Money! It's a topic that we often shy away from talking about in Britain, yet it's also one that we can think about a lot. "Why is the cost of living so high now?" "What am I actually getting for my money?" "Are the things I buy worth the cost?" They're all questions we can ask ourselves from time to time.
When it comes to our coffee, we always hope that your answer to that last question is a resounding yes but, just in case you're not sure - and in the interests of openness - we thought we'd give you a little overview of what the price of a bag of our delicious, expertly-roasted coffee covers. After all, it's good to know what you're really paying for, right?
As the above graph shows, the price you pay for our coffee can be roughly split three ways. The first 1/3 covers the costs of buying the unroasted beans, known as green coffee - from the actual purchase cost to the cost of shipping them to the UK and having them delivered to our door. And, as those who know us are hopefully well aware, we always strive to ensure that everyone involved in producing the coffee we sell, particularly the hard-working coffee growers, receive a fair price that gives them the chance of a fair living and the opportunity to develop their businesses.Green coffee prices can fluctuate, which means so can our prices, depending on when we secure the coffee (which could be several months before we actually receive, roast and sell it).
The next 1/3 of the sale price covers the cost of roasting the beans. As you can probably imagine, running a 20kg coffee roaster uses a fair bit of energy, and we all know what energy prices are like these days. Then, of course, there's Mark's wage for the time he spends roasting (although, like most small business owners, you can guarantee the hours he puts into the job far outweigh ones he actually takes a payment for).
The next 1/3 of the sale price covers the cost of roasting the beans. As you can probably imagine, running a 20kg coffee roaster uses a fair bit of energy, and we all know what energy prices are like these days. Then, of course, there's Mark's wage for the time he spends roasting (although, like most small business owners, you can guarantee the hours he puts into the job far outweigh ones he actually takes a payment for).
And the last 1/3 of what you pay goes towards covering everything else - the hidden small business costs that can be easily forgotten about when we focus solely on a product. It's everything from premises rent and business rates to insurance, from accountancy, website and marketing costs (including Jean's wage for all the back office work she does) to consumables like coffee bags and office supplies (boy, do we get through a lot of printer ink?). Oh, and if we're really lucky, we might make a smidgeon of profit on the top too.
Sometimes it's easy to think that businesses are making huge profits on everything they sell, and maybe some big businesses are. Like most small businesses, that's definitely not the case for us. We make a wage, and for that we're very grateful, but we're definitely not rolling in piles of cash from huge profit margins.
We hope that's given you a bit of an understanding about why we set our coffee prices at the levels we do. If you have any questions or would like to know more about this or any other aspect of our business, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Sometimes it's easy to think that businesses are making huge profits on everything they sell, and maybe some big businesses are. Like most small businesses, that's definitely not the case for us. We make a wage, and for that we're very grateful, but we're definitely not rolling in piles of cash from huge profit margins.
We hope that's given you a bit of an understanding about why we set our coffee prices at the levels we do. If you have any questions or would like to know more about this or any other aspect of our business, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Leave a comment