Marshall wrote:Priority No. 1: staying in business and feeding your family.

Some things, Marshall, go without saying. Waking up in the morning is actually the first priority; if you die in the middle of the night, you can forget about all the rest . . .

Marshall wrote:Priority No. 2: considering whether "roasted on" dating will result in customers pushing all but the very latest roasts to the back of the shelf, where they will linger until you retrieve them and throw them out.

Consider whether or not stock clerks know enough to rotate stock, and won't push your older roasts to the back of the shelf because it's simply easier to "load from the front." Consider carefully whether the ratio of increased sales to percentage of returns is worth the trade-off in losing control of consumer sales.

Marshall wrote:Priority No. 3: discussing any labeling changes with the supermarkets you are lucky enough to have carry your coffee. Some may not want a roast date (see Priority No. 2).

Discuss with your business partner(s) how much of your business you want, as a percentage of the total, as wholesale-to-retail (supermarket), as opposed to wholesale-to-restaurants (where customers might be exposed to your coffees for the first time), compared to direct-to-consumer sales via storefront and/or internet. Establish your own business ethics/priorities, and stick to them.

Marshall wrote:Priority No. 4: discussing any changes to your supermarket labeling policies with other, more experienced wholesale roasters (See Priority No. 1).

Maxwell House? Probably not much help, Marshall. Peet's? Intelligentsia? I don't think so. Best would be "(an)other, more experienced wholesale roaster(s)" of similar size and distribution.

Actually, Marshall, while I didn't want to mess with your numbers, I'd say that a very important priority is "knowing your market audience." For some purveyors of whole bean roasted coffee, a Safeway or Von's is indeed their target market; for others, it might be a Bristol Farms or perhaps a Gelson's. Some purveyors are perfectly happy filling up those self-serve bins; other suppliers insist upon putting a "Roasted On" date on every bag; still others utilize a "Best By" date of twenty-four months from now . . .

Now -- believe me -- I know that the relatively small number of H-B participants are not representative of coffee drinkers in general. Be that as it may, are you buying out of those bins, Marshall? Are you buying bags of coffee that say "Best by 4/1/2012"? I presume you -- like myself -- do not, yet many still do. So -- yes -- it's all about knowing your market, your target audience, and pleasing your customers -- whether that is a private individual or a supermarket chain makes a considerable difference.

Cheers,
Jason

zin1953 wrote:Actually, Marshall, while I didn't want to mess with your numbers, I'd say that a very important priority is "knowing your market audience." For some purveyors of whole bean roasted coffee, a Safeway or Von's is indeed their target market; for others, it might be a Bristol Farms or perhaps a Gelson's. Some purveyors are perfectly happy filling up those self-serve bins; other suppliers insist upon putting a "Roasted On" date on every bag; still others utilize a "Best By" date of twenty-four months from now . . .

Which was really my point. We're playing with fire here when we give "rules" and "priorities" to business owners when we don't know them or their market. Few of us are qualified to do so, even if we do know them or their markets.

This issue of freshness is fascinating, frustrating and confusing. I assume Intelligentsia tells their customers the same information other experts do. That is that coffee should be consumed fresh, never buy more than you can consume in a week or two at most. Never freeze, etc. On the other hand, they sell it stale. The local grocery near me carries Intelligentsia. When I'm lucky, I can find Black Cat that was roasted within the past week or so. On the other hand, they've got Black Cat decaf on the shelf that was roasted before Christmas. I know it's not very profitable to roast and then not sell. It just seems to me that somehow, the message should be clarified. Perhaps, like a bakery that has day old bread, the price should reflect the roast date. What really happens, it appears to me, is that the retailer simply hopes the buyer will respond to the name and be ignorant of the roast date. Of course, many big retailers address this by simply not telling you the roast date.

HB wrote:The bottom line is that in most retail food markets, the roaster has limited influence on stocking policy. That won't change until the majority of shoppers demand it.

Amen. Even less than a majority would have an influence.