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Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

modest.coffee

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Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#301

Post by ericmcer »

dtnewman wrote: post #237
lisper wrote: post #174

Others have pointed this out, but no one has actually done the math yet, so... 6000 "units" for $250,000 is $41/unit. At wholesale. For a product that retails for $16/bag. It is just inconceivable that no one noticed this discrepancy. This is not a "grift" by the distributor, this is an elementary and obvious fuckup by the producer. In fact, it's so elementary and obvious that it would not surprise me a bit if this w…

From the article: > June 2022 comes, and the orders for this retailer start coming in from the distributor. This coffee was shipping to five distribution centers so we were receiving multiple orders. The orders were large but we thought we could handle it. Then the orders kept coming, spread apart by days. So it sounds like they had an initial agreement for 6000 units, but the actual purchase orders were coming in pi…

The "big company scams small family coffee roasters" narrative is way easier to sell then the "we made a big oopsie" one though.

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#304

Post by charlie0 »

No one has pointed this out. These guys are selling high end coffee. They also admitted this was their largest order by far. Where are they getting this high end coffee from? Is there an unlimited supply of this coffee somewhere? The cynic in me suspects some of that coffee might not even be what's advertised.

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#305

Post by lisper »

cortesoft wrote: post #298
lisper wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You are making the assumption that there's some formal deal for $250k total. No, I'm not. I'm not assuming anything. Here is what they wrote: "In April 2022, a representative from this distributor reached out to us to see if we would be interested in participating in an online specialty coffee program for a major nationwide retailer. The opening order would be approximately 6,000 “units”." At this point there are o…

You are assuming they knew the $250k amount at that point. When they made the deal for 6000 units, they didn't know the total was going to be $250k. They didn't know the total was $250k until they learned it was for 6000 cases later.

> You are assuming they knew the $250k amount at that point.

No, I'm saying they should have asked.

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#306

Post by chadash »

chucksmash wrote: post #292
dtnewman wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the article: > June 2022 comes, and the orders for this retailer start coming in from the distributor. This coffee was shipping to five distribution centers so we were receiving multiple orders. The orders were large but we thought we could handle it. Then the orders kept coming, spread apart by days. So it sounds like they had an initial agreement for 6000 units, but the actual purchase orders were coming in pi…

> Reminds me of my friend who got a lucrative job offer from a large investment bank out of college, but wanted to adjust the terms in the non-compete section of their contract [...] Maybe such requests wouldn't work in consulting/IB/law where it seems like starting comp is very regimented ("our first year asssociates all get $X unless our competitor across town raises their offer to all their first years") or in the…

I’m not totally disagreeing with this advice but it’s just not applicable everywhere. When you are an investment banking analyst coming out of college you don’t have any ability to negotiate salary or pretty much anything.

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#308

Post by lostlogin »

jeromenerf wrote: post #302

Hmm. Between Finagle and Hanson, I chose Hanlon. It would have been a shame for this coffee to go stale. Oh, “roasted in July”, so Finagle then.

That was my thought too. That’s some very old coffee - after 2-3 weeks in stale by my taste.

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#309

Post by Ekaros »

charlie0 wrote: post #304

No one has pointed this out. These guys are selling high end coffee. They also admitted this was their largest order by far. Where are they getting this high end coffee from? Is there an unlimited supply of this coffee somewhere? The cynic in me suspects some of that coffee might not even be what's advertised.

Is the product so unique after all if their own supplier can match to over doubling their demand. In probably rather short time frame...

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#310

Post by lostlogin »

seneca wrote: post #78
joegahona wrote: post #73

People are getting hung up on the "cases vs bags" error, but it sounds like the small-coffee people overcame that. Selfish observation: this coffee has to be close to its shelf life, despite being roasted in Jun/Jul and despite being sealed. A "one year best buy date" is unreasonably generous.

> Selfish observation: this coffee has to be close to its shelf life, despite being roasted in Jun/Jul and despite being sealed. A "one year best buy date" is unreasonably generous. Certainly. Then consider the fact that this small business is now claiming they're going to ship thousands of individual cases, all sold with free shipping. That's going to take quite a while.

They claim a focus on quality, and one year old coffee isn’t quality.

It’s probably 100x better than what most workplaces stick though, so that’s probably a humane usage.

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