Gorilla's coffee beans are 33% more expensive « Brooklynian

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Gorilla's coffee beans are 33% more expensive

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quiddity
getting it
Joined: Feb '07
Posts: 175

This morning I picked up a bag of coffee beans at Gorilla. The label is different.   No big deal. But it is also a smaller bag of coffee than before. The label does not disclose the weight. So I ask, "How much does this weigh?" Answer: 12 oz. No big deal. The big deal comes when they ring me up. The price is $11/bag still.

Let's do the math. $11/16 oz. = $0.60 per ounce. Now the coffee bags are $11 for 12 oz.   That's $0.92 per ounce, or a 33% increase in price per ounce.   Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty steep increase with no notice.

Hello? Darlene? WTF, man? Why no sign? Why no gentle explanation for your dedicated customers?   :(

# Posted 1 yr ago
Juan Carlos Sauceda
Greenwood Heights
Joined: Nov '10
Posts: 20

I have a solution for you. FAIRWAY

Great selection, great prices.

I know is kind of far but totally worth the trip, just buy several pounds so you don't have to keep going back every week.

"Leaving Brooklyn...Fuhgeddaboutit."

# Posted 1 yr ago
Mamacita
Stuck in the middle with you
Joined: Dec '06
Posts: 9,140

This sucks, I like their coffee, but that is just too much of a price hike. Maybe it's to pay those legal fees they have from trying to sue their employees and the NYT for telling the truth about thier bad management!

(\__/)
(=’.'=)
(”)_(”)

# Posted 1 yr ago
jeffrey
lurkey turkey
Joined: Feb '07
Posts: 4,062

I have a solution as well:

Costco's Kirkland brands.

They usually have only one regular and one decaf out on a palette at any given time, currently Guatemala (medium-bold, like an Antigua).

Their coffees are both organic and free-trade.

If their Rwanda coffee is ever out on the palette there, stock up like mad. It's on the extra-bold end of the continuum and is a really dark and shiny (beyond French) roast with rich, earthy and chocolate flavors. And I like the idea of supporting positive sustainable jobs in a country that has had such troubles.

The price (if you already shop there)?

~$12 for 3 lbs.

Hard to beat $0.25 per ounce for pretty darn good coffee.

***updated to add:

More about Costco's connection to Rwanda:
http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/coffee/2009/03/04/_dean_rutzthe_seattle_times.html

i extend my battery life by turning down the brightness

# Posted 1 yr ago
Zebra
getting it
Joined: Apr '06
Posts: 209

The price of beans at my coffee shop just jumped a couple of dollars per pound. In this case it's the supplier charging more. Which in turn could mean we're seeing a price-shift within the coffee market as a whole.

# Posted 1 yr ago
Briggs
rookie newb
Joined: Sep '10
Posts: 15

http://money.cnn.com/2010/09/10/markets/coffee_prices/index.htm

# Posted 1 yr ago
quiddity
getting it
Joined: Feb '07
Posts: 175

Such good info! Thanks everyone. This is why i <3 Brooklynian.

# Posted 1 yr ago
Aquamann
getting it
Joined: Aug '10
Posts: 135

thank goodness i never got hooked on coffee. i'm so poor that i could never sustain it. but my girlfriend is willing to pay any price. she's hooked on the columbian supremo stuff from union market but she goes gorilla when she gets a raise. god help us!

best of luck to you all!

# Posted 1 yr ago
booklaw
admin
Joined: Nov '07
Posts: 2,202

Quiddity wrote "This is why I < 3 Brooklynian."

< 3 ?

Is this a typo or some emoticon I'm too stupid to grasp?

# Posted 1 yr ago
modsquad2.0
getting it
Joined: Jul '10
Posts: 197

<3 = I am less than Brooklynian's balls?

# Posted 1 yr ago
jeffrey
lurkey turkey
Joined: Feb '07
Posts: 4,062

say (um...) IT AIN'T so...

i extend my battery life by turning down the brightness

# Posted 1 yr ago
WhyFi
I'm Urban - recognize!
Joined: Jul '05
Posts: 5,268

1) I find it pretty funny (not in the 'ha ha' way) that Gorilla is pulling this when their bags used to so proudly exclaim, "Not 8 ounces! Not 12 ounces! 1 Full Pound!!!"

2) Yeah, they've been talking about coffee prices going up across the board for a few months.

3) None of yas are espresso drinkers if you're happy with beans that were roasted more than two weeks before you grind and brew.

...not that there's anything wrong with that.

# Posted 1 yr ago
jeffrey
lurkey turkey
Joined: Feb '07
Posts: 4,062

WhyFi, I think we've previously established that your burr grinder has more horsepower than my snow blower.

XD

i extend my battery life by turning down the brightness

# Posted 1 yr ago
meganlibrarian
above average
Joined: Jan '06
Posts: 432

Dang. Union Market's $6.99 or $7.99 a pound for their coffee, which is a really good deal. Regardless, I think I'm now gonna get my coffee at Costco. Cheap! (I also need real vanilla, a metric ton of American cheese and size 3-4T training pants. Oh, and chicken breasts and fruit cups. I looooove Costco, but keep forgetting to buy coffee there.)

Windsor Terrace=>Park Slope=>Prospect Heights=>Park Slope.

# Posted 1 yr ago
WhyFi
I'm Urban - recognize!
Joined: Jul '05
Posts: 5,268

jeffrey wrote:

WhyFi, I think we've previously established that your burr grinder has more horsepower than my snow blower.

XD

This calls for some gratuitous coffee gear porn.

...not that there's anything wrong with that.

# Posted 1 yr ago
rosweed
this too shall pass
Joined: May '08
Posts: 269

I have been a Peets coffee addict for many years, and mail ordered because I couldn't find a suitable replacement. However, their prices run about $14 a pound plus delivery. I finally found a replacement for $7.99 - Fairway. They roast most of their beans right there, can grind it any way you want it and my Indonesian Sumatran is delicious.

Take the u out of neighbour.

# Posted 1 yr ago
quiddity
getting it
Joined: Feb '07
Posts: 175

That is supposed to be a heart. Something I picked up from the kids on the Facebook.

< 3 ?

Is this a typo or some emoticon I'm too stupid to grasp?

# Posted 1 yr ago
quiddity
getting it
Joined: Feb '07
Posts: 175

1) I find it pretty funny (not in the 'ha ha' way) that Gorilla is pulling this when their bags used to so proudly exclaim, "Not 8 ounces! Not 12 ounces! 1 Full Pound!!!"

WhyFi -- I thought about that, too. I think that's why I felt compelled to post about it.

# Posted 1 yr ago
jeffrey
lurkey turkey
Joined: Feb '07
Posts: 4,062

WhyFi wrote:

jeffrey wrote:

WhyFi, I think we've previously established that your burr grinder has more horsepower than my snow blower.

XD

This calls for some gratuitous coffee gear porn.

i extend my battery life by turning down the brightness

# Posted 1 yr ago
jeffrey
lurkey turkey
Joined: Feb '07
Posts: 4,062

Thinking about it some more, one more thing I'd add about the new Gorilla Coffee packaging in addition to the rising coffee bean prices issue:

They are a local small business.

I would similarly expect to pay more to a local microbrewery or bakery or neighborhood bookstore than I would to supermarkets including Fairway or national chains like Costco.

And that extra money also goes to encouraging local job positions, local tax base etc.

So go with someone like Gorilla or Stumptown etc. if you want very recently, artisan roasted beans that help support the local economy.

On that note, I just heard a radio commercial for this, which I've just posted to Sales, Openings and Events as a global sticky:

THIS SAT NOV 27: Small Business Saturday . SHOP LOCAL!
http://brooklynian.com/forum/sales-openings-events/this-sat-nov-27-small-business-saturday-shop-local

i extend my battery life by turning down the brightness

# Posted 1 yr ago
booklaw
admin
Joined: Nov '07
Posts: 2,202

Quiddity wrote:

That ( <3 ) is supposed to be a heart. Something I picked up from the kids on the Facebook.

Thank you! I see it (sort of) now.

# Posted 1 yr ago
prezst
getting it
Joined: Mar '08
Posts: 195

costco? fairway? chain stores?! you all are kidding, right?

go to leaf and bean. a strictly local business that's been in the neighborhood for decades, with good prices, a great selection & a friendly atmosphere. you don't have to waste gas to get there.. and besides, if you don't shop local, you have no right to bitch about empty storefronts when a business has to close

# Posted 1 yr ago
Piano
above average
Joined: Sep '10
Posts: 402

We shouldn't have to prop up someone's failed business model. There's way too much deference and reverence for the small business in this country. And nobody gets more handouts and subsidies from the federal goverment. The way I see it, if you can't hack it and need me to subsidize your enterprise, you got no business being in business.

I prefer a local business to a big national chain, but there's nothing wrong with chain stores. It just happens to be very trendy to disparage them. Besides, most people seem to forget that pretty much all chains begin as local businesses.

If Leaf n Bean can be open for so many years without alienating their clients by jacking up their prices, why can't Gorilla? And if Leaf n Bean becomes so succesful that they open up stores all over the country, why should we then stop going there? There's no good reason for people to boycott all chain stores.

# Posted 1 yr ago
WhyFi
I'm Urban - recognize!
Joined: Jul '05
Posts: 5,268

Frankly, I don't have a problem with the price hike, what I do take issue with is the seemingly underhanded way it's happened; if, for years, you're going to hammer on the fact that, unlike the other guys, your beans are 1lb, don't quietly back down to 12oz while leaving the price the same.

...not that there's anything wrong with that.

# Posted 1 yr ago
maggiepc
rookie newb
Joined: Jun '09
Posts: 19

Although I am a major Brooklyn booster I buy most of my coffee at Porto Rico on Bleecker Sreet. There are a few locations in the village: http://portorico.com/store/index.html. excellent coffee + low prices = best value anywhere.

# Posted 1 yr ago
1st_Streeter
getting it
Joined: Nov '06
Posts: 178

D'Vine Taste has moderately priced beans and you can do your own blend.

# Posted 1 yr ago
Architecture Biscuit
getting it
Joined: Apr '09
Posts: 149

quiddity wrote:

Let's do the math. $11/16 oz. = $0.60 per ounce. Now the coffee bags are $11 for 12 oz. That's $0.92 per ounce, or a 33% increase in price per ounce. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty steep increase with no notice.

That is a pretty steep increase, but your math is wrong. Going from $0.60 per ounce to $0.92 per ounce is not a 33% increase (that would be $0.60 to $0.80) but rather a 53% increase!!! Yowzers.

I don't generally get my coffee from Gorilla, but I do, from time to time, get coffee from places that brew Gorilla beans. I wonder how this will effect them.

# Posted 1 yr ago
Old Time Brooklyn
God of Rock
Joined: Jan '08
Posts: 710

Piano wrote:

We shouldn't have to prop up someone's failed business model. There's way too much deference and reverence for the small business in this country. And nobody gets more handouts and subsidies from the federal goverment. The way I see it, if you can't hack it and need me to subsidize your enterprise, you got no business being in business.

I prefer a local business to a big national chain, but there's nothing wrong with chain stores. It just happens to be very trendy to disparage them. Besides, most people seem to forget that pretty much all chains begin as local businesses.

If Leaf n Bean can be open for so many years without alienating their clients by jacking up their prices, why can't Gorilla? And if Leaf n Bean becomes so succesful that they open up stores all over the country, why should we then stop going there? There's no good reason for people to boycott all chain stores.

What an ignorant post. No wonder so many businesses have to close and this country has moved away from craft to Wal-Mart.

# Posted 1 yr ago
booklaw
admin
Joined: Nov '07
Posts: 2,202

Old Time Brooklyn: check the rules... be nice!

If you have a problem with the post, spell it out; don't characterize it with a slur. What makes the post (or the poster) ignorant? Ignorant of what? What knowledge do you possess that the poster doesn't?

# Posted 1 yr ago
Mougar
rocking it
Joined: Aug '08
Posts: 1,321

Architecture Biscuit wrote:

quiddity wrote:

Let's do the math. $11/16 oz. = $0.60 per ounce. Now the coffee bags are $11 for 12 oz. That's $0.92 per ounce, or a 33% increase in price per ounce. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty steep increase with no notice.

That is a pretty steep increase, but your math is wrong. Going from $0.60 per ounce to $0.92 per ounce is not a 33% increase (that would be $0.60 to $0.80) but rather a 53% increase!!! Yowzers.

I don't generally get my coffee from Gorilla, but I do, from time to time, get coffee from places that brew Gorilla beans. I wonder how this will effect them.

($11 / 12oz - $11 / 16oz) / ($11 / 16oz) = 33%

Biscuit is correct that $0.60 -> $0.92 is a 53% increase, but $11/16oz = $0.69 / oz

# Posted 1 yr ago
Old Time Brooklyn
God of Rock
Joined: Jan '08
Posts: 710

The post lacks any understanding of American economics.

# Posted 1 yr ago
Old Time Brooklyn
God of Rock
Joined: Jan '08
Posts: 710

As well as American politics.

# Posted 1 yr ago
Mamacita
Stuck in the middle with you
Joined: Dec '06
Posts: 9,140

wholly crap there is math going on here! (----->runs away)

(\__/)
(=’.'=)
(”)_(”)

# Posted 1 yr ago
Piano
above average
Joined: Sep '10
Posts: 402

Yep, WalMart is the big success it is today because I don't boycott all chain stores.

Do you even know what the word ignorant means? I imagine if you did you'd actually point out one thing about what I wrote that was ignorant. But as Booklaw said, you didn't.

Anyway, it's your lucky day because I'm going to show you the proper way to use that word. Here's an example: Ignorant is someone who thinks mom and pop stores alone can adequately supply the needs of a nation exceeding 300 million people.

You see the difference? I actually explain why what you wrote is ignorant. You didn't do that. Why is that? Are you just mad about something in your life and you want to lash out at strangers? Hmmmm sounds familiar.

Wow. With such "enlightened" minds out there, no wonder this country elected Bush twice.

# Posted 1 yr ago
whynot_31
Former Lurker
Joined: Mar '06
Posts: 12,754

Mamacita wrote:

wholly crap there is math going on here! (----->runs away)

Yes, I'm glad I don't drink coffee. From this thread, it looks very difficult, expensive and makes people get all excited and jittery.

I am told one can respect the beliefs of others, without ratifying them.

# Posted 1 yr ago
Old Time Brooklyn
God of Rock
Joined: Jan '08
Posts: 710

If you live in this community and want an item and it's available at Wal-Mart and a local small business, you should patron the small business even if the price is higher. Small businesses, for the most part, put that money back into your community. Wal-Mart does not. And the price is higher for many reasons including the labor that's used and the proximity with which you can buy it.

I don't think anyone should support a lousy business model. I agree with you there. Lucas Foods is a recent example of a business that was badly thought out and problematic and you're right, didn't deserve to be in business. But you can't pretend that even the best small businesses and Wal-Mart are on the same footing, that supporting either of them with your money has the same outcome. The businesses in Park Slope don't have national lobbies to support their self-serving goals. They don't promote a lifestyle of "who gives a shit what I'm eating/drinking/wearing/watching as long as it's cheap."

Wal-Mart, McDonalds, Budweiser, JPMorganChase etc, are wonderfully successful businesses. That doesn't mean that they're good for this country.

# Posted 1 yr ago
Old Time Brooklyn
God of Rock
Joined: Jan '08
Posts: 710

Small business also doesn't equate to mom and pop all the time. I don't understand why we need Wal-Mart to cope with our population. 80% of this country lives near cities and suburban areas. You don't need Wal-Mart. The reason we have Wal-Mart is because we want/need to buy everything cheaply.

# Posted 1 yr ago
Piano
above average
Joined: Sep '10
Posts: 402

You still fail to explain how anything I wrote was ignorant.

What you're doing is the old typical and tiresome straw man routine. You fabricate a statement and try to make it sound like it's coming from someone else for the sole purpose of being able to knock it down and thus supporting your own thesis.

Let me demonstrate:

You wrote "you can't pretend that even the best small businesses and Wal-Mart are on the same footing."

When did I write that they were? Never.

You also said I can't pretend "supporting either of them with your money has the same outcome.

When did I write that they do? Never.

You wrote: "That doesn't mean that they're good for this country."

When did I write that they are? Never.

All I wrote was ... wait why do I have to tell you this? Why can't you read properly? I'm tired of having to do this for people. If you're literate, you know what I wrote.

Hey if you want to run the straw man routine straight out of the Karl Rove playbook, knock yourself out, go nuts, have a ball. Just leave me out of it.

# Posted 1 yr ago
Old Time Brooklyn
God of Rock
Joined: Jan '08
Posts: 710

What you wrote was opaque then. So explain what you meant. You ran into a thread on a local community board and said the following:

"We shouldn't have to prop up someone's failed business model. There's way too much deference and reverence for the small business in this country. And nobody gets more handouts and subsidies from the federal goverment. The way I see it, if you can't hack it and need me to subsidize your enterprise, you got no business being in business.

...there's nothing wrong with chain stores. It just happens to be very trendy to disparage them. Besides, most people seem to forget that pretty much all chains begin as local businesses."

Aside from saying that some chains began as local businesses, there's not much explanation for such an inflamed post. It seems you're misinformed or just trying to be a contrarian.

# Posted 1 yr ago
Juan Carlos Sauceda
Greenwood Heights
Joined: Nov '10
Posts: 20

Going back to the coffee, and sorry if I offend Old Time Brooklyn but I bought 3 different coffee flavors at Trader Joe's (I love Trader Joe's) Dark French Roast, Bay Blend and Kawai. I am enjoying the dark french and it is pretty good.

They have good selection and fare prices, not to mention those Spanish olives filled with garlic.

And I think everyone working there lives locally so they spend their money locally, rent food, clothing, services ........

"Leaving Brooklyn...Fuhgeddaboutit."

# Posted 1 yr ago
Piano
above average
Joined: Sep '10
Posts: 402

Oh, so it's opaque now, not ignorant. Easy mistake - it's the same thing as ignorant, except the words are spelled and pronounced differently and have completely different meanings. Perhaps you should understand the words before you type them, I bet people will find you more comprehensible.

Look, I'm not going to bother to explain what I wrote because it's in plain English, and if you can’t understand that's your problem. As difficult as this may be for you to fathom, I have absolutely no need for you to understand anything at all.

Besides, it’s obvious you just want to lash out a strangers as is the MO of more than a few sad sacks on this site. Heck, we could be talking about anything here … I don’t know, um, say bagels, and you’d still come back with post after post ad nauseum until everyone agrees with you (not going to happen) or everyone gets sick of this crap and leaves the thread, or a Mod has to swoop in and lock the thread because it has degenerated in yet another shit-tossing contest. So I’m done here with you. Feel free to carry on with this by yourself, I have no doubt you will.

# Posted 1 yr ago
Old Time Brooklyn
God of Rock
Joined: Jan '08
Posts: 710

Waaaah.

# Posted 1 yr ago
WhyFi
I'm Urban - recognize!
Joined: Jul '05
Posts: 5,268

Decaf - y'all should switch to decaf...

...not that there's anything wrong with that.

# Posted 1 yr ago
Piano
above average
Joined: Sep '10
Posts: 402

Ah, and the inevitable "voice of reason."

What on Earth would we do without our formulas?

# Posted 1 yr ago
WhyFi
I'm Urban - recognize!
Joined: Jul '05
Posts: 5,268

I strongly prefer "formulae," to "formulas."

You would have had me on your side.

...not that there's anything wrong with that.

# Posted 1 yr ago
Piano
above average
Joined: Sep '10
Posts: 402

How about formuli?

# Posted 1 yr ago
WhyFi
I'm Urban - recognize!
Joined: Jul '05
Posts: 5,268

No. That will not do.

...not that there's anything wrong with that.

# Posted 1 yr ago
Piano
above average
Joined: Sep '10
Posts: 402

By the way, the Food Coop coffee runs about 8 or 9 a pound depending on which kind you buy. The most expensive coffee is $10.75 a pound.

I'm kind of surprised no one mentioned Ozzies. Personally I don't like their coffee at all, but someone must because they're still in business.

# Posted 1 yr ago
Architecture Biscuit
getting it
Joined: Apr '09
Posts: 149

Mougar wrote:

Architecture Biscuit wrote:

quiddity wrote:

Let's do the math. $11/16 oz. = $0.60 per ounce. Now the coffee bags are $11 for 12 oz. That's $0.92 per ounce, or a 33% increase in price per ounce. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty steep increase with no notice.

That is a pretty steep increase, but your math is wrong. Going from $0.60 per ounce to $0.92 per ounce is not a 33% increase (that would be $0.60 to $0.80) but rather a 53% increase!!! Yowzers.

I don't generally get my coffee from Gorilla, but I do, from time to time, get coffee from places that brew Gorilla beans. I wonder how this will effect them.

($11 / 12oz - $11 / 16oz) / ($11 / 16oz) = 33%

Biscuit is correct that $0.60 -> $0.92 is a 53% increase, but $11/16oz = $0.69 / oz

You're right. I should have checked all the math.

# Posted 1 yr ago
Slopehead
Dodging strollers
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 137

Pound for pound you can't really beat the prices and quality of the PSFC coffee selection. I think Costco is a close second, but you're looking at a very limited choices there. If you really went to save money, drink tea.

# Posted 1 yr ago

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