, a debt settlement company based in New York. While hardly surprising—debt settlement companies have earned an increasingly predatory reputation—this incident highlights how careful consumers need to be when considering enlisting help from a debt settlement company or credit counselor.

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Use our credit card calculator to better understand your debt.
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The sad truth is that the more desperate consumers are for help, the more likely they are to become victims of fraud. People do not seek out debt settlement companies unless they feel some level of desperation. It is this desperation which scam artists seek to exploit.

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Remember, if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is!

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Debt Settlement or Credit Counseling – Is there a Difference?

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Despite lofty promises of debt relief, even the most reputable companies do not eliminate your debt. They only consolidate it. Either they pay it off completely and then have you make your payments to them, or more commonly, you pay them and then they disburse those funds to your creditors. Sometimes the individual creditors don’t even know you are using such a service.

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Though credit counselors hold a deservedly better reputation than debt settlement companies, the distinction is often murky. And it is important to realize that even using the best credit counselor for debt consolidation can damage your credit and prevent you from obtaining new credit, including a mortgage.

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For most consumers, a debt settlement company or credit counselor is not the right answer. For one thing, there are always fees to use their services. The last thing anyone burdened by debt needs is to pay more fees. These fees may be hidden.

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Debt settlement companies promise to consolidate a number of debts into one easy payment. But there is usually a fee built into the monthly payment, and sometimes they even hold the money to earn interest before making payment to the various creditors, resulting in further late fees for the consumer. In the case of Mission Settlement Agency, the indictment claimed that for more than 1,200 of their customers, the company allegedly took over $2 million in payments and fees without making a single payment to the customers’ creditors.

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Some Better Alternatives

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If you are struggling with debt, seek alternatives to debt settlement companies. Although they promise to negotiate with your creditors, usually they at best simply make the payment that you could just as easily make yourself. Try negotiating with your creditors yourself. See if they will put you on a payment plan to ease your monthly burden. Another resource is a credit repair company. There are many reputable resources for credit repair (such as Better Qualified in NY and NJ) that will coach you in how to get derogatory or erroneous debts off of your profile.

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There are also community resources available to help people over-burdened by debt. Talk to your local housing authority, or your local consumer protection office.

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If there are no other viable alternatives, do your homework before signing up with a debt settlement company or credit counselor. Visit the Better Business Bureau or the National Foundation for Credit Counseling for information on specific companies, their services, and their reputation.

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Photo Credit: jepoirrier

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