Tag der offenen Tür
One interesting thing about Germany is the number of organized socio-economic events they have set up to bring people out of their homes, onto the streets, eating, drinking, generally being around others... and hopefully spending money "mit Vergnügung" (happily). There are all kinds of Schützenfest, Strassenfest, and other "Fests", and they rotoate from neighborhood to neighborhood, village to village, and town to town. Today it was "Tag der offenen Tür" in our town.
The local cafe where our cookies have been on sale for the past couple of weeks is directly on the town's main street, "Dorf Strasse", the street was closed off, it was a beautiful sunny day, stands selling everything from food and wine to clothing and insurance were set up along the street, and entertainment for all ages was abundant everywhere. We set up a table on the sidewalk where the cafe sets its tables, and offered cookies to the customers of the cafe, and to the people passing by.
First of all, I must say that today my respect for people who run cafes went up considerably. These people really work hard, especially on days like today. Our cafe had about 15 tables outside, and 5 or 6 inside. The tables were all full between let's say noon and 6 o'clock in the evening, often with people standing and waiting on the street for a table to be freed. I watched the five or six waiter/waitresses who really worked their butts off to keep a crowd of suntanned, well dressed, mainly grown-up people happy. They were successful, and I was appreciative of how much work really goes into success of any kind; even in just one cafe on a street in a small German town on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
Anyway, we had six varieties of cookies in nice glass jars, around 180 cookies total, with printed signs on each jar that showed the company name, cookie variety, list of all-Bio ingredients, and price. We sold around 120 at the price of 50 cents each. Some of what we learned was:
1- Although the cafe experience and test was interesting, our market-focus must remain on the internet.
2- Feedback about taste was quite positive, but our "cookie concept" is still the main selling point for the internet market.
3- Promotion is very very very very important.
4- Selling price is a factor, but not the most important one.
5- If your product is good, you will have repeat customers.
6- Chocolate melts under direct sun.
The local cafe where our cookies have been on sale for the past couple of weeks is directly on the town's main street, "Dorf Strasse", the street was closed off, it was a beautiful sunny day, stands selling everything from food and wine to clothing and insurance were set up along the street, and entertainment for all ages was abundant everywhere. We set up a table on the sidewalk where the cafe sets its tables, and offered cookies to the customers of the cafe, and to the people passing by.
First of all, I must say that today my respect for people who run cafes went up considerably. These people really work hard, especially on days like today. Our cafe had about 15 tables outside, and 5 or 6 inside. The tables were all full between let's say noon and 6 o'clock in the evening, often with people standing and waiting on the street for a table to be freed. I watched the five or six waiter/waitresses who really worked their butts off to keep a crowd of suntanned, well dressed, mainly grown-up people happy. They were successful, and I was appreciative of how much work really goes into success of any kind; even in just one cafe on a street in a small German town on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
Anyway, we had six varieties of cookies in nice glass jars, around 180 cookies total, with printed signs on each jar that showed the company name, cookie variety, list of all-Bio ingredients, and price. We sold around 120 at the price of 50 cents each. Some of what we learned was:
1- Although the cafe experience and test was interesting, our market-focus must remain on the internet.
2- Feedback about taste was quite positive, but our "cookie concept" is still the main selling point for the internet market.
3- Promotion is very very very very important.
4- Selling price is a factor, but not the most important one.
5- If your product is good, you will have repeat customers.
6- Chocolate melts under direct sun.
albaloo - 27. Sep, 21:04
