Retail, Freshness, and Roast Dates

#1: Post by **skittles_s** » October 3rd, 2013, 5:11 pm

Pasted below is a response I got from a moderate-size "boutique" grocery chain. They carry CCC and Intelligentsia among other roasters, but I almost only find bags that are months old. I sent them a polite inquiry about this explaining that this factor alone costs them my business. Apparently, four months post-roast is considered "fresh" by the roasters.

In fairness, I am sympathetic to the logistics described below and the need to make a profit. Nevertheless, they probably lose sales as those who value good coffee also value freshness.

Thoughts?

Thank you for contacting us with your concerns about our coffees. We want you to be completely satisfied with your purchase. If anytime you are not, we are more than happy to process a refund or product replacement. With that said, I also contacted our Coffee Merchandising Team to make them aware of your concern. I found out that both Intelligentsia and Counter Culture are guaranteed fresh for 4 months from the roast date. Coffee is then sent to our distributer and is ordered as needed by our bulk specialists in each individual store, ensuring that there is plenty of time left within its guaranteed fresh date. Shipping direct from the roasters to our individual stores would be cost prohibitive. I realize my response may not satisfy your concern, but please know that we do appreciate you taking time to provide your feedback.

#2: Post by **wsfarrell** » October 3rd, 2013, 6:00 pm

Nice response.

The four-month guarantee is news to me. Seems like a long time.

#3: Post by **TomC** » October 3rd, 2013, 6:13 pm

I highly doubt that CCC or Intelli are the ones suggesting their products are "fresh" for 4 months. They go to great lengths to ensure that businesses (mainly cafes) carrying their products adhere to strict procedures. This probably doesn't translate well to the retail- grocery store- world. Unfortunately, it seems they might be putting the bottom line ahead of quality and selling a certain amount of roasts to these resellers who in turn, do whatever the hell they want.

October 3rd, 2013, 6:28 pm

I know for a fact that ccc uses the 2 week rule and may stretch to 3 on occasion based on the roast. The big differences you might see are in light versus dark roasts with darks probably lasting a little longer, maybe..AAHHH DON'T DO IT!!!!

#5: Post by **IMAWriter** » October 3rd, 2013, 7:27 pm

Nice polite response from the Market. Thse folks are hired to answer questions as politely as possible.
However, it's not the truth.
Slightly OT, but Damon, in my experience (I don't claim to be an expert) my lighter Behmor roasts last significantly longer. Meaning, more of the varietals best characteristics seem to be there longer than a full city roast.
Apologies for the OT

October 3rd, 2013, 9:08 pm

I would love to know what the roasters think of this response, specifically the fourth month statement.

I have seen at least one roaster label their retail bags with both the roast date and a sell-by date. If I recall, those sell-by dates were four or six weeks post-roast: long by my standards but much better than my experience with this chain.

#7: Post by **keno** » October 3rd, 2013, 9:57 pm

Here is another related thread on this topic:
Not so Fresh Market

October 3rd, 2013, 10:34 pm

Here I was trying to be discrete and there was already a thread about the offending chain.

A couple of weeks ago I went in there intending to grab a bag of bread flour (King Arthur) but the flour expired in a week. I certainly don't know where "fresh" comes into play for this chain.

October 4th, 2013, 12:10 pm

There is only one way coffee could/should be sold in a grocery store due to logistics involved, in the freezer.

Properly bagged stored at room temperature coffee won't go rancid for months true. Which isn't the same as the coffee still singing. We pull ours from our retail shelves day 10 and use for in house. Definitely not stale and not even faded, in fact a few lighter roasts not even quite peaked for espresso. But most of our coffees start to lose what made them "special", start to fade, around day 15 so pulling day 10 still leaves time.

#10: Post by **damonbowe** » October 4th, 2013, 1:34 pm

skittles_s wrote:I would love to know what the roasters think of this response, specifically the fourth month statement.

I have seen at least one roaster label their retail bags with both the roast date and a sell-by date. If I recall, those sell-by dates were four or six weeks post-roast: long by my standards but much better than my experience with this chain.

All the gases will leach out after 15 days and the oils start to dry a bit. Fact of life. I always wonder if you can seal the beans up and put them at -20 degrees to keep them nice. How long will that last? Even plastics are porous and you can't keep the beans for *that* long, even at cold temps. But that would be my suggestion for elongating the life of your coffee beans. Someone please chime in on this because I don't want to lead anyone wrong.