Changes in GH twists

[pinem]

Social Media...proving the age old truth: "children should be seen, not heard."

Actually, it has further bolstered the notion children shouldn't be seen either. Back to the textile mills with them. Let them serve a purpose again. And for those who say, "but the labor laws." No worries, children come in all ages now, thanks to social media.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Or I could read them for the twentieth time and wonder what the point is.
Could you tell me what the point is?

Still an open discussion forum last I checked. Don't like the topic, don't read it or comment. No need for trolling.

 

[pinem]

Hmm, in the interest of trying to get this back on topic. What if we forced everyone with a X account to indentured servitude in the tobacco fields as community service (after taking away all electronic devices, would not want them documenting it for likes).

 

[buroak]

Well, this thread is informative but not as entertaining as I thought it would be. Peace on Earth I guess.

I am pleasantly surprised by the way this has gone. I am not an uncritical consumer, and I do miss some of the G&H blends that are no longer produced, but I am loath to berate a small tobacco company hanging on in Britain and trying to serve a niche within a niche market. Plus, with the worries about what the Mac Baren takeover means for Mac Baren and Sutliff, I am glad G&H’s only merger activity has been to consolidate the Lakelands companies. Finally, and at the risk of sounding like a lickspittle, how many other tobacco companies would send out a @gawithhoggarth to engage with the forum denizens and their grumbles?

 

[Pipke]

Well FWIW, this thread made me purchase some GH tobacco to try, even with the bizarre "wall of text" posts.

 

[Chasing Embers]

how many other tobacco companies would send out a @gawithhoggarth to engage with the forum denizens and their grumbles?

Rachel is the one that GH sould switch gears and target a modern audience, but we do have membership here from C&D, Wilke, and others.

 

[georged]

Rachel is the one that GH sould switch gears and target a modern audience, but we do have membership here from C&D, Wilke, and others.

More likely they've considered the "chase a modern audience" approach and rejected it, the same way they rejected modern methods of making tobacco blends.

Historically only about 5% of people who take up pipe smoking are still doing it after two years. Trying to appeal to the new-trend-every-minute crowd would only make that situation worse/more complicated.

 

[buroak]

Rachel is the one that GH sould switch gears and target a modern audience, but we do have membership here from C&D, Wilke, and others.

Point. I didn’t mean to imply that G&H is the only company with a presence here.

 

[buroak]

More likely they've considered the "chase a modern audience" approach and rejected it, the same way they rejected modern methods of making tobacco blends.

Historically only about 5% of people who take up pipe smoking are still doing it after two years. Trying to appeal to the new-trend-every-minute crowd would only make that situation worse/more complicated.

They could have a billion dollar dream team of vapid influencers, and I would never know it.

I did stumble upon LJ Peretti’s Instagram page while seeking to verify that their Thanksgiving blend had already come and gone (I’ll try again next year). I am flabbergasted to think someone has the task of photo-documenting and staging the day-to-day’s minutiae in an effort to “connect.” Talk about generating more heat than light.

This is no knock against Peretti. They are trying to survive in a place as unfriendly to tobacco as the UK (more unfriendly regarding “flavored” pipe tobacco). I do not blame for grasping at any possible lifeline in sight.

 

[Chasing Embers]

More likely they've considered the "chase a modern audience" approach and rejected it, the same way they rejected modern methods of making tobacco blends.

Doesn't sound like it. Corresponds too coincidentally with complaints of product changes around 2018-2019.

Post-2015 Samuel Gawith, Bob Gregory’s Story | Dutch Pipe Smoker

dutchpipesmoker.com

 

[fireground_piper]

Doesn't sound like it. Corresponds too coincidentally with complaints of product changes around 2018-2019.

Post-2015 Samuel Gawith, Bob Gregory’s Story | Dutch Pipe Smoker

dutchpipesmoker.com

Not again - Post-2015 Samuel Gawith, Bob Gregory’s Story :: General Pipe Smoking Discussion - https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/threads/post-2015-samuel-gawith-bob-gregory%E2%80%99s-story.101976/

 

[Chasing Embers]

Not again - Post-2015 Samuel Gawith, Bob Gregory’s Story :: General Pipe Smoking Discussion - https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/threads/post-2015-samuel-gawith-bob-gregory%E2%80%99s-story.101976/

Yep

 

[andrew]

That's too bad about coconut twist. I'd tried some in a box pass and loved it. It was a mild rope. I guess the prep was too much perhaps as it seems most ropes are absolute powerhouses so we know it's worth it

 

[PipeIT]

You can't not mean to take something off topic, and then follow that statement up with what might be the longest post in internet history specifically taking the thread off topic. You must have spent a half an hour putting that post together.

Nah, I’m a fast thinker, I wrote it all as fast as one could type it.

I just really love and respect Gawith, and felt the need to share that long wind... LOL

Be well!

 

[gawithhoggarth]

SOCIAL MEDIA - we have several social media accounts that I personally run. Again I would point out we are a VERY small company. There are just 30 or so of us for the whole of management, sales team, office and admin, production, packing and dispatch, import and export and finance. We all wear many hats and do many things.

Up until fairly recently the social media platforms were regularly posted to. I covered much of the history, local things about Kendal, bits on production and stuff I had found in the archives. There is only so much you can do on this before you start to cover the same ground. I did a meet the team series. I personally and I am sure much of the staff will feel the same way - do not want my personal life and what I do outside the factory and business, plastered all over social media

Also please keep in mind that there are very strict advertising rules, certainly in the UK, with regard to tobacco. We cannot be seen to be marketing any products, pushing tobacco. That severely narrows what you can talk about.

The website has had a quick overall, while the main new website is built behind the scenes. This will integrate with many of our systems so is taking some time.

Also currently as we are moving factory and warehouses (and I have been renovating and moving back into my house) I do not have the time to manage the factory and day to day production and oversee the building sites and move, as well as do social media. It will come in time.

Oh and Mr Gregory's 'side' shall we say borders on libel as well as being incredibly off the mark. I understand that he wants to try and protect his reputation, but I have now spent years trying to claw back the thousands and thousands of debts he left us with in the export department as well as sort out numerous other problems. He had to resort to personal attacks as that is all he had. He knows the real reasons why he had to leave along with other management. In order for GH to survive post 2015 'ish' there had to be a big change in management for financial, business, regulatory and HR reasons.

 

[BingBong]

Re hoarding - time was when I could go to my local tobacconist and pick up my regular smoke, 2oz at a time, and it was always available. Those times have gone, sadly. London used to be peppered with decent little tobacconists with good stock, now I have more fingers on one hand than there are such retailers.

For me, I think there's one shop near Fenchurch Street which stocks SG/G&H and not the whole range. So, it's online for me. Then, last winter, there was not a scrap of Cabbies to be had, nor my backup, Petersons DNR. Since it came back in stock, I've been overbuying as a consequence - yes, I will stop for a while and yes, it bothers me that such a pattern is bad all the way up the chain. But the way things are nowadays, what is one to do?

 

[georged]

Rachel ---

The nature of the Internet in general---and especially boards like this one that consist exclusively of the written word---is an endless fascination/interest with rabbit holes to dive down, scandalous discoveries (either real or imagined), and so forth, because discussion (occasionally bordering on argument) is all that's possible.

Reinforce that by having the participants be independent-minded by definition (their being pipe smokers assures that), and it can be a muddy, pothole-filled field indeed.

I, for one, am truly thrilled to have a representative of one the only tobacco companies left in the world (at least in the Western world) that still does things the Old Way out of stubbornness, conviction, and tradition. That your blends are also flavor bombs which lean toward strength and traditional cuts that require the "full immersion" of knowledgeable preparation doesn't hurt.

So. Please don't stop dropping by occasionally to say whatever you think needs saying, mud and potholes be damned.

My baseline of experience of Life in general and pipes & pipe tobacco in particular also makes me think that there are a lot of young smokers on this board who might not even realize how special it is to able to communicate with someone in a key position halfway around the world who literally exists to serve their passion.

But they will.

One day, they will.

 

[jpberg]

Oooh. This isn’t going to sit well with disciples of St. Robert the Gregory, Keeper of the Fruity Ennerdale.

 

[condorlover1]

I suppose in the final analysis nothing ever remains constant. Changes in blends happen or they simply disappear. A favorite of mine, the venerable Gawith and Hogwarts Innertube Flake tastes slightly different from my first encounter with the stuff thirty years ago. Since no manufacturer has come up with something comparable you just adjust your expectations or give up smoking. The people at Gawith have an almost impossible task on their hands keeping everyone happy. Having been in their position with War Horse I tend to have some sympathy for the position they find themselves in, that being said they do export their products far beyond the English shores so they must be doing something right!

 

[LouisPiper]

Whenever one of these threads come up