Today I spoke to someone who specializes in marketing food products. I was told that all the other people she works with offer her discount on their products as her profit, related to their bulk pricing model they offer. She was stunned when I told her our pricing model is designed to reward all clients, and promote fresh coffee, and hence we sell our product at the best price we can, regardless of the amount of coffee ordered. This means that client’s do not bulk order in order to get a discount, but rather can order as they need. She told me that all my competitors were on board and that they offered these bulk discounts.
What amazed me is that she is actually right. I decided to do so market research and see what other coffee resellers where doing. And they are rewarding people for buying in bulk by offering discounts of between 30 and 40%. This means that if you buy for freshness you pay more.
This to me shows a lack of understanding of their product. If you are serious about coffee you know that coffee is best consumed 2-3 weeks after roast. There are those that argue about this, but if you have done your own tests, like we have, there is a drop off in flavour and aroma. Our personal experience has also found that if we do not tell anyone the age and leave the coffee with them their consumption drops as soon as the coffee is 3 weeks old, and halves by week 5.
I will not even get into the freezer debate here. Let us just side line that, put a pin in it 😉
So if coffee is about freshness then you should reward the people who appreciate freshness, not punish them. If you are passionate about your product, surely you want it to be enjoyed by those who have invested the hard earn buck and time in getting it. Why reward those that want to buy in bulk?
I would rather offer my best pricing, to everyone not just those with the biggest budget, and have clients enjoy fresh coffee, then see people get a discount for the sake of discount, and let the product suffer.
