Greetings, Coffee Lover!
Wow, what a great summer. Even a bit of Labor Day rain couldn’t dampen our spirits. Not only was this summer a do-over for last summer, but it probably had double the number of great days that a “good” summer normally contains. The rains were plentiful and came at night, the days were clear and warm, the forests were lush (and still are), and the tourists were bountiful. And Lake Michigan, these past few weeks, has had Caribbean colors in the water, something I just don’t recall.
A few weeks ago a sloop from Wisconsin washed ashore, sails rigged, sailor aboard. Our friend Greg Sobran walked around Sleeping Bear Point the mile and a half to see it, and reported that the “rigging” was just that: frayed ropes strung through coat hangers. The sails were tattered, and Greg suspects that the steering was inoperable. Witnesses to the beaching said that the sailor looked like a homeless guy, but instead of a shopping cart, he had a sailboat. Call the National Park Service…they’ll sell it to you CHEAP!
You have probably read that the price of coffee on the open market has been rising, likely more from speculation than demand, as oil did a few years ago. It has been a few years, but seeing no downturn in sight we’ve had to raise our prices. It’s not too much of an increase, but there are a couple of notable exceptions. One is Kenya, which now has a retail price of $18.00 per pound. Outrageous, right? Well, that’s a component of Empire Blend, which also contains Hawaiian, and that prices out at $23.00 per pound. Steve and I are working on a regularly priced replacement blend for Empire, so stay tuned, but for now it’s off the list. Unless, that is, enough of you want it at $23, in which case I’ll happily sell you some! Let me know if you still want it at the new price.
Kenya Decaf is also off the list, as the good folks at Swiss Water Decaffeination rightfully refuse to buy it at the high price. Hopefully that will help to push the price down, as they are one of the larger purchasers. I know a couple of you are devoted fans, so fair warning: once we run out, that’s going to be it (for a while).
The good news? We’re already making Pumpkin Pie!
To ease you all into the new pricing I do have a discount for you, our most fervent and loyal supporters: order online in September, order 3 or more pounds, use the coupon code loyal, and receive 10% off your order. We hope you like that.
Something we’ve debated around here for a while is the sizes of our packaging. In retail we offer 8- and 16-ounce packages. For some grocery stores and fundraisers we sell a 12-ounce size. How would you, a retail customer, feel about just one size: 12 ounces? Could you adapt? Or do the sizes or price points of the half and full pounds really mean something to you? Just so you know, all those bags of coffee in the grocery store, from Dunkin’ Donuts to Starbucks, are 12 ounces (I’ll bet some of you thought they were one pound!). At $9.99, they aren’t a very good deal (that’s $13.35 per pound, far more than we charge). If you have thoughts either way, let us know. It would affect everything from your retail orders, to Mud of the Month, to the gift boxes, so it would be a big change for Leelanau Coffee Roasting.
Football is in the air, and on our minds (since the Tigers look to be out of it, although we still watch the games). This weekend I’ll learn a lot about two teams, as I travel to South Bend to see the new (and improved?) Michigan take on the new and improved Notre Dame. Go Blue!