The Perfect Storm?

The Perfect Storm? was Originally Posted on November 6, 2013 by lavarock

Recently I have had a surge of orders for coffee. You would think that would be a good thing, but not so much so. Here is why.

Years ago I orders thousands of coffee bags which included 2oz stocking stuffer, 4ox standup pouch (with and without clear window to see what’s inside, 8oz and 16oz rectangular bags and a few 2 pound bags. I have used them over the years but now that the coffee trees are really staring to produce, I started running out of bags.

I was not planning upon using the 2 pound bags for individual customers, rather if I sold coffee to a cafe or coffee shop. The bags will hold 2 or more pounds or roasted coffee or perhaps 4 pounds of green unroasted coffee. I never planned upon having a customer who loved my coffee and his special roast so much that he would order 8 pounds every few months. There went all the 2 pound bags.

When I started running out of 1 pound bags, I just started shipping one pound orders in two 8oz bags. Unfortunately two 8oz bags cost a lot more than one 1 pound bag so I lost some money on each sale. I finally ordered the bags, knowing that I would have to get a case of each. Total cost over $750!

I also have been roasting all the coffee orders myself, which with my small roaster takes forever. Each 8oz of roasted takes about 25 minutes to roast and 13 minutes to cool, so a one pound roast took almost 45 minutes (and lots of electricity). I did the roasts at home for a couple of reasons. Once roasted, coffee begins to lose its “brightness”. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it slowly loses the subtle taste differences. My local roaster in town needs about 20 pounds of green per roast so if I go to them, I have to get lots roasted at a time. If I don’t get orders quickly, that coffee starts to age a bit. I like to ship coffee as fresh as I can. Another problem with the big roaster is that they are not that close. To drive there is about 18 or 20 miles round trip. They do lots of roasting so they can’t always tell me when the coffee will be ready. Only once did they roast it while I waited. This week I dropped it off Monday and they said it would probably be ready Thursday. So normally I would drive up there, drop off coffee and drive back home (18 miles). Then they call and I drive up there, pick up the coffee and drive back home (another 18 miles). Then I bag the coffee and drive to the Post Office and back home (12 miles). So 48 miles of driving at 15 miles per gallon and perhaps $4 a gallon for gas, it all adds up.

A friend on the mainland sent me some test equipment. He can’t use it for his work because it does not have enough stability for “government work” so to speak. For home electronic tinkering and troubleshooting it is almost an overkill, but greatly appreciated. Hem was going to ship it via FedEx but I suggested USPS as being lots cheaper. The problem is that it did not fit into a flat rate box, so it came parcel post. Parcel post to Hawaii involves a ship and lots of time on various docks. He shipped both boxes on the 12th and one made the first ship and the second box came a week and a half later. A friend received the shipment because of logistics and would meet me to give me the boxes.

I signed up for the Kona Web picnic (as I do each month) and said I would bring a side salad. When I was up in town Monday I decided not to make a regular salad. Since a couple people said they would bring chicken, I opted to try to make a cranberry walnut relish. It called for an orange and since I have orange trees at home, why buy one? Turns out my oranges are not yet ripe, but the tangerines are. The orange taste compliments the sour taste of the cranberries and the tangerines are somewhat sweet, so it was an OK substitution.

Monday it is drive into town, drop off coffee to be roasted, various supermarkets for cranberries. Drop off some roasted coffee, get lunch, drive to post office to drop off a shipment and back home. Receive request for a call back telephone call about how a forum user can change his home setup now that GoogleVoice is changing how they handle calls. This will have to wait for Tuesday.

Tuesday things coalesce.

I start making the relish and find that my idea to use tangerines is fine except it appears that my tangerines are so filled with “tangerine goodness” that the skins are a bit soft and will not grate to save their skins (intended pun). I decide not to grate them, just squeeze the juice into the pot.

I take the dog out and clean the truck out. I see it will be a full day. I stop by the post office with another shipment, stop by the roaster who did my coffee two days earlier than expected. I now have a bag of 50 pounds of roasted coffee on the front seat of the truck.

The bags have come in so I pick them up. Carrying 3 cases of bags to the truck I wish I had been able to park closer. I make 2 trips. I pick up the two boxes of electronic equipment and head to Costco. Afterwards it is off to the old airport for the picnic where I will reserve a couple of tables for the group who arrives about 5pm.

As the group arrives I open the big ice chest. I have a casserole dish with about a pound or two of relish and a bag of ice. IT looks funny to be that empty, but I use the ice chest to hold one of the two tables while I sit at the other. Some months we have 20 or 30 people and even with a small group, still need both tables.

While waiting I called the guy back about his VOIP situation.

Just before sunset (and just before we sit down to eat) we take a group photo. The cranberry walnut relish was a hit and complimented the chicken quite well. I can’t wait until Thanksgiving.

So hectic as the day started out, it ended quite serenely and when I got home it was time to start unloading the truck.

I started with the food items and then grabbed the test equipment. I hooked it all up and it works fine. It is so comforting to know that after all these decades since I used test equipment, that sine waves have not changed one bit (an inside joke, kinda like middle-C still sounds like middle-C).

So although I figured that my roasted coffee would not be ready until Thursday late and I would not be able to ship it until Friday, I am already labeling bags and all my orders should be in the mail today.

There may be a couple people out there who wonder why I don’t just have the postal service pick up the packages or put them in my mailbox for pickup. Until I get the driveway paved, there is no way trucks or cars can get to the house easily. The post office has to have the items in their building by 3:30pm to go out the same day. The carrier does not return to the post office until after that, causing an extra day of delay.

Although I have lots to do on the farm today, at least it will be a bit less hectic than yesterday.

And since I have a bunch of walnuts left, I am thinking maple-covered walnut