Is Wilke Having Trouble?
- Thread starter Piperjd
- Start date
Fair - it’s a real concern and I hate seeing what’s happened as a result but hope it has a solution!
Sutliff was the powerhouse behind many blends. And in the past not a lot of people knew much about it. I think they just thought of it as a run of the mill vendor.
Supplying blending tobaccos, providing blends for other vendors, and their own myriad blends, Sutliff drew a lot of water in the pipe tobacco world.
Now that they’re gone there’s a void; I believe there are plenty of places to get leaf, however the manufacturing aspect is gone. Unless the vendors are able to have that manufacturing, they lose whatever position they once had.
It’s a huge capital investment that very few are able to make. And the future of the business does not have good long term prospects from a business standpoint.
Supplying blending tobaccos, providing blends for other vendors, and their own myriad blends, Sutliff drew a lot of water in the pipe tobacco world.
Now that they’re gone there’s a void; I believe there are plenty of places to get leaf, however the manufacturing aspect is gone. Unless the vendors are able to have that manufacturing, they lose whatever position they once had.
It’s a huge capital investment that very few are able to make. And the future of the business does not have good long term prospects from a business standpoint.
Yes, and a little banner that pops up telling you they are in limited supply and to call and inquire about a particular blend if that's what you want.
Sutliff bought their tobacco from someone and that someone must now be seeking new customers. There aren’t that many wholesale tobacco companies out there, should be none too difficult to figure it out.
In the post Sutliff landscape, there are a lot of vendors struggling to readjust. Sky is falling posts are counter productive, especially where it concerns smaller shops.
Take a breath, hold on to your wad, and endeavor to preserver…
Take a breath, hold on to your wad, and endeavor to preserver…
I would guess that Sutliff bought a majority, if not all of their tobacco at auction…
The major manufacturers, I.e. cigarette manufacturers, buy at auction or have contracts with major growers.
Yeah I wish I hadn’t have made this post now.
The order was delivered and is as fantastic as usual in typical Wilke fashion.
None of this falls on Wilke, I’ve been hearing about the sutliff issue before I even discovered Wilke blends.
Please don’t use this post to shit on Wilke.
The order was delivered and is as fantastic as usual in typical Wilke fashion.
None of this falls on Wilke, I’ve been hearing about the sutliff issue before I even discovered Wilke blends.
Please don’t use this post to shit on Wilke.
Tobacco is almost entirely contacted for. There are still some small auctions (perhaps enough to have supplied Mac Barren/Sutliff), but their sales volume is tiny compared to contracted sales. I don’t know what the current auction sales volume is.
I think the problem in the current market is less of a matter of acquiring tobacco, and more that without Sutliff there's no one to process that tobacco into a usable state for blending. Sutliff was the essential middleman who turned all that unrefined raw leaf into something mellow and smooth that blenders could work with.
America One (or maybe it’s One America, been a while) is a major supplier to manufacturers and their site stated that they also process tobaccos for blenders. There’s a whole level in the process of which we’re largely unaware.
Well, I don’t know either…
Tobacco is my hobby, not my business.
Bottom line - margins in the tobacco business are flat or declining. It’s only a matter of time before things get worse.
When I placed an order a little while back, neither were on the site, and everything I ordered was, by the site’s info, in stock.
I’m pretty sure the pipist that will be the end user is a patient fellow and will appreciate it when they do get to him (it’s a Som Besths situation).
I have reason to believe that the pipist you were referring to is, as you suggested, a patient and generally a very appreciative type fellow. SOM BESTHS to all …, and to all a good night!