# New Gourmet Coffee Site



## drei01 (Aug 16, 2013)

Hi Guys,

We have just launched our online coffee business http://www.gourmetgrindcoffee.com . Focussing on getting top quality beans and grinding them as we send them out.

What do you think?

Matt


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Did you talk to the forum owner to check if advertising here was allowed...?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Grinding them as you send them out ? Hmmmm


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## Gangstarrrrr (Mar 4, 2013)

drei01 said:


> Hi Guys,
> 
> We have just launched our online coffee business http://www.gourmetgrindcoffee.com . Focussing on getting top quality beans and grinding them as we send them out.
> 
> ...


I think that ground coffee goes stale very quickly....


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## Kyle548 (Jan 24, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> Grinding them as you send them out ? Hmmmm


Maybe I should get a van with a grinder in it, then I can grind to order at a customers door.

Or, maybe, now this is a crazy idea, mind, in the future we can actually have customers grind at their own premises, on their own?!


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## Olliehulla (Feb 26, 2013)

I think you need a re-think, the majority of coffee enthusiasts prefer whole beans. As coffee lovers you would already know that ....wouldn't you ?

"Guaranteed to be the freshest coffee you have ever tasted"..... errrrrr, nah.

Pricing is uncompetitive.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

..and what coffee exactly is being sent out?


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## mike 100 (Jul 15, 2010)

So to sum it up it's £8.00 all but a penny for a bag of unknown coffee, ground for an unstated brewing method (espresso or drip? for example) So why should I buy from you rather than a supermarket, and please don't say because it's fresh because it's not.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Well I think we have collectively urinated on his new scheme from a great height ..


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## Kyle548 (Jan 24, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> Well I think we have collectively urinated on his new scheme from a great height ..


I was just reading Amazon reviews: http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B004ZD4AC2/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

Given the overall rating, I'm sure even our new friend will manage to turn a profit.


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## mbgm8ndb (Aug 1, 2013)

Hi drei01,

Web site looks good and as a coffee lover the more competition for fresh lovely coffee there is in the UK the better.

Your price seems ok, same as I would pay from other roasters.

Postage seems ok, but expensive for a single bag. Low cost postage will make me use a site again.

I would like to see beans only, I like to grind my own, perhaps at a lower cost then ground?.

I would also like to see some specifics of the coffee you are selling, where are the beans from, what % of each bean in is your blend, how it was roasted etc. I was not able to easily find this from your site.

You could also offer a discount to CoffeeForum members, that would get you some friends!!


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## mbgm8ndb (Aug 1, 2013)

Just another point... I cant see your contact details on the site. Phone number, address, even an email.

I would never ever send any one any money for any product without knowing how to contact them.


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## Bursar (Aug 4, 2013)

mbgm8ndb said:


> Just another point... I cant see your contact details on the site. Phone number, address, even an email.
> 
> I would never ever send any one any money for any product without knowing how to contact them.


I believe it's actually a legal requirement for businesses to put contact details on their websites in the UK.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Bursar said:


> I believe it's actually a legal requirement for businesses to put contact details on their websites in the UK.


Yep needs the registered business address and contact details


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## glevum (Apr 4, 2013)

Sorry, i like to know what beans i'm getting. Freshly roasted...period!


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## Olliehulla (Feb 26, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> Well I think we have collectively urinated on his new scheme from a great height ..


Not trying to be nasty like but some people think they have a great idea, rush head long into it without having done the right/any research. They may claim to be coffee lovers and I'm sure they do like coffee but that doesn't make them experts or create a business opportunity. If they were, they would realise that this is badly thought out and needs a lot of tweeking to stand any chance of success. Even then, competition from well established, reputable, highly skilled providers of coffee in all it's forms is significant.


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## Freddy13 (Aug 10, 2013)

If I really wanted ready ground coffee beans (which I don't) I could go to say, Rave Coffee, and order a 250g bag of Signature blend ground any way I like delivered for £6.90. The difference being I know what beans are in the coffee, I know it has been roasted fresh, I know what grind I am getting and its cheaper. I'm sorry Matt but you have totally missed your market here.


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

Agree with others, nothing on roasting and how recently it was roasted, and ground before sending? Yuck no thanks.



Bursar said:


> I believe it's actually a legal requirement for businesses to put contact details on their websites in the UK.


It is. Having contacted Trading Standards recently though (about something else entirely) the amount of hoops you have to jump through and sheer stupidity of the paperwork means even if someone did want to report it they wouldn't get very far.


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## drei01 (Aug 16, 2013)

Hi Guys,

Thanks for both positive and negative feedback. It all helps us gauge the product pitch. Our product isn't really aimed at the users of this forum (you all know how to grind and blend your own coffee) so we are really looking for coffee guru's input.

From the feedback I can see it is obvious we need to do the following:

- Make it clear the origin of the coffee in our blend (we are still perfecting this at the moment)

- Offer beans only

- Display full contact details

- Work on reducing postage cost

Just for more info, a lot of people don't grind their own coffee and the stuff they get from the supermarket is absolute guff. We are trying to help (in a small way) those guys get a decent cuppa.

Matt


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## coffeebean (Jan 26, 2010)

Hi Matt,

Do you roast the beans yourself or buy them in? If you buy them in, it is absolutely essential to make sure there is a roast date displayed on the bags so that you can reassure your customers that the coffee is fresh. I agree with other members about origins of the coffee too. It would be a good idea to put a little description on the website to say where the coffee comes from (interesting for people to know if nothing else!!)

Andy


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## drei01 (Aug 16, 2013)

We buy them in a the moment as we can't afford to roast them ourselves. Yes a roast date will be on the packaging, and we will be publishing the origins of our blend when it's perfected. Thanks for the feedback.

Matt



coffeebean said:


> Hi Matt,
> 
> Do you roast the beans yourself or buy them in? If you buy them in, it is absolutely essential to make sure there is a roast date displayed on the bags so that you can reassure your customers that the coffee is fresh. I agree with other members about origins of the coffee too. It would be a good idea to put a little description on the website to say where the coffee comes from (interesting for people to know if nothing else!!)
> 
> Andy


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## Kyle548 (Jan 24, 2013)

drei01 said:


> Hi Guys,
> 
> Thanks for both positive and negative feedback. It all helps us gauge the product pitch. Our product isn't really aimed at the users of this forum (you all know how to grind and blend your own coffee) so we are really looking for coffee guru's input.
> 
> ...


Booths sell Grumpy Mule and Union among a selection of their own SO which, despite the lack of a roast date, look convincing enough (I'm sure they are re branded bags from other roasters).

Further to this, until you can provide information like the origins of your coffee and the roast dates (maybe even who roasts, if it is not yourself), the roast level, offer a range of different grinds and whole bean (different grinds are suitable for different brew methods), ect, we cant be so sure your product is any better quality than Illy, which to be honest, is pretty good until the grounds stale a day or so after opening the can.

Finally, supermarket coffee is very overpriced for what it is, Illy included, but your coffee is not any better value.

Certain roasters, such as Rave can provide 1kg of coffee for £10 delivered, whole bean or in any grind setting desired. Sure, the actual beans in the Rave blends are not so expensive, but the product is priced to reflect the cost of the parts included.

Other roasters who offer more expensive beans, such as HB are very transparent about where their beans come from and their websites even have information about the farms and the growers.

Also, you need to cut the hyperbole on your site a little bit.....

What I'm saying is, almost £8 delivered for a (as of now) generic coffee product with the pretence of being better than the super-market doesn't mean anything, especially for ground coffee.

Nescaffe instant have been saying that they are the best for years, afterall.

You need a lot of transparency and to show that you love coffee and you need prices that reflect your product.

Also, the average consumer is more likely to buy out of convenience and from brand awareness and the informed consumer, that is, one who cares enough and can use the internet to hunt down quality coffee will just buy one from a well known well reviewed roaster anyway.

I think your target market is somewhat small.

I sound rather negative, but in actual fact I'm just trying to say that you have a product that is already very well sold and it is not likely to be easy without a good quality product and a very strong, well-thought out plan.


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

What's the long term plan?

Buying coffee from another roaster, grinding it and posting it adds additional cost on that is unnecessary as the roaster will usually grind it on request anyway.

sorry, not trying to be mean - i just fail to see what value you add by being a miiddleman?


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## drei01 (Aug 16, 2013)

Hi Aaron and Kyle,

Thanks for this useful feedback. Yes transparency is key to making this work, we have only just launched the site and we plan to add as much detail as possible over the coming weeks. What we add (aside from being a middleman) is the guarantee that the beans are roasted, ground and in the cup in the shortest time possible. How long has the coffee been sitting on the supermarket shelves (vacuum packs with valves still let in some oxygen)? We are also tasting and blending the coffee ourselves to get the best possible blend. Trust is the key here and we will be adding testimonials to the site.

Matt


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## Kyle548 (Jan 24, 2013)

It seems to me that you would save money by simply having the roaster do the work, just pass them an order and have them roast, grind and post to where ever.

But agencies are the last thing roasters need....


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

Exactly, there are LOADS of roasters who's entire business model is they roast fresh, put the roast date on the bag and post same day (within few days max). With the exception of 1 that I know of, they all grind free of charge.

Look at the beans subforum - there is a massive list of roasters there. People who know better than to buy stale coffee from the supermarket go direct to the roaster anyway.

Sorry, I'm really not trying to hate on your business plan - I just think your market is a tiny number of people who wouldn't know about going to the roaster direct and you haven't thought this through properly.


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## wmoore (Dec 19, 2012)

As the dragons say "I'm out"

Once again you are offering a service that mostly all the other roasters do any way. So the question to you is.. "Why should I buy from you and not my local/favourite roaster ?"

(And you can't use the word 'fresh' in your reply ;-) )


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## rodabod (Dec 4, 2011)

Look at what Hasbean do. They should probably be your role model.


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## rodabod (Dec 4, 2011)

Also, ready ground for espresso generally doesn't work very well. It goes stale awfully quickly due to surface volume, and the grind size is almost never exactly right for different machines.


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## Kyle548 (Jan 24, 2013)

rodabod said:


> Also, ready ground for espresso generally doesn't work very well. It goes stale awfully quickly due to surface volume, and the grind size is almost never exactly right for different machines.


That and that most of us on this forum use VST, especially due to recent developments, extraction with preground would be impossible.


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

The answer, is marketing. if these guys can pitch it correctly, to the right market in the right way, then they will succeed. We all know that Roasters currently offer this service, but I suspect this is aimed at the supermarket buyer, who is prepared to pay more for a product which convinces them is far superior. Whether it is or not has nothing to do with it!

Personally, I think you have an uphill struggle. Unless you can hit the boards running then you will be trying to sell not so fresh beans from day one!


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## Kyle548 (Jan 24, 2013)

I don't doubt they will manage to sell some product to the ignorant masses, but whether its enough to make a living is debatable.

And at least at their current level no one here will buy.

I wonder what the costs involved are.

Ordering freshly roasted coffee, including postage is about 5£ or more for a good bag, 7£ or more if you are looking at HB or the like for a nice high quality SO.

If you are buying for a to order service, bulk is not practical because you can't guarantee turnover of fresh stock or you order bulk and let your beans stale while waiting for fresh orders.

The only way you could really make a profit is if you bought really cheap beans, maybe not even fresh in bulk. I wonder if coffee beans bought as a business expense are tax deductible.

Although any money you save on tax buying the beans you lose on selling the beans.

I know roasters charge a small markup to cover running charges and make a profit, so being able to sell beans from a roaster for £5 and make a worthwhile profit....

I suppose having an contract with the roaster will allow them to keep costs down by allowing a somewhat predictable revenue stream though, so a saving can be passed onto the contractor....

In anycase, the whole economics behind it seem to make profit margins seem pretty small if they are using quality coffee.

I think they would need to sell a lot more coffee than I believe is possible with their business plan....


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## Wobin19 (Mar 19, 2013)

As stated, absolutely no idea what coffee is offered here. Not at all tempting, especially at that price I am afraid.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

A lot of the members here seem to be missing the point the OP has made about him not targeting people who know as much about coffee as us on this forum. He knows that we wont buy them...

However I also think the OP has a tough sell on his hands.

Supermarket beans sell because of ignorance and convenience, the average joe doesnt know the coffee is bad and could never be bothered to buy online with all the overload of information on where his/her coffee is coming from.

The problem that as soon as you take ignorance out of the equation people want all the things that have been mentioned, whole beans, origins, variation etc. The supermarket can never offer this because of bulk, and unless you happen to have a local supplier you will be going online.

Considering there are already many online roasters/grinders/suppliers that already cater for all of the above requirements and more I cant see what angle the OP intends to take that will get him a foothold in the market.

If you dont want to target people like us on the forum who know about coffee then you are targeting the supermarket buyer, but you cant do that without putting the product in front of them to give them that convenience. There is no real middle ground, as soon as the customer comes online they will find an online roaster that does better/cheaper coffee that you and you wont get a second look.

I really think the OP needs to think about his target market, and really if it exists at all.


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