Comments on: Pre ground the devils work, or a stairway to heaven?

By: Espressa

Espressa — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 04:59:49 +0000

I must say I am on the fence about pre-ground, of course it’s wonderful when you can grind freshly on-the-spot but I can recall numerous times when that hasn’t been an option and the taste has never suffered so dramatically for it.

By: Maarten Booij

Maarten Booij — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 22:23:50 +0000

Totally agree Steve! I am one of those customers that came in for the pre-ground coffee, since I didn’t know a lot about coffee yet, but I knew enough to know supermarket coffee is not good. The road to more knowledge is greatly ’sponsored’ by you, the blogs, the inmymug episodes, the 10 day coffee course. And now I’m planning to buy a grinder. It is a gradual process. People can’t be expected to immediately jump from one extreme to the other, and you provide this ‘journey’ (with the best customer service I’ve seen, ever).

By: Simon

Simon — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 19:30:19 +0000

I agree that we should advocate home grinding to our customers and encourage them to do so. I also agree we should leave the pre-ground pre-packaged to the supermarkets. But I do think we need to offer ground coffee as an option if the customer wants it. Why? 1. Many customers just don’t have or can afford a grinder, that shouldn’t mean we then exclude them from being able to buy some coffee from us 2. For a while, a few years back I was dying to use a new espresso machine Id bought for home, just couldnt afford the grinder, the friendly local coffee shop helped out by grinding some beans for me, wasnt ideal but i enjoyed coffee ay home 3. As much as we advocate home grinding some people will still want to take some ground coffee home, introducing them to a nice ‘Has bean’ blend, ground on the shop deli grinder is bettter than the customer buying supermarket pre-ground 4. It means we get a sale for the farmer, who really wants / needs us to sell his beans in whatever form. In conclusion, no, we shouldn’t sell pre-packaged pre-ground, yes, we should encourage customers to grind themselves, but yes we should offer to grind the beans if the customer can’t afford a grinder:)

By: Mat

Mat — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 02:29:00 +0000

The definition of snobbery retail is when someone doesn’t understand “the customer is always right”.

I don’t work in retail, and I imagine this mantra is something that irks retailers an awful lot. But the fact of the matter is that it makes business sense to adopt this position, whether you like it or not.

Here’s why Steve’s response is right:

a) I would NEVER buy pre-ground coffee now. I have 4 grinders for home use and it’s something that I would never compromise on.

b) I used to drink Starbucks. Hell, I used to buy pre-ground coffee from Starbucks, thinking it made me all posh and that I was doing something ‘new’ and exciting that other people didn’t. I used a Bialetti Moka Express on a stove, no less. Like many Italians do.

Naturally this last point makes me cringe when I think about it now.

My point is that it’s a journey.

In order to engage people and bring them into coffee, wean them off coffee chains, stop them thinking the good stuff is like petrol to their systems but rather something to be cherished and loved, you have to draw them in.

So yeh – if you want to look like a right arse and be snobby as hell, tell your customers you don’t sell ground coffee because your standards are too high.

And watch them walk out the door and never come back again.

By: Jon Cunningham

Jon Cunningham — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 17:53:32 +0000

Alistair,

It’s all about choice (and opinion) – and I think that’s the point.

The market CLEARLY exists – that’s why Steve and a million other places still pre-ground coffee…

Someone may drink pre-ground, not knowing that there’s a ’superior’ choice – and even if they do, they may not consider it superior – they may prefer pre-ground or instant even?!

The convenience of pre-ground may rate higher than the importance of taste or freshness…

‘Inferior’ is subjective – and to use your example – if I want an economical, greener car a Micra fits the bill – you might consider it inferior to a 350Z (or a 360Z) because you’re judging it on your standards where perhaps speed, and power beats economy and subtlety?

I’m just glad I can get freshly roasted coffee to my door and grind it at home, as I need it – and yes, I do mean NEED.

Having said that, now I feel I’m starting to understand what makes good coffee, I just want everyone else to catch on too!

By: Alistair Cunningham

Alistair Cunningham — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 17:27:42 +0000

Just because a product is ‘inferior’ doesn’t mean there’s a market it for it. If all retailers took that stand:
Nissan would not sell Micras, only 350Zs
Tesco would only sell “Finest”, not value (in fact not only could they not then call it “Finest”, there would cease to be “Value”)
Carphone Warehouse would cease to stock anything other than HTC Android phones!

The list could go on…

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 11:10:20 +0000

I don’t generally use pre-ground, but it does have a good position and an entry and convenience product. Take for example an Aeropress – that is great for camping, but you are not expecting someone to take a grinder too? I like my coffee, but even I would stop at that.
Keep up the good work Steve.

PS : When is the Android app coming…..enough of that iPhone thing!

By: DPJ

DPJ — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 15:14:26 +0000

Steven, it is nice to hear your thoughts on Pre-Ground. I will say, as a home user I love the fact that i can get a massive variety of pre-ground stuff from yourself. It was an excellent way of getting into higher grade coffee for me. I have just purchased a Hario Mini Mill, so before this month is out, i will be putting in another order with you, but this one will contain a bag of roasted beans.
I like the progression of going from supermarket ground, to a quality supplier ground, and then onto a whole bean, and maybe one day an unroasted. I think the way i have done it has allowed me to realise the difference in quality every time.
It is akin to starting with a stove top or French Press, then going to a pourover, then a cheapy little espresso machine, then a good middle range machine and maybe even a higher priced, superior quality one. Every time you are taking the next step in quality and not just jumping in with both feet and hoping for the best result, and when you don’t get that result, reverting back to drinking Starbucks and selling your machine for a lot less than you paid.
I suppose in a perfect world, a quality supplier would love to be able to not sell pre-ground, but then off the back of that, is the supply and demand thing. If you didn’t do it, would people go elsewhere to get all their coffe needs.
Keep up the good work and look forward to hearing more thoughts. Darren:)

By: Peter Kemp

Peter Kemp — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 16:09:45 +0000

I’ll hold my hand up and admit I get my coffee pre-ground from you, but that’s mainly so I can drink good coffee at work.
My boss allows me and a few other caffeine freaks to go and brew our nice coffee a few times a day as a team building kind of thing that takes a bit longer than some instant coffee , but if I turned up with a grinder at work she’d freak (and so would everyone else in earshot of a grinder in the open plan office).
Still gotta grind my own espresso at home at the weekends though

And no, I’m not about to grind my coffee every morning before I go to work, I forget my sandwiches often enough, not taking the risk on my coffee.

By: Stan

Stan — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:13:44 +0000

I have a bog standard Delonghi KG39 grinder, around £20 and it does the job just grand. No snobbery about how many 100’s it cost, brand name etc. Affordable, easy to use and grinds to your exact needs. Doubt I change it.