Why are some tobaccos just not found in a tub or bulk? I know that I'm not the only one to be frustrated by this.
My latest buy:
My latest buy:
Tub Or Not To Tub... That Is The Question
- Thread starter JMcQ
- Start date
SmokingPipes.com Updates
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
- Status
Not sure. There’s quite a lot like that though. The Amphora range... sail... lots of Brit OTC.
Probably mainly sold at newsstands, gas stations, or convenience type tobacco shops so no room for tubs to be sitting around.
And more money is made this way, too.
Imagine you are a tobacco brand executive. What's your choice? What's your move? Each has its appeal. What's the distribution point? What is the customer there willing to pay? Etc. Etc. A few years ago, Granger abandoned its long used foil pouch and now sells only the tub. It's all a marketing exercise, a calculation of what works best and which blend fits which packaging. Execs sit around for days thinking about this, arguing about it, figuring. Careers are built and trashed on what works and what doesn't. It's a big question -- tin, bulk, tub, pouch. Money on the table.
Money. Go on smokingpipes.com or marscigars.com (forget which). Check out the price of tubs of Borkum Riff vs. pouches. Your get one tub or 4.5 pouches.
Mike S.
Mike S.
Most of the American OTC blends I smoke come in tub or pouch. I prefer the tub because the blend tastes better from the tub. The fact that 5 Brothers comes in a pouch only doesn't bother me because I always transfer it to mason jars. If it came in the tub I'd still transfer it to mason jars.
Oh brother
Somehow we love to talk about tobacco companies going under because you can't make a living in the tobacco business, but if they try to make profitable decisions for themselves, suddenly it's greed. The profit motive is the reason we enjoy so many different blends in so many different configurations.To quote Adam Smith: "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest."
I appreciate your reply and would characterize it as an apt description pre-Reagan. Since then the interests of the rich and powerful have become dominant. They are about greed, but pipe tobacco producers probably are not; however greed only begins to describe the cigarette manufacturers.
It may very well be the demand for tubs has gone down so much it isn't economically feasible to have them fabricated. I would guess these are molded, albeit a cheaper molding process, and a certain volume level needs to be purchased to amortize the tooling and set up costs to run the lot.
It may also be these tubs aren't huge sellers so there's a danger of the inventory exceeding the shelf life if they're not bought. Again, all speculation on my part.
It may also be these tubs aren't huge sellers so there's a danger of the inventory exceeding the shelf life if they're not bought. Again, all speculation on my part.
I'm not sure I agree. This is an anecdotal statement people like to make, but with the exception of the unholy trinity of tech companies, most good measures of corporate dominance/greed (like five-firm concentration ratios, Herfendahl indices, etc.) point in the opposite direction.
Based on my incomplete understanding of economics and history, so-called corporate greed was much more dominant a little over a century ago, when people like Andrew Carnegie and Karl Wittgenstein (see, I recognize your avatar!) truly dominated their industries and national economies.
I'm more inclined to agree with Hoosier. Profit is a great signal as to whether you're using your resources as efficiently as possible or not. Companies don't offer bulk/tubs because the profit isn't high enough-- i.e. there is a more efficient allocation of their resources possible.
On the other hand, there are certain blends which are only available in bulk, and I'd love to be able to get them in tins (lookin' at you, C&D).
- Status