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Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review

candyjapan.com

41–50 of 68 posts

Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review

#41
post #34
post #5

I have noticed a similar graph on Twitch viewership - you hover around 1000 viewers for a year or two, and then suddenly start gaining hundreds of viewers, and in just a few months, you may have doubled your numbers. Congrats on your success!

Where did you see those numbers? Is it from personal experience?

Yes, just noticed it from regular viewing.

Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review

#42

Some feedback as a user: I canceled my subscription recently after about half a year. Some things I didn't like with the service: - The service said that candy was shipped bi-monthly. I assumed it would come like every two weeks, but it always arrived quite simultaneous for me, a few days to a week later once a month. - Maybe it's me, but the flavors often ranged from weird to inedible (like rose flavored candy) - Th…

> - There is no way to re-order candy that I actually like. Actually, it's hard to even gather the name of the candy often enough in order to search for it.

This! I even contacted Bemmu about ordering some of them that I really liked, but the required quantities were a bit high and I had some trouble finding more people to order them with.

Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review

#43
post #28

Are there any regulatory hurdles, or are you flying under the radar, so to speak? Congratulations in any case - it always cheers me up to see a niche business like this do well.

He may well be.

One anecdote: one of his shipments had quite a variety of candies. While other boxes were unopened by customs, this one had stickers all over it. Upon opening, I noticed that one of the candy boxes had been opened, which happened to be the one with candies that looked like white round pill-like things. I assume it was flagged as suspicious and a sample was taken. It had a sticker with the word 'food' (in Portuguese) written on it.

There are a few regulations regarding 'food' imports. I even expect to run into some trouble because of the regular deliveries. I suspect the amounts are small enough that it hasn't hit any triggers yet.

Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review

#44
post #12

Congrats Bemmu - I love the 'overnight success story' that was 2014. In my experience, businesses tend to grow in jumps with a plateau in between and it looks like 2014 was that sort of year (as a deserved reward for the years of platform investment you had made). Best of luck getting over that 1,000 item milestone and then the next big jump beyond!

If I could just keep at 1000, that would be great success. I think if somehow the site doubled again, it would become possible to even hire full-time help. Interestingly not all sweets makers are that interested in selling in bulk. My approach seems to need some tweaking. Currently I would just send an email like "hey I'd like to buy 1000 of these cute candies you make, how much would it be?". But instead of a price,…

I suspect (and it could alternatively just be cultural business nuances I'm not familiar with) it's likely just not worth the effort for most businesses to create a new, once-off 'wholesale' channel when they're presumably selling tens of thousands of items per month through their existing retail channels. Which is understandable.

Having heard some stories of foreigners in Japan (cf: patio11 being interrogated as a bike thief for being 1/ a foreigner and 2/ on a bike), it is possible a local assistant may have more luck by seeming less 'suspicious'[1].

[1] Not quite the right word - 'less curiously and slightly unnervingly conspicuous' perhaps?

Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review

#46
post #24

Some feedback as a user: I canceled my subscription recently after about half a year. Some things I didn't like with the service: - The service said that candy was shipped bi-monthly. I assumed it would come like every two weeks, but it always arrived quite simultaneous for me, a few days to a week later once a month. - Maybe it's me, but the flavors often ranged from weird to inedible (like rose flavored candy) - Th…

Thanks for the feedback. International mail is a bit unpredictable, even post office says the packages can take 2-4 weeks, so it is possible there could be overlap. I try to balance between easy to eat and truly bizarre. Sorry you didn't like those rose flavored ones, but many people actually loved them. Taste preferences are so varied I can't hope to keep everyone happy. I would rather sometimes shock and sometimes…

air ship the bulk candy to the US and individually package and ship from here should greatly speed up distribution, making deliveries regular and predictable.

Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review

#47
I'v very recently (few days ago) launched a service with the same business model but for Japanese tea, called Tomotcha: https://tomotcha.com

I'll most certainly do a Show HN soon, just a couple of things to fix before. For instance the price is currently only listed in EUR, but if you prefer to be billed in USD just drop us an email saying so and we will bill you in USD ($25/month).

Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review

#48
post #24

Some feedback as a user: I canceled my subscription recently after about half a year. Some things I didn't like with the service: - The service said that candy was shipped bi-monthly. I assumed it would come like every two weeks, but it always arrived quite simultaneous for me, a few days to a week later once a month. - Maybe it's me, but the flavors often ranged from weird to inedible (like rose flavored candy) - Th…

Thanks for the feedback. International mail is a bit unpredictable, even post office says the packages can take 2-4 weeks, so it is possible there could be overlap. I try to balance between easy to eat and truly bizarre. Sorry you didn't like those rose flavored ones, but many people actually loved them. Taste preferences are so varied I can't hope to keep everyone happy. I would rather sometimes shock and sometimes…

I haven't used your service, so I be making some wrong assumptions here, but if some users would like to be able to find some of the candies they have eaten, you could include a list in their account with the name of candies they have received in Japanese (and English or Romaji) and a photo. Probably should wait until after they receive the package to maintain the element of surprise.

Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review

#49

Some feedback as a user: I canceled my subscription recently after about half a year. Some things I didn't like with the service: - The service said that candy was shipped bi-monthly. I assumed it would come like every two weeks, but it always arrived quite simultaneous for me, a few days to a week later once a month. - Maybe it's me, but the flavors often ranged from weird to inedible (like rose flavored candy) - Th…

> - Maybe it's me, but the flavors often ranged from weird to inedible (like rose flavored candy)

Rose flavored as in flavored with rose water[1]?

That's a fairly normal flavor in deserts and candies. Common as a primary flavor in Turkish Delight. Alton Brown demonstrates how to make your own in the episode where he makes baklava—one of the ones currently on Netflix in the US, I think. It's pretty much what you'd expect from the name.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_water

Re: Candy Japan 2014 Year in Review

#50
post #49

Some feedback as a user: I canceled my subscription recently after about half a year. Some things I didn't like with the service: - The service said that candy was shipped bi-monthly. I assumed it would come like every two weeks, but it always arrived quite simultaneous for me, a few days to a week later once a month. - Maybe it's me, but the flavors often ranged from weird to inedible (like rose flavored candy) - Th…

> - Maybe it's me, but the flavors often ranged from weird to inedible (like rose flavored candy) Rose flavored as in flavored with rose water[1]? That's a fairly normal flavor in deserts and candies. Common as a primary flavor in Turkish Delight. Alton Brown demonstrates how to make your own in the episode where he makes baklava—one of the ones currently on Netflix in the US, I think. It's pretty much what you'd exp…

It was like drinking rose water. Very intense. Sticks in your mouth for a long while. I prefer to put it on my skin rather than in my mouth :)
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