Call me superficial.
I was reading a recent blog entry from Jbviau talking about the packaging of coffee , he talks about how he really likes the bag that the coffee roaster Tonx ships his coffee in. As you can see below from the photo I stole from his post, it's very distinctive, a nice silver shimmer and that Where the Wild Things Are font. The bag sticks in your mind, and to be quite frank makes you want the coffee.
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Personally, I do not think the looks of the bag are really that superficial. Sure it doesn't reflect how the product inside is going to taste but it does impact if people are going to buy the coffee and if they will remember it. How many times have you bought a wine for the bottle? Probably more often than you care to admit.And I worked a harvest for the wine maker that sells Chasseur Wines, and I can remember a conversation that we had one slow day with the wine maker, how he half critized and lamented the fact that if he made his label more interesting that he would probably sell more wine.
The same is really true for any product and I think coffee goes too. To be honest there are a few roasters that I see here that I probably won't buy on my own accord because of the looks of their label. The label just looks a little too hookey or generic, there are exceptions if someone recommends them and takes that first try for me. I might be able to look past it then, but if not then I will probably pass.
It's unpolite to say it, however it's the truth. I feel like someone that makes a good label probably wants that label to convey the coffee they are trying to sell. If that label like the Tonz one is one that catches the eye or at least my eye and makes me remember it then I think perhaps they are going to roast coffee that is going to fit my ideal of what the coffee should taste like. Of course it will ahve to be backed up by taste, but if I already have a positive idea going then it might roll into the coffee a little bit too.
That Tonx bag is awesome looking and I think I might have to give it try just for that bag alone.
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