Why do B&Ms Rebrand Bulk Tobacco?

[InWithBothFeet]

Why is it that B&Ms rebrand bulk tobaccos? I went looking for some 1Q a few weeks ago and nothing they had in the jars was labeled that way. I asked and they said Oh yea, this is what you want. They called it "Holy Grail". Changing the name of the tobacco makes it harder to know what you're looking at, at least for someone walking in wanting something specific.

 

[BrightDarkEyes]

I agree. I like to look at reviews of blends before I spend $70+ for 50 grams of a blend.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

It probably came down to marketing over the years and a chance to add something personal at the local tobacconist. “Holy Grail” and a host of other names might be more memorable than 1Q.

 

[Old Smokey]

 

[Chasing Embers]

Money. Take Sleepy Hollow for $70+/pound versus Sutliff Pumpkin Spice for $35/pound.

 

[Non-Mentholated Black Man]

The practice was surely meant to afford retail shops the ability to create a perception of having their own brand(s); which, in professional bull-shitter terms, is known as USP (unique selling proposition/point).

Regardless of the reasoning behind this form of retailer branding, one thing is practically guaranteed:
1Q (Captain Black Royal) is being offered for sale.

 

[proteus]

Some smaller shops blend up different Sutliff ingredients into their own blend. Big tobacco processors and manufacturers buy direct from farms but many smaller ones have to buy from the big tobacco processors. 750 lbs per bale is a lot for some smaller shops to handle. And then add the equipment and real estate to process the raw leaf like large floor presses, slicers, purpose made tobacco humidification, heat etc. And the packaging like the cans and sealers...It's just prohibitive for some smaller M&P tobacconists. Some go the copacker or private label route and arrange for a specific recipe to be made and packed by a larger tobacco processor like Sutliff. It's all about market share and supply.

 

[rokerdepipe]

I remember Comferford’s here Ottawa rebranding Lane 1Q and sold it as their home blended “Confederation Blend”. I always wondered why they went to all the trouble in re-naming their stuff too. I was happy to ultimately get what I wanted though.

 

[mingc]

So that they can pretend that they have the know-how to blend tobaccos. It's basically low level fraud.

It also means you can't go to another shop to buy the same blend as the name is unique to the particular shop.

 

[ashdigger]

Because they can. I think Lane encourages it.

If you walk into the Sanctuary in San Luis Obispo and ask for RPL-6 they’ll sell you their “blend” they call Monks.

 

[sablebrush52]

It probably came down to marketing over the years and a chance to add something personal at the local tobacconist. “Holy Grail” and a host of other names might be more memorable than 1Q.

Exactly. Tobacconists create proprietary labels for the bulk that they buy so the customer will think they can only get that blend at that store. It's not only bulk. 1Q has also been tinned many times and sold under other names. This also allows customers to think they're getting something exclusive.

 

[Hutch Piper]

Why does a diner buy Bisquick, cook it up, and sell them as Granny’s Flapjacks?

 

[InWithBothFeet]

That's a good question, but I only have bandwidth for one outrage at a time.

 

[AJL67]

On the bright side if you go in and say "I'm looking for something like ______" they will just point you to their custom branded tobacco that is most likely exactly what you are looking for.

 

[renfield]

Frequently it’s to get a bunch of blends whose names fit with the “theme” of the shop.

Eons back I smoked Gold Rush from a local B&M for years before finding out it was 1-Q.

 

[pappymac]

Exactly. Tobacconists create proprietary labels for the bulk that they buy so the customer will think they can only get that blend at that store. It's not only bulk. 1Q has also been tinned many times and sold under other names. This also allows customers to think they're getting something exclusive.

I vaguely remember reading somewhere that bulk blends were intended to be relabeled for sale by the tobacconists.

Is not the time to relate the story about a B&M in Covington, LA that only sells relabeled bulk as their private blends because "No one buys tinned tobacco." anymore. I was actually told that by one of the owners. She claimed her husband personally hand mixed each of their blends.

 

[kcghost]

They do because it is more profitable to them to do so. Why else would they do it??

 

[jpmcwjr]

They do because it is more profitable to them to do so. Why else would they do it??

Please see other answers upthread.

 

[Doctor Chopper]

Exactly. Tobacconists create proprietary labels for the bulk that they buy so the customer will think they can only get that blend at that store. It's not only bulk. 1Q has also been tinned many times and sold under other names. This also allows customers to think they're getting something exclusive.

+1

B&M have to charge more to make any profit. If you know the real name, you buy online bulk instead.

 

[jpberg]

This all started before almost all of were born. Like when there were multiple tobacco shops in every town that had over 2,000 inhabitants.
Some shops really did blend unique stuff out of their bulks, and some shops simply named 1Q after a local landmark.
The economics and the whys of today are irrelevant to when it started.