Re: So who makes money in the specialty coffee business???

TRANSPARENCY THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY

I apologize. I have created confusion where I wanted to provide
clarity. The federal government has labeling requirements for goods
packaged and sold at retail. An index to these can be found on the
webpage previously provided.

These requirements include Ingredients, Net Weight (in Avoirdupois and
metric units), the Name and Address (City, State, and Zip) of the
manufacturer or distributor, and Allergen Alert warning. These things
must be on all labels of food regardless of size of company. The US
gov. mandates specific places for certain information to appear on the
package. The US gov. mandates certain type sizes to appear on the
package.

The US gov. requires nutritional labeling only where a health claim is
made or where there are added ingredients in addition to coffee. Most
coffee products do not make a health claim and are therefore exempt.
There is a small business exemption for coffee products that require a
nutritional label and are made by small businesses.

All States must honor the federal regulations, but states may make more
stringent regulations than the federal regulations and make the stiffer
regulations stick for goods manufactured in their state.

Any business that sells anything across a state line (even from East
St. Louis IL to St. Louis MO) has engaged in interstate commerce and is
thereafter subject to the federal regulations even if you only did it
once. As a practical matter that means almost everybody in business is
subject to the federal regs.

A company may want to add additional material to their label such as
symbols of one kind or another. Independent companies as Swiss Water
and agencies as Fair Trade, SMBC, and Rainforest Alliance and
government designations as Organic require jumping through hoops for
the honor of putting their trademarks on your package.

My "A La Mode" List was meant as a whimsical example of all the
things one could put on a coffee label in the name of transparency in
addition to the stuff that is mandated by the government. Some of
these things are important, others of them border on the silly. I was
attempting to say both that companies must choose between many choices
what information to put on their label in addition to the mandated
information, and that in an act of consumerism gone mad consumers may
request information that does not bring transparency but rather just
adds to a jungle of information.

The Dr. Bronners reference was meant as an illustration of a great
product that is uniquely and distinctively labeled. Bronner's soap
labels are loaded with copy. Bronner's is successful in part because
their product is good and their labeling unique. Their labels do make
some folks smile while making others wince (while they buy).

Government mandates, business may volunteer, and consumers have a right
to expect good sound information on the foods they buy. In coffee, at
some point, there can be consumer intellectual overload - just too much
information to understand and absorb. The trick for every roaster is
to provide the information required to tantalize the consumer to buy
(much of this must have to do with cup qualities) without providing so
much information that the consumer is intimidated and backs away.

-Donald Schoenholt

.

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