The 'free samples' culture and why does it suck?
THE 'FREE SAMPLES' CULTURE AND WHY DOES IT SUCK?
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1. It costs time.
2. It costs money (coffee, packing and shipping).
3. Coffee shops just might cup the coffees and just might send feedback and just might actually buy coffee.
4. We too don't go to coffee shops to ask for an espresso sample before we buy one.
5. Importers send free samples all the time. We like to say that we'd love to pay for them, but the policy is set - the coffee and shipping are usually for free for some reason. Is this sustainable? Sure, for a big company.
6. Unnecessary carbon footptint.
7. If you're a tiny roaster operating with 140 kilos of each coffee, you just can't afford the 'selling yourself' with free samples practice.
8. If 20 coffee shops a month asked you for a 50g sample of 4 of your coffees, then including the shipping cost you lost about €300 that month. That's a value of one 35 kilo bag of green coffee (€8/kg being the price of green coffee).
9. When we want to buy coffee from a roaster for our second grinder, we always buy one bag of each of their coffees. Then we cup the coffees and maybe we choose to buy something, maybe not. But we actually supported their business. We drink, sell at the coffee shop or vacuum seal and freeze the rest of the coffee.
10. We understand that big companies send free samples, but they don't need much support. They're big enough to give support. Small businesses need support.
___
1. It costs time.
2. It costs money (coffee, packing and shipping).
3. Coffee shops just might cup the coffees and just might send feedback and just might actually buy coffee.
4. We too don't go to coffee shops to ask for an espresso sample before we buy one.
5. Importers send free samples all the time. We like to say that we'd love to pay for them, but the policy is set - the coffee and shipping are usually for free for some reason. Is this sustainable? Sure, for a big company.
6. Unnecessary carbon footptint.
7. If you're a tiny roaster operating with 140 kilos of each coffee, you just can't afford the 'selling yourself' with free samples practice.
8. If 20 coffee shops a month asked you for a 50g sample of 4 of your coffees, then including the shipping cost you lost about €300 that month. That's a value of one 35 kilo bag of green coffee (€8/kg being the price of green coffee).
9. When we want to buy coffee from a roaster for our second grinder, we always buy one bag of each of their coffees. Then we cup the coffees and maybe we choose to buy something, maybe not. But we actually supported their business. We drink, sell at the coffee shop or vacuum seal and freeze the rest of the coffee.
10. We understand that big companies send free samples, but they don't need much support. They're big enough to give support. Small businesses need support.