Coffee promotion?

[Speciality-Coffees]

I've spent the last year setting up a premium coffee roasting company. My website went live on Wednesday and I've sold quite a few bags already.

The problem is I also have quite a few bags left over, and because I sell 'fresh' coffee only - I need to get rid of them. Does anyone have any good ideas about how I could give them away in some sort of promotion?

I was thinking something like 'get 5 of your friends to follow on twitter and get a free bag'. But then they could just 'unfollow' straight away and have no real interest in coffee.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks,

Chris
Smokey Barn Coffee Roasters

 

[bookpm]

One thing you could do is give some coffee to a local community group, e.g. a mothers and toddlers group. They may then mention your goodwill by word of mouth or even a newsletter if they have one. You can mention it yourself via your own blog/website/etc.

 

[SBOnline]

The twitter idea seems good, but you don't know if it will actually provide people who are interested in your coffee.

Are you considering selling to trade? Why not send some of the leftovers to traders that might be interested?

Alternatively hand the coffee out as a free sample locally or even give it away with any new purchases you have.

bookpm's idea is also a good one and you could send out a local press release about that to raise your profile.

Hope the ideas are useful.

 

[Spudded]

You could also give your left over fresh coffee to local business/offices. I know I prefer to have "posh" coffee in my meetings rather than the usual cheap instant stuff.

 

[Speciality-Coffees]

You could also give your left over fresh coffee to local business/offices. I know I prefer to have "posh" coffee in my meetings rather than the usual cheap instant stuff.

Want to buy some coffee? ;-) smokeybarn dot co dot uk

Thanks for the ideas!

 

[Spudded]

Another idea just popped into my head, could you donate the spare bags of coffee to a charity or old people's home etc. It would be a great selling point for your company and help you look super ethical, always a plus. Granted you won't make any money on it, but the publicity you might get from could make it worth whille.

 

[Deleted member 129507]

I think you can make some sort of flashmob.
Group of people go to the mall or on crowded place with cup of coffee. And after they heard a beep they lift up the cup at the same time with your logo and saying "Cheer Coffee " comp name""

 

[Storage King]

Could you maybe sell on your local Farmers Market?

 

[Storage King]

''I was thinking something like 'get 5 of your friends to follow on twitter and get a free bag'. But then they could just 'unfollow' straight away and have no real interest in coffee. ''


How about a monthly draw for your Twitter followers? That way they have to continue following you to be in the draw.

 

[PabloDesign]

I think you need a way to get rid of your coffee in a way that generates you more sales in the future - so I would recommend giving away free samples in the streets along with a voucher for some money off when they buy some coffee from you or as another poster says go to local businesses and give them the free samples of your coffee along with vouchers to get them to order more from you - you need to try and create a buzz at the same time if you can

cheers

Paul

 

[the Chocolate]

I really like it! Website great,what you need to do is get as many people tasting and more importantly talking about your coffee as possible.
Twitter is perfect for you,post that you will give some away when you reach 100 followers, it won't take long at all!
You have to be on Twitter a lot though but the rewards will be great.
Good luck!!

 

[Speciality-Coffees]

More great replies - thank you!

 

[JessicaAutumn]

Why don't you submit your deal to coupon or deals sites. A lot of people love deals

 

[Deleted member 129507]

You can promoute you business in mobile apps and wap site.

 

[Speciality-Coffees]

Thanks for all your replies.

Ok so I asked about what to do with left over coffee. My next question (which I guess should have come first!) is: What advertising methods should I be using to sell coffee?

At the moment I am targeting retail customers, trade supplies will come in good time. I've got good sales from a car forum - but, I've been a member of that for years and shared the whole business setup with them. I dont think I could just sign up to any old forum and get the same result - plus it would just look like an advert.

So, what else is there? PPC is very expensive considering the average click cost is £0.40, (almost 10% of the product price! - just for a click!).

Social media - I'm trying but it's a hard slog for a new company - no one knows you or your products.

I'm a little bit stuck for ideas now. Any help?

Cheers
Chris

 

[the Chocolate]

Twitter is perfect for you but you have to put the time in,keep running small competitions to raise your profile and most importantly you are getting them to taste your coffee.

 

[Speciality-Coffees]

True, I forgot to mention - I do have an adertising budget lets say up to £500 for now..

 

[Banned]

I've spent the last year setting up a premium coffee roasting company. My website went live on Wednesday and I've sold quite a few bags already.

The problem is I also have quite a few bags left over, and because I sell 'fresh' coffee only - I need to get rid of them. Does anyone have any good ideas about how I could give them away in some sort of promotion?

I was thinking something like 'get 5 of your friends to follow on twitter and get a free bag'. But then they could just 'unfollow' straight away and have no real interest in coffee.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks,

Chris
Smokey Barn Coffee Roasters

Ditch the coffee, you are obviously aware that it's past it best so why give out the sub-standard product, that's commercial suicide. You simply have to take a hit on wastage and build it into you costs.

 

[Speciality-Coffees]

Ditch the coffee, you are obviously aware that it's past it best so why give out the sub-standard product, that's commercial suicide. You simply have to take a hit on wastage and build it into you costs.

Sorry but you're wrong. Coffee doesnt go off, it just reduces in quality over a matter of weeks and months. To throw yesterdays roasted coffee in the bin is just silly.

 

[tony84]

Sorry if this question offends, i genuinely dont mean it to....
Whats the difference between kenco/nescafe and speciality coffees?

Im one of the probably few ignorant people that goes to starbucks, costa or whatever and asks for a coffee...when they come out with the spiel, i just ask for a normal coffee with milk.
If im being honest, its a nice coffee, but no nicer than a nice brew i can make at home.

I did once watch a programme on a bloke who grows coffee beans and he hated the fact people drink it with milk so that could be where im going wrong, but im just curious to see if im missing something.

 

[Runner900]

Give the coffee away to local business and use it as an opportunity to establish a relationship with those business (for future sales).

Perfect opportunity.

 

[Speciality-Coffees]

Sorry if this question offends, i genuinely dont mean it to....
Whats the difference between kenco/nescafe and speciality coffees

None taken. The difference is quality. The coffee I produce comes from expensive (high quality) crops. It is slow roasted to perserve the flavor and sold fresh so the customer is getting the coffee at it's peak. The Nescafes of this world buy the cheapest crops, fast roast to increase production and then the coffee sits on the shelf indefinatly.

The coffee I produce is delicious - and I drink it without milk or sugar (because it doesnt need it!).

Almost every coffee shop I go into (including those that claim to serve good coffee), I have to dose it up on sugar just to take the bitterness away.

There are very few places that actually know how to make 'good coffee'. It's not just the coffee beans, it's the training and knowledge required to understand the brewing process. I also think generally the public don't know what good coffee tastes like because it's so rare to come across.

This is where my business comes in. I have no doubt in my product what-so-ever. I'm just a new business trying to kick start my customer base.

 

[tony84]

So (in your opinion) Costa/starbucks etc isnt too much different from the likes of something you would buy from a supermarket?
Do you sell it to coffee shops etc? If so i dont suppose there are any in Manchester? I might bob in and give one a try.

 

[diclatron69]

Make chocolate covered roasted coffee beans. Try roasting them in sambucca first - I don't think this has been tried yet.

 

[Speciality-Coffees]

So (in your opinion) Costa/starbucks etc isnt too much different from the likes of something you would buy from a supermarket?
Do you sell it to coffee shops etc? If so i dont suppose there are any in Manchester? I might bob in and give one a try.

Quite often it's worse than what you would buy in the supermarket. But as I say, it's also about how much knowledge and experience the person making the coffee has. The staff turn over in these places means very little training/knowledge is retained. Avoid chain cafes, you have more chance of getting a decent coffee in independants.

I'm not in any shops yet, it's still very new company. But you could always buy online of course

 

[tony84]

I might do, im a little intrigued.
But i only really drink water at home.

I used to own a pub, if i still had it we could have done a little promotion thing. Maybe you could try that around where you are?
Have a look for tenented pubs owned by the pub companies. The landlords there make more money from selling coke, orange juice, wine, spirits and coffee than they do from beer.
They might be interested in getting people in during the days and evenings? speciality coffees etc?

 

[Speciality-Coffees]

Good thinking! will give it a try.

 

[sunnydays1]

charity does seem the best option, maybe a charity for the homeless or a soup kitchen. I would speak to local businesses and the council for their ideas. Good luck

 

[the Chocolate]

Good thinking! will give it a try.

I keep saying it but you have to give samples away, if it's as good as you say they will be back!

 

[greenshaw]

How about you give them to new outlets in order to try your coffee's? That could lead to some repeat business?

 

[Speciality-Coffees]

The problem is that most trade customers lease their coffee machines and are tied into buying beans from that supplier. Leasing is something I will be able to offer at soon, but not right now. Hence I want to concentrate on the domestic side.
Summer is soon approaching and there will be plenty of foody festivals on, so I could hand out lots of free samples with plenty of info printed on the label.

Anyway, let's get back to actual 'advertising' rather than give aways!

Any more ideas?

 

[the Chocolate]

Give aways are your best advertisement!

 

[tony84]

Im not convinced by give aways.

I used to work in town and at the train station atleast once or twice a month i would get freebies - drinks, food etc. I cant say i ever ended up buying anything even when i was given vouchers at the same time. It must work though otherwise there wouldnt be so man companies doing it.

 

[Speciality-Coffees]

Give aways are your best advertisement!

True, just seems like a bit of a one trick pony at the moment!

 

[Thinehost]

One place which markets itself using coffee mornings is Macmillan Cancer Research. You could do some kind of joint venture with their local branch and supply coffee and offer some kind of deal to sell the coffee beans .... should also attract some publicity, if done right.

Margaret

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Question no one is why do you have any left over, why don't you roast to order and grind to order

Is it possible to make into individual or two person sealed packs for cafiteria's save any wastage and be more attractive to the customer to buy a pack of say 12 prepacked single hit vacume packs of coffee

Many larger companies have automatic machines for there staff and need to fill up themselves, small sample packs may entice them to your product and bigger sales than public but smaller than trade

Are you sure leasing or renting coffee machines limit you to which stock of coffee you buy?

PPC it cost you say 40P per click but thats a click which could be a sale of £4.00 which I assume you sell as a packet at present rate but could also be the same for selling a 4 pack size at £16.00 or a 8 pack size for £32.00. also you should be able to get longer keywords for far less and restrict area's

For sales I would start with a small starter pack enough for say 4 coffee cups and dispatch to all non branded cafe's in your area including the managers of the local large shop cafe's like John Lewis and Waterstones

Good Luck