Black Cat sold at Whole Foods -- where's the roast date?

[srobinson]

Quick question for our friends at Intelligentsia. As Dan mentioned on the home page, your coffee is now available via Whole Foods and while it first showed up locally in Cary, it has now hit the shelves on the Raleigh stores as well...there is a God.

In looking for a date, I noticed the labels simply state...Roasted specifically for Whole Foods. Is there a way to estimate freshness?

[ThaRiddla]

Hi srobinson,

I have a post on CG about it (link):

The display of roast dates (or "Best if used by" dates) on the bags is certainly the choice of the retailer or grocer. The 'Best by' is more ambiguous for the retailer, easing their window of "Freshness". This is how most perishable products are marked - bread, cheese, etc.

As for roast dates on our bags, there is certainly Julian dating on the UPC code sticker. This is pretty easy to decipher if you know how, it's just a little more hidden.

For example, 05158 would be for today.

05 - year
158 - 158th calendar day.

Basically, groceries (or any accounts, for that matter) have the option of displaying roast dates or not. We put them on everything, but some places it's just harder to find/decode.

[WilsonHines]

Matt,
Can we get an update to this?

Might want to see my x post on CG http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/members/coffeereviews/335324#335324:

Is Intelligentsia still in Whole Foods as of 12/07?? I am going to be in Chapel Hill tomorrow and I thought I would drop by and see (and buy). But, the search engine on their homepage is coming up dry.

Thanks

[ThaRiddla]

Yes, we're in a few of the Whole Foods in NC - Durham, Chapel Hill, Winston Salem, Cary...but I'm not sure how fresh their product is. An alternative is Alivia's Durham Bistro in Durham. Google Map. They retail and do a great job.

[WilsonHines]

I will drop by the bistro! I have been wanting to try BC for a long time now as it comes very well promoted by one loyal fan in a neighboring town. I have just not made it to his house to give it a "shot."

Matt, thanks for lending me a hand here. I hope you like the banner graphic at the top of my blog - I have been accused of being too much of an Intelli fan!