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Permalink Reply by Shadow on January 17, 2011 at 4:44am

We use Big Train Spiced, Vanilla and Chocolate (going to drop the chocolate though) and charge $3.50 for a 12 oz. and $4.00 for the 16 oz. Those prices include sales tax. 99% of our customers absolutely love the BT chai.

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Permalink Reply by Adam Ptasnik on January 17, 2011 at 5:44am

I know what the cost of goods sold are and what our target profit margin is.  I was just curious to what other shops are getting for these drinks...  The market price is always relative.

Luke deWaal said:

Wouldn't it seem to make the most sense to just crunch the costs and make it a similar profit margin to your other drinks?

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Permalink Reply by Benza Lance on January 17, 2011 at 7:20pm

We (Temple Coffee) sell our chai (12oz) for $4.10. We make the chai daily, and people really dig it. 

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Permalink Reply by Bryan Wray on January 17, 2011 at 11:36pm

It's all demographic.  As an example, I see that you're from Gaylord; I moved from Kalamazoo about a year ago to Portland.  There is no way we could get away with charging the prices in MI that we charge in WA/OR.  We also would be missing out on a ton of profit if we were to charge the prices I was charging in MI out here on the West Coast.  Pay attention to what other people offering the same product in your area are charging and charge as much as you can without looking ridiculous.  If no one else offers the same thing, then charge however much you want.

 

Most of the time the differences are going to be .25-.50 here and there and if someone is willing to go to another establishment over yours to save a quarter you need to get your focus off of the minor things and onto things that REALLY keep them coming back, like over the top customer service.

 

Also... in my experience no one in MI is really doing a good job of both making their own chai and marketing it (I can think of 4 places in the entire lower peninsula).  It's not hard to get a solid base recipe in place, after that it is just a matter of tweaking things to your liking.  It sounds like you are trying to go after at least a little quality by the fact that you are going for one of the most expensive offerings from BT, why not take the extra step and do something truly unique.  If you do the same thing and offer the same product as CuppaJoeCommonGroundsJavaMugCafeJointShop across the street then you are going to have to charge the same price and hope your parking is better than theirs or your sidewalk has less snow on it.  If you actually put your neck out there and do something original and advertise that you are different you'll do great, even if you have to charge a couple quarters more. 

 

-bry

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Permalink Reply by Adam Ptasnik on January 18, 2011 at 5:40am

Shadow, Benza, Bry

Thank you for the feedback.

AP

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Permalink Reply by Benza Lance on January 18, 2011 at 7:57am

Bry, as always, brings a good point. Most chais in Sacramento are around $3.50, and its usually Oregon Chai stuff. Us doing something thats crafted everyday allows the more expensive, yet still woeth it, price. 
But, above all else, dont sell yourself short just to stay in line with competitor prices. Do an awesome job and stand behind it!

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Permalink Reply by sage on January 18, 2011 at 9:36am

adam, hey i like the pic of that white mercedes, by the way!  i used to have a really old '76 mercedes, 4 cylinder (it really should have been a 6 cyl, you know?!)...anyways, that sucker would go and go...had it for a few years, the only thing i ever repaired on it was a timing belt! gas engine, over 300k miles when i sold it.  loved that vertical speedometer!!  oh, back to business!:  i use spiced divinity chai out of cali...the best in mho!  hope they come out with a reduced sugar content, or even a sugar free one.  anyways, $3.25 12 oz., $4.00 16 oz., & $4.75 20 oz.  have not tried the bt organic sereno chai, how do you like it?  is it in liquid or powder form?  i've played around in my head about trying to make a chai recipe myself, not sure if it would be cost effective.  any ideas on that?

 

happy new year,

 

sage

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Permalink Reply by Adam Ptasnik on January 18, 2011 at 9:57am

I love my car:)  It sure don't go to fast but it is one of the nicest 3000.00 dollar cars on the road... 

The Sereno is a liquid chai concentrate, 50/50.  Our customers like it.  In a perfect world we would make our own as well.  I have seen a few businesses do well making there own, and others not so well. 

I will have to try out the divinity chai some time.

Thanks,

Adam

 

sage said:

adam, hey i like the pic of that white mercedes, by the way!  i used to have a really old '76 mercedes, 4 cylinder (it really should have been a 6 cyl, you know?!)...anyways, that sucker would go and go...had it for a few years, the only thing i ever repaired on it was a timing belt!  loved that vertical speedometer!!  oh, back to business!:  i use spiced divinity chai out of cali...the best in mho!  hope they come out with a reduced sugar content, or even a sugar free one.  anyways, $3.25 12 oz., $4.00 16 oz., & $4.75 20 oz.  have not tried the bt organic sereno chai, how do you like it?  is it in liquid or powder form?  i've played around in my head about trying to make a chai recipe myself, not sure if it would be cost effective.  any ideas on that?

 

happy new year,

 

sage

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Permalink Reply by sage on January 18, 2011 at 10:26am

yeah, adam, imho, the divinity spiced chai is a bit on the sweet side...perhaps i could entertain "cutting" it with one or two of the other non-sweet ingredients for a good result.  if anyone out there in bx world is willing to offer a very good chai recipe, i'm all ears!

 

sage

the coffee hound

Adam Ptasnik said:

I love my car:)  It sure don't go to fast but it is one of the nicest 3000.00 dollar cars on the road... 

The Sereno is a liquid chai concentrate, 50/50.  Our customers like it.  In a perfect world we would make our own as well.  I have seen a few businesses do well making there own, and others not so well. 

I will have to try out the divinity chai some time.

Thanks,

Adam

 

sage said:

adam, hey i like the pic of that white mercedes, by the way!  i used to have a really old '76 mercedes, 4 cylinder (it really should have been a 6 cyl, you know?!)...anyways, that sucker would go and go...had it for a few years, the only thing i ever repaired on it was a timing belt!  loved that vertical speedometer!!  oh, back to business!:  i use spiced divinity chai out of cali...the best in mho!  hope they come out with a reduced sugar content, or even a sugar free one.  anyways, $3.25 12 oz., $4.00 16 oz., & $4.75 20 oz.  have not tried the bt organic sereno chai, how do you like it?  is it in liquid or powder form?  i've played around in my head about trying to make a chai recipe myself, not sure if it would be cost effective.  any ideas on that?

 

happy new year,

 

sage

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Permalink Reply by Bryan Wray on January 18, 2011 at 8:20pm

Well I'll tell you what we use, but I won't tell you how much of what... we worked too hard to make it our own.

 

http://www.compasscoffeeroasting.com/blog/masala-chai

 

The bottom line has the ingredients and the recipe for the sugars and whatnot is above.

 

-bry

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Permalink Reply by sage on January 20, 2011 at 9:54am

looks like a fine recipe, bryan...thanks for tempting us!

 

sage

the coffee hound

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