So you're thinking about private label coffee... Well you've come to the right place. Let's get right into it!
Here's the top four reasons you should start a private label coffee program today.
#1 You're way ahead of the game, now play it! You already have the followers, so why not leverage that into an everlasting content engine that drives real engagement. Imagine this -- waking up to 100 tags from your community posting their morning routine with your coffee in their cup. Or a reel featuring your coffee blend as a devout follower craft-fully prepares a pour-over from their kitchen, where the morning light hits just right. It's all about deepening the engagement. Getting a physical product in your followers daily lives will help bridge your connection to better engagement.
#2. Realize all the gains from your hard work. First becoming, and then being an influencer, is HARD work. Rather your a nano-influencer with 10,000 subscribers like @SpecialtyCoffeeGuy, or a mega-influencer with million of subscribers, what you did to get there took sacrifice. To just give all that away for a few hundred dollars in free product seems unjust.
#3. "Paid Partnership" tags are so 2022. Your followers like and follow you for a reason, but there's something about that paid partnership tag that just twinges me the wrong way. It makes me think, even for the briefest moment, that the person I've come to know, like, and trust might only be "influencing" my behavior for their financial gain. When you're promoting your own product, the paid partnership tag is unnecessary, thus making your influential content more authentic and less like a pitch-slap.
4. Engaging with your followers couldn’t be easier. Your followers already know, like and trust you, which is what big brands pay millions of dollars a year in marketing to accomplish. And you're crushing it just by sharing what you love. Some social media influencers with as little as 10K followers are surprisingly more successful at monetizing their brand than big name brands and mega-influencers, simply because of their higher engagement rates. In todays economy, influencers have all the power. So harness that power for yourself. Go stoke you own economic machine by deepening your engagement with a physical product that requires no paid ads, shoutouts or sell-outs.
Why Private Label?
A private label program gives you the distinct advantage of furthering your brand with an engaging physical product.
We've found that a lot of the people that are interested are content creators and influencers with a strong personal brand and are looking to engage more intimately with their followers.
We’ve also found quite a few corporations that are interested in promotional items to deepen the engagement with their customers and employees, or to celebrate holidays and momentous occasions.
Last but not least, we’re also seeing a lot of interest from wholesale partners in the cafe, restaurant and grocery space who want to take advantage of the current market trend toward private label.
From a consumer research standpoint, private label is outperforming many national brands as consumers opt for products from retailers they know, like and trust. Much like the relationship many influencers have with their followers. It's a natural fit.
How does private label coffee work? If private label is a new concept to you then it might pay to do a quick search of the topic in Google. Once you’ve gotten a grasp come back for the rest of this blog. But if you want to skip ahead with the condensed version, I’ll summarize it now.
Simply put, private label means that we take our award winning coffee offerings and put them in your custom packaging. Much like Kirkland from Costco and Good and Gather from Target; which are both private label products carried by the mentioned retailer.
Or, we'd be happy to work on a custom blend or find coffee from a special region that you request. This would be more of what’s referred to in B2B commerce as a white label.
Distribution can be be achieved in one of three ways, or a combination: One time bulk, recurring bulk, or drop shipped individual units. We’ve found that a combination of fulfillment options is the usual outcome. In the combo scenario, our private label customers get a few cases of coffee to use as promotional items, or to stock their shelves, and when an order is received through their e-commerce channels it is drop shipped though our fulfillment channels.
Why Calioh Coffee - So why would you work with Calioh Coffee? Well, first off, to the best of my knowledge, Calioh Coffee is the only award winning coffee roaster who is actively doing private label coffee. Also, as members of the Specialty Coffee Association, and the Coffee Roasters Guild, you'll find that working with Calioh Coffee keeps you informed on trends in the third-wave coffee industry and guarantees that you're partnered with a artisan who's dedicated to the advancement and promotion of specialty coffee.
We are specialty coffee roasters through and through, therefore we place a lot of focus on high quality coffee and sustainability. Because of our commitment to quality, we’re not always the best option for every customer. If you're looking for a "budget" product to complement your brand, we might not be a good fit. It's possible that you'll find a cheaper price elsewhere, however you won't find a higher level of service, or commitment to quality and sustainability. We promise to always offer a fair price, but never the lowest.
Coffee Selections - Aside from our award winning coffee blends, we also offer off-menu coffee as well for white label projects. This might not be the best option for you when you're first starting out, however it's comforting to know that we have the logistics already in place for getting coffee from any region in the world and in any flavor profile or processing method that you desire.
Single Origin: Central and South American, African, Indonesian, Indian, or special order coffees.
Fair Trade, Organic and Shade Grown available
Decaffeinated Coffees: Mountain and Swiss Water Decaf
Packaging Options
Let's talk packaging. Really, the world is your oyster here. So I'm not going to get too lost in the weeds. You basically have any type of packaging option at your disposal. Have a look at our Private Label video for some packaging examples, or visit this link for some packaging and printing examples from one of the flexible packaging partners we often work with.
The same goes for packaging design. You can really go all in on something elaborate, or keep it simple with a hot stamp, Then apply individual labels per variety.
For this process we start with a stock bag and apply a hot stamp with your artwork. Print is usually done in one color on the front and back panels using simple, clean artwork.
Price Example: Unit cost of the stock bag + $0.20 per hot stamp impression
- 16 oz stand up pouch retail bag w/ zipper, valve and stock tear notch
- Kraft = $0.79 (Total for 500 = $395)
- Matte White/Black = $1.01 (Total for 500 = $505)
Digital Printing features custom printing on the front, back and gusset panels (if desired). Digital printing is not available in block bottom bags due to the way the material is formed and cut.
- Minimum: 1,000 bags
- Pre-press charge: None
Price Examples: 16 oz stand up pouch retail bag w/ zipper and valve
- BioTre = $1.46 (Compostable -- black, white, or kraft)
- Kraft = $1.32
- Matte White = $1.28
K-cups jobs are a horse of another color, and require a little more dialogue before launching a private label. Just know that this is entirely possible; however, be prepared for a minimum project run cost starting at $10,000.
Drop Shipping Benefits
If you remember from earlier, I talked about some distribution options you'll have when working with Calioh Coffee on a private label project. One of those is drop shipping. If you don't know what drop shipping is, then I'll provide a very brief synopsis.
Essentially, you receive an order through your e-commerce portal, rather that be Shopify, WIX, Woo, etc., Once you receive that order you share the information with us; usually automatically though our application program interface (API) that will connect directly with your store. Once the information is received, our fulfillment software will alert us of the order. From there we'll roast the coffee, package it to your specifications, and ship it to your customer with packaging and labeling that looks like it came straight from you. At the end of the month we'll send you an invoice for the orders we fulfilled and provide an inventory report.
So let's talk a little about why you'd want to use drop shipping. For starters it will allow you to focus on what you do best. Considering our niche in helping creators and influencers, that's probably going to be continuing to create engaging and meaningful content -- hopefully about how much fun you're having exploring all things specialty coffee. You can rest easy knowing that we have the production and fulfillment handled. Not only will you have the mindfulness to keep building your brand, but you'll also save yourself the six figure capital expense of building and scaling a coffee roastery. So, save your valuable resources and partner with someone who has the systems already in place.
If you're a cafe, corporation, restaurant, or anyone else considering outsourcing your private label coffee program, the same concept holds true for you. Just keep doing what you're doing and we'll handle the coffee
Costs
Here's a snapshot of some cost's that you can expect while working with us.**
- Account Management = $650 per years
- Product/Packaging Receiving = $5 per box and/or $15 per pallet
- Product/Packaging Storage = $5 per bin and/or $15 per pallet
- Pick Pack = $3 per order
- Kitting = $1 per order
- Digital Marketing Package (optional) = $450 per SKU
- Graphic Design Package (optional) = $360 per SKU
Specialty Coffee Grades and Prices:**
Outstanding (90-100) ≈ $14+ per pound
Excellent (85-90) ≈ $11-14 per pound
Very Good (80-84.99) ≈ $9-11 per pound
That about sums it up. If you have any additional questions, they may be answered in our Private Label video on YouTube. If you don’t find an answer there perhaps the topic you’re curious about has been address in our social media feeds. Regardless, if you have unanswered questions, or are curious about how your brand would look, send us a message. Also, we’ve found that one of the best ways to get our partners energized is to share some basic mock-ups on coffee bags and merch. If that’s something you’re interested in, reach out and we’d be happy to provide some inspiration for you.
** Coffee prices have been volatile over the last few years. The prices quoted may change depending on current market conditions.
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