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Bulk vs. tins question for those in the industry.

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daimyo

daimyo

Lifer
May 15, 2014
1,460
4
I am curious why some of the more popular blends are not sold in bulk? I know that many people here buy many tins of blends by GL Pease, Rattray and such. Is there a specific reason that so many brands do not sell their most popular ones in bulk? It seems like it would be a win, win situation. They save on packaging and simplify shipping, the customer saves on price and reduces the amount of tins they leave empty.

 
mso489

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,459
I'm not in the industry, but I might additionally point out that I find I tend to smoke bulk tobacco first. It's either in

the plastic bag, or I have handled it jarring it, and it seems to be ready for use. With a tin, I'm always putting off

opening it, sometimes thinking it is improving with age, but mostly thinking it will keep well enough. Bulk might

actually be better marketing by selling higher volume. Just a thought.

 
yazamitaz

yazamitaz

Lifer
Mar 1, 2013
1,757
1
Your making sense here daimyo and I am going to have to ask you to stop :)
I have thought the same thing and look forward to input by those in the biz

 
mcitinner1

mcitinner1

Lifer
Apr 5, 2014
4,043
24
Missouri
Well, Russ' article made me realize I need to get the rest of my bulk jarred up instead of thinking, I'll get around to it sometime, and that I'm not going to ever stop buying tins.
tinner

 
blendtobac

blendtobac

Lifer
Oct 16, 2009
1,237
213
The bulk vs. tinned issue is always a dilemma for us. Certain blends suffer from the exposure to air that occurs in bulk, so I'm really reticent to sell them in anything but tins. In the case of our Signature Series blends, they started out as bulk only and have always been available that way so it would be foolish to stop. I have a fairly robust Va/Per coming out this fall, and I doubt we'll ever offer it in bulk because I expect the fermentation that takes place in the tin will do some magical things to the blend.
Russ

 
daimyo

daimyo

Lifer
May 15, 2014
1,460
4
Excellent info and thank you Russ. I suppose I have never been that picky about tins vs bulk but I can see if someone is used to a certain taste and smell, it would be disappointing to get something a bit different.

 
blendtobac

blendtobac

Lifer
Oct 16, 2009
1,237
213
Just a note- Balkan Luxury 957 also has Turkish tobacco in it. It was one of the three blends entered in the Balkan Sobranie 759 Throwdown in 2011, along with Balkan Blue (formerly Blue Mountain) by McClelland and my BlackHouse. Sutliff's blender, Carl McAllister is a good friend, and we discussed what was in our entries, and Turkish was one of his components.
Russ

 
B

bonneville

Lurker
Aug 14, 2013
17
0
I own a small Tobacconist shop and at the recent IPCPR in Vegas I was talking to my Peterson rep. They are soon going to be offering some of their tobaccos in bulk 1 pound packages. Their only reasoning was that some people prefer to by in bulk (for whatever reason). I imagine it's different for every company. But at the end of the day it's all about sales. What are people going to buy? Bulk does make it more accessible to people who only want to buy an ounce of something. In my shop, I sell 90% bulk tobacco. The rest is in tins. From a Brick and Mortar point of view, I think this is because people like to smell the tobacco in the jar to decide whether or not they want to buy it. Some people aren't willing to invest in a sealed tin without a hint as to what it might smell like.
My 2 cents.

 
settersbrace

settersbrace

Lifer
Mar 20, 2014
1,565
5
My experience has taught me that occasionally a bulk offering of say brand x will taste slightly off from its tinned self and when that does occur I have to weigh whether or not it's enough of a difference to make it a deal breaker. It doesn't happen often though. More often a blend sold in bulk is spot on with the tinned offering and when that opportunity presents itself it's a advisable to stock up, jar it up and do your happy dance because you've just saved yourself a ton of money and if you've bought enough, you won't have to lament should the day come when it's no longer produced. I started working in a B&M in June of this year and we have a pretty good selection of both tinned and bulk tobaccos and it absolutely amazed me how quickly a 5# bag of tobacco can disappear.

 
derfargin

derfargin

Lifer
Mar 3, 2014
2,028
28
Kennesaw, GA
For me it's a price issue. I buy bulk because it's cost effective. I find it funny when people lament on P&C being out of tins of a blend that is offered in bulk and is most always in stock. Oh well, people can spend their own money as they wish.

 
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