In most industries, competitors getting together to restrict the supply of a good would be illegal. But in the raisin world, it's the opposite. Competitors have to work together. They all decide as a group how many raisins to release to the public. What can get you in trouble in raisins, is going against that group.
Raisin farmer, Marvin Horne, is a raisin rebel, a raisin outlaw. He refused to follow the rules of the Raisin Administrative Committee and found himself under surveillance by Rocky Pipkin's detective agency. Now he's being sued by the federal government for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
On today's show, the upside-down world of raisins.
Music: Smokey Robinson & The Miracles' "I Heart It Through the Grapevine" and Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine." Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Spotify/ Tumblr. Download the Planet Money iPhone App. Here's your Route 99 mixtape.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDA4NjIwNTkwMDEzMjI4NDY0MjY4ZTBlNA004))