mycuppa December 2018 newsletter
Firstly, we have to inform our customers that, yet again, AusPost plunged to new levels of poor performance in the last week of November.
The same thing happens every year - they hire an army of temps or casuals, and parcels go missing for days on end or routed via the wrong state.
It's disturbing and alarming to see the same problems occur over and over for the last eight years when they encounter higher volumes, causing chronic gridlocks resulting in frustrations for our customers and us.
We urge our customers to avoid AusPost this time of year and take a look at Sendle - so far, in the peak freight season, Sendle's performance has far exceeded AusPost.
It's almost here - our final shipping before Xmas is midday, Friday 21st December 2018.
The mycuppa store remains open to accept orders 24/7 throughout the Xmas period, and we'll be back roasting coffee on Boxing Day, with shipping commencing on Thursday, 27th December 2018.
Freight companies have skeleton staff during the holiday periods, so please plan your orders, allowing for extra transit time.
Our feature article takes a look at how our lives and shopping habits are changing - 2018 in review.
This month's Secret Label is a flavour powerhouse for a limited time only until it is sold out.
We have made a decision to close our subscription service in December 2018.
The administrative overheads involved in managing customer preferences have been twisting us into knots. All existing entitlements will be fully honoured.
On behalf of the mycuppa team, we wish you and your families a safe and wonderful Xmas.
December Secret Label
We have genuinely enjoyed the Secret Label program, and it seems to be resonating well with our customers.
This month, we are driving Secret Label in a different direction.
Historically, we have gone hunting for interesting and distinctive single-origin lots; however, this month, we wanted to showcase the skills and craft of blending coffee.
We think this special, limited edition blend demonstrates the sort of ways in which individual coffee components can enhance the cup when designed properly.
Blending is not easy; in fact, it's really quite difficult as often coffees mixed together can cancel out certain attributes or characteristics, differing acids react or diffuse, flavours mutate, or the cup ends up unbalanced.
When blending coffees, I'm often losing far more often than winning and hence, when you do strike up something decent, it's worth celebrating.
December's Secret Label is a powerhouse of flavour.
Strong, mid-palate notes of cocoa, caramel and rich berries with a refined acid profile and an amazing long finish of dark chocolate.
This month's Secret Label is, dare we say it, a symphony of coffee engineering with deceptive complexity, ballsy mid-palate and wrapped in a silky smooth body.
It's a full package of everything we love about classic coffee flavours without going too far with fruits - quite possibly the perfect coffee to serve in your Xmas functions as it's bound to please literally everyone.
The December Secret Label is offered at a great price - throwing shade on coffees sold at twice the price. It's composed of high-grade, expensive specialty micro-lots.
Continuing the Xmas theme, ground packs will be available to order this time, but please be aware we don't hold ground inventory on any coffees, including this December Secret Label.
Each ground order requires time and effort - a manual task to open, grind and seal each bag.
Peak times (in the first few days of a promotion starting) or late afternoon orders for ground coffees may involve a delay if we don't have sufficient time to grind the coffees.
We ask our ground coffee customers to please be aware of this process for the specific promotion.
2018 - a year in review
We take a broader look at the shifts in our everyday lives.
From burning gas and burning out - how 2018 has been our most challenging year since 2007 and not for reasons that first spring to mind.
Did anyone say fake news or smoke & mirrors - the media and politicians suffering short-term thinking would have you believe our golden days are well and truly over.
Can you spot the Flat-footed retailer? - consumers are changing their habits to shop small and shop often and more to the point of shopping everywhere.
Power shift - you know there's a problem when shoppers are better informed than retailers.
Online marketplaces - merchants on a hiding to nothing - it's all about who's owning the customer or buyer.
Australia's dysfunctional parcel logistics - a broken record that keeps on spinning.
Fighting the good fight - a battle to gain fair and balanced outcomes - the tide needs to turn.
Read our full article - here. (no, it's not clickbait)
mycuppa Subscription Service is ending
Our subscription service is closing in December 2018.
For those customers with existing entitlements, please do not worry, as we will continue to source exciting and exotic lots that showcase exceptional characteristics of coffee. In other words, your subscription will be fully honoured.
To explain the reasons for closing the subscription - we have known for a long time that trying to match coffee consumption with defined intervals is literally impossible.
We totally get it.......one week, you have a rush of visitors, and other weeks, you are away, so the rates of usage are varied. It's simply not the same as a magazine or other products that can be used or consumed at varied times.
For me personally, I've thoroughly enjoyed having the motivation and inspiration to go hunting for coffee - it's kind of like taking a child to the lolly shop, and it provides all of us with a sense of purpose and intent to go that one step further.
Unfortunately, difficulties in managing the ongoing changes from customers have meant we are well and truly tied in knots every fortnight trying to manage who's in this run and who's out.
It consumes a huge administrative workload. We are not blaming customers; it's just the tools we use and the ways in which we have to manage the service are, well, difficult.
Since launching the Subscription service all those years ago, we have received so much positive feedback from customers who love the service - so here's a big thank you for the kindness and support.
It's by no means a signal that we have stopped hunting for interesting coffees - quite the contrary, as our range of coffees is always expanding, with mycuppa offering the largest range of premium, fresh-roasted coffees in Australia.
