The Learning Curve

Yes I knew there would be a learning curve for us here at 9 bar espresso, me especially going into the coffee business. That being said I didn't quite expect there to be such a curve in doing our labels for our wholesale 2 lb. and retail 1 lb. bags of espresso. I've got over eight years experience as a graphic designer and I've designed labels before but a retail food product has a whole other dimension I did not foresee.

Corey is familiar with Richmark Label in Seattle (www.richmarklabel.com) because the company he was with before used them. So that is who we decided to go ahead and work with however the sales guy he had used before was no longer with the company so we ended up talking to Robert Fass who was fairly new and took over the old guys account. Corey wasn't sure if we should deal with a new guy but I said, "Why not, I'm new to it too and I'll be the one working with him."

I sent my initial designs over and Robert quoted them, easy enough. But then Corey and I started thinking about productivity and hand labeling, then about as our business grows machine labeling, oh yeah and 'what is required for retail food labeling?' I let Robert know where we were at and he rolled with it and said to just send him new art to quote when we were ready. I had some research to do, where do you find food labeling requirements you can understand anyway? I so happened to luck out and find a great powerpoint presentation called "Ins and outs of food labeling part 1" here is the link for those of you who are wondering: www.ag.ndsu.edu/foodent/entrepreneur/ppt/ins_and_outs_of_food_labeling.ppt

Come to find out what I suspected was true and I was also relieved to find out coffee and tea are not required to have nutrition facts like a lot of other food products. Corey and I finalized the new design only to have Robert tell us they didn't have a stock die that size for machine application (again for those of you who don't know find out the rewind number before you pick your dye size! For most it is #2). Corey and I were bummed but then I reasoned that it really would be worth it to see how much a custom dye would be for the retail espresso bags because we want 9 bar espresso to look as good as it tastes! We compromised and ended up using a stock dye size for the wholesale 2 lb. bags and a custom one for our retail 1 lb. bags. Turns out the custom one wasn't that expensive about right in the middle of my bet and Corey's bet. It wasn't over yet though. Just as I had sent over the final, final artwork for our 9 bar espresso medium roast, dark roast, and decaffeinated I get a call from Corey saying, "What do you think about doing the organic labels now too?" Aaaaccckk! I just had wrapped everything up with Robert so naturally as a graphic designer and a wife I was a little frustrated but I was willing to get it done if it was good for the business. So I asked why the sudden revelation and Corey said the last two days he had been out talking with our customers and letting them know about our new retail offerings and new blends including the organic he was getting an overwhelming positive response to the organic. Ok I get it, we needed to do it because the market was demanding it. So I swallowed my pride and called up Robert one more time. He was great, said no problem that it was a smart thing to do and I got him the additional new artwork for our 9 bar espresso organic blend.

Whew! It took about a week and a half but the labels have been taken care of AND I feel good about our choices. It's hard to strike the balance of getting good looking product and making sure it is done in a cost effective manner. Plus I'm happy we are using minimum packaging while keeping a certain asthetic. Nothing bugs me more than a product that is over packaged, too much waste and not eco-friendly. I'm happy Corey is on board with me in making 9 bar espresso an affordable eco-friendly company. After I finish writing this blog entry I'm going to triumphantly march over to our dry erase board and gleefully erase "order labels" from my list.