The Copycat Sellers

This has to be the biggest mystery of the trip so far…⁣
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As Stew said: “I don’t think people are very good at finding a gap in the market here.”⁣
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We’ve found this from about Turkey, along a stretch of road you will cycle past sellers all selling the exact same thing in the exact same way. I don’t understand how it’s a viable business idea. ⁣
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In Turkey it was fruit – 10 stands in a row selling cherries. I guess this makes sense if that’s what grows well, but why not make jam AND sell cherries? At least it would be different and an incentive to go to that stall opposed to the 10 others…⁣
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In Georgia it was Georgian Snickers – Georgian snickers is a sweet. It’s walnuts dipped into a fruit paste. I really liked it, but surely 7 sellers in 1km is too much Georgian snickers for anyone? We cycled along one road and there were way more sellers than people. There’s no way all of them are making enough money.
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In Azerbaijan you see all sorts – rows and rows of women baking bread, rows of fruits and jarred fruit/vegetable and the most recent craze were these fruit discs. We comment when we pass the first new stall and wonder how many others like it we will find.⁣
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I couldn’t resist stopping by to see what the coloured discs were. They looked so bright and colourful. I’m not sure how it’s made, but it tastes just like a “fruit winder” for any 90s babies who know what they are! I assume it’s fruit combined with water, boiled with a setting agent then left to cool. It’s quite tasty! I bought 2 and gave one to some children. ⁣
So what do you make of the sellers? I’m bemused by it – why do they all sell the exact same thing? It surely can’t be profitable…Why doesn’t someone take it upon themselves to bring other groceries/products to the villages? It seems like common sense to me…supply and demand…if someone already has a bakery unless you can do it a damn sight better there’s no point setting one up next door. 🤷🏽‍♀️⁣
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Am I missing something?⁣
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#aroundtheworld @ Qabala District