We're excited to announce that starting Monday, June 5th, Kenmore Coffee Company is now Seaplane Coffee! We think the new name and familiar brand better encompasses our goal of being The Puget Sound's Local Internet Coffee Roaster. You can read more about Seaplane Coffee, what we're doing, why we chose the name, and more here. Otherwise, let's get started on everything that's changing!
Packaging
Getting it out of the way first: 2 LB is staying. Sorry for the scare! There were way more of you than we initially imagined that would sorely miss 2LB as an option.
Bags will now also be white. 12 oz bags are returning to their resealable form, and 2 LB bags will also be resealable. No more ties! 5 LB will also be white but not resealable. (We tried to find some that would work for our needs and came up short. If that changes, we'll reconsider.)
Pricing
The COVID-19 pandemic sent the price of coffee through the roof. Literally. January 2020, the market price was around $1.36/lb. It dropped to about $.90/lb before climbing that summer. It's now at about $2.38/lb and doesn't appear to have plans on going back the other way yet.
In other words: over the last year, the price of coffee went up pretty significantly. We weathered most of the storm through contracted prices set well before the price doubled, but those eventually ran out. The pandemic did a number on all of us, and regardless of where our community falls on the concept, we wanted to find some way to not pile on for as long as possible.
We ran out of runway on that idea, too, so starting July 1st, prices will change a bit.
Single bags will see their prices by $1 (12oz), $2 (2 LB), and $5 (5 LB) except for our Uganda (Elgon Empire) and Ethiopia (Senkele Sunrise). Uganda remains the same price, and Ethiopia is $1, $2, and $4 less expensive than before.
Subscription Pricing
Subscription orders are being adjusted accordingly, too.
Short version: Subscription pricing will see a difference of about -$0.60 to +$2.60 per order compared to the previous discount structure applied to the new pricing, depending on the coffee and size.
We're baking part of the shipping cost into the subscription price and eating the rest. Subscription prices are calculated based on their single-order price; +$2 (12oz) and +$1 (2 LB). 5 LB bags always had free shipping because they were more than $49, so their subscription pricing now sees a flat -$10 discount. This means free shipping is now standard across the board for all subscriptions, all the time.
For those with active subscription orders, your price will stay the same as long as the subscription for that particular coffee is active. In other words, if you have a 2-week recurring order for Trailhead (12 oz), you'll be paying the $17.75/shipment ($12.75+$5.00) price forever. If you change to something else or cancel it, the new pricing will take effect from that point forward. Changing the interval will not change the price. A new subscription to Trailhead (12 oz) will be $18/order.
Rewards and Points
We're keeping the points program and introducing a small change/addition that we think will help some folks.
As it stands today, customers cannot claim points for discounts on future subscription orders without an email to us. It's an unfortunate side effect of disparate systems that don't talk to each other, and so far as we can tell, there's nothing on the horizon that would indicate a change in that regard.
To help solve that with what we have at our disposal, on July 1st, prepaid subscriptions will be an option and can be purchased using points. Prepaid subscriptions will come in 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month options and be straight 3x, 6x, and 12x the 1-month price. Subscriptions are already discounted compared to single bags, so that no further discounts can be had. The points-to-dollar ratio will be the same as for single-bag redemptions. (Example: if a 3-month Kenmore Classic subscription is $54, it will require 5,400 points to cover the entire purchase).
We'll have more resources on how prepaid subscriptions work, including recommendations on weaving them into existing recurring orders before they go live. Look out for an email about all that in the coming weeks.
Current and Future Releases
With the launch of our Honduras Guama Danta, our first Reserve coffee, we're excited to branch out a bit from our traditional sourcing methods and bring a coffee to the Puget Sound that isn't as prolific. We have a couple of other options we're looking at, too, for the Reserve series, including the return of Kona.
Earlier, we mentioned that Senkele Sunrise is getting cheaper. We accomplished that by sourcing the same bean (Sidamo Natural) from a different provider. We're also moving to a higher quality bean (from a G4 to a G3, the highest rating for natural process coffee). We feel it's a net win for everyone.
We're looking at adding another new coffee to the ranks this year. So far, we're torn between Guatemala and Nicaragua. In addition, we're looking at bringing in a Colombia Sugarcane decaf to replace our decaf blend.
Samplers
One thing that had initially held us back on this rebranding exercise was the sampler packs. Folks liked that they could try out what we're offering without committing but wanted to be able to pick what samples they got. We agree. We're working on a new system that'll allow for picking and choosing up to three 4 oz varieties, so you're only trying what you want. We'll still have recommended bundles like Blends, regions, etc.
We'll have more to say about that in the coming months.
Other Administrative Notes
- kenmorecoffee.com will redirect to seaplanecoffee.com.
- Emails will start coming from hello@seaplanecoffee.com and have Seaplane Coffee branding.
- Emails to hello@kenmorecoffee.com will continue to work. We'll reply from hello@seaplanecoffee.com
- The company you see on your bank/credit card statements will read "SP * SEAPLANE COFFEE" (for most) or "SEAPLANE COFFEE"/"SEAPLNCFEE." PayPal will read "Seaplane Coffee."
Feedback Welcome!
As before, we want to hear what you're thinking, what you're looking forward to, what you'd like to see more of, and the like. Over the next several months, we'll be leaning pretty heavily on expanding our marketing effort, but we also want to ensure we're pointing the ship in the right direction at the same time.
Presuming you made it this far, thanks for taking the time to catch up on everything! We're excited about what's next for Seaplane Coffee and look forward to the new friends we make and the growth of our community.
-Johnathan, Founder