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We can probably build an actual beer tower with the sheer variety of alcohol beverages made in Asia. But that's not just because we're big drinkers. Asia's range of alcoholic offerings also speaks to the many ways we use alcohol, whether in rituals, ancestral worship, or cooking.
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Painstakingly tracking the journey of a rice grain from its cultivation, this story reveals how interconnected countries are in the global food supply chain—a timely reminder during this pandemic, in which lockdown measures have amplified global food insecurity.
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Spotlight: Waffle chart / square pie
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Before we dig into this month's data visualisation, can we just take a moment to appreciate how foody these charts' names are? We'll save donut and lollipop charts for another issue. 😋
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What we have here is a variation of a waffle chart that uses dots instead of the conventional square to indicate each data point. But the principle remains: we're showing the distribution of absolute numbers rather than percentages. This means we're showing the data points as they are—you see 54 dots because Japan has 54 instant noodle brands. Our rational was that we wanted readers to have a concrete sense of just how many instant noodle brands Asian countries produced compared to their counterparts.
Waffle charts are commonly conflated with square pies, because they both show distribution. However square pies, like their name suggests, use a 10 by 10 grid of 100 squares, with each square representing 1 percent, as you can see from this example from The Pudding. Their main difference from waffle charts is that square pies show relative rather than absolute comparisons.
![](https://mcusercontent.com/2280632ef90de9d24551a7997/images/9dad84a8-2343-47ea-b134-2c3937dd6054.png)
Additionally, square pies are considered a better alternative to pie charts, because discerning coloured versus noncoloured squares results in better reading accuracy than one can get discerning differences in angles.
So, when do you use a waffle or square pie chart? Both charts are excellent as small multiples for comparing differences in distribution. As usual, your data should dictate the form of your visualisation. Are the outliers more obvious when the data is in percentage form or absolute numbers? Are you comparing the efficacy of different methods? If so, square pies allow clearer comparisons across the board.
Have fun with both, and don't be afraid to experiment!
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Each month, we curate a list of content related to our newsletter's focus. Here's our pick of things to check out on the theme of food:
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