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Penzey’s giveaway

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GrillSgt
GrillSgt Posts: 2,507
in Off Topic
Tomorrow Penzey’s has an in store giveaway of a spice package of a $31.95 value. Free online also but will have to pay shipping. The contents will be announced in the morning. 
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  • JohnInCarolina
    JohnInCarolina Posts: 30,948
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    Wow.  I’m still using the stuff from their last one. 
    "I've made a note never to piss you two off." - Stike
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  • Spaightlabs
    Spaightlabs Posts: 2,349
    edited July 2018
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    And 3...2...1 to people griping about politics and business and blah blah blah.
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  • SSQUAL612
    SSQUAL612 Posts: 1,186
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    Spaightlabs said:
    And 3...2...1 to people griping about politics and business and blah blah blah.
    Versus people griping about people griping about politics and business. 
    Tyler, TX   XL BGE 2016, KJ Classic 2019,  MES, 18.5 WSM,  Akorn Jr,  36"&17" Black Stone, Adj Rig, Woo, Grill Grates, SS Smokeware Cap, KAB,  FB 300, Thermapen 
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  • JohnInCarolina
    JohnInCarolina Posts: 30,948
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    SSQUAL612 said:
    Spaightlabs said:
    And 3...2...1 to people griping about politics and business and blah blah blah.
    Versus people griping about people griping about politics and business. 

    "I've made a note never to piss you two off." - Stike
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  • DoubleEgger
    DoubleEgger Posts: 17,174
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    Penzey prefers it to be political 
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,341
    edited July 2018
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    I'm good with that-with so many options out there I look for reasons to shop elsewhere.
    Edit:  Penzey has a store in L'ville.  Fortunately it is next to a BW3 and on the off-chance I am in the neighborhood, the BW3 vortex is strong.  ;)
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
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  • Gulfcoastguy
    Gulfcoastguy Posts: 6,296
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    After the exchange, I am about loaded up with rubs and sauces.
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  • TEXASBGE2018
    TEXASBGE2018 Posts: 3,831
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    Rockwall, Tx    LBGE, Minimax, 22" Blackstone, Pizza Party Bollore. Cast Iron Hoarder.

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  • JohnInCarolina
    JohnInCarolina Posts: 30,948
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    I kind of hate to admit this, but... if Eric Trump were giving away a free bottle of Sauvignon Blanc to celebrate the latest spate of liberal tears, I would not sign up to receive it.  Even with free shipping.  

    That’s not because I hate his politics.  No.  I’ve just never cared for Sauvignon Blanc.  

    "I've made a note never to piss you two off." - Stike
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  • Spaightlabs
    Spaightlabs Posts: 2,349
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    SSQUAL612 said:
    Spaightlabs said:
    And 3...2...1 to people griping about politics and business and blah blah blah.
    Versus people griping about people griping about politics and business. 
    I'm rubber and you're glue.
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  • thetrim
    thetrim Posts: 11,357
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    Keep it.  I’ll pass. 
    =======================================
    XL 6/06, Mini 6/12, L 10/12, Mini #2 12/14 MiniMax 3/16 Large #2 11/20 Legacy from my FIL - RIP
    Tampa Bay, FL
    EIB 6 Oct 95
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  • SSQUAL612
    SSQUAL612 Posts: 1,186
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    Spaightlabs said:
    SSQUAL612 said:
    Spaightlabs said:
    And 3...2...1 to people griping about politics and business and blah blah blah.
    Versus people griping about people griping about politics and business. 
    I'm rubber and you're glue.
    Sticks & Stones...
    Tyler, TX   XL BGE 2016, KJ Classic 2019,  MES, 18.5 WSM,  Akorn Jr,  36"&17" Black Stone, Adj Rig, Woo, Grill Grates, SS Smokeware Cap, KAB,  FB 300, Thermapen 
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  • DMW
    DMW Posts: 13,832
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    thetrim said:
    Keep it.  I’ll pass. 
    I'm with you. I won't take free stuff if the folks giving it away don't agree with my ideological or political views.

    Wait, no, that's not right. I'll take free stuff from anyone.
    They/Them
    Morgantown, PA

    XL BGE - S BGE - KJ Jr - HB Legacy - BS Pizza Oven - 30" Firepit - King Kooker Fryer -  PR72T - WSJ - BS 17" Griddle - XXL BGE  - BS SS36" Griddle - 2 Burner Gasser - Pellet Smoker
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  • HeavyG
    HeavyG Posts: 10,346
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    Amazing that with all this hot weather there are still so many snowflakes around.
    “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ― Philip K. Diçk




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  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 18,731
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    I'm in!

    Bill Penzey's rhetoric seems contrived at times, but it's all pretty entertaining. He's figured out a way to play to people's political sentiments (as others have too), and its all pretty entertaining,  at the least. 

    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
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  • Ozzie_Isaac
    Ozzie_Isaac Posts: 19,043
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    If you disagree with his politics you SHOULD take his free stuff.  If you take it and buy nothing else you are actually hurting his business.  The give aways are loss leaders.
    A bison’s level of aggressiveness, both physical and passive, is legendary. - NPS
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  • BuzzinBoca
    BuzzinBoca Posts: 13
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    The deal is up now.  2 oz vanilla and 1/2 C Salsa and Pico blend.  I don't use much vanilla, not sure if it is worth the shipping to me for the spice blend.  Spice value ~$20 if purchased on the site.  I've been buying Penzys spices for years and only recently became aware of the divisive politics in the packages.  I have always just thrown the junk away and put the spices in my cabinets, same as all marketing stuff in packages.
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  • Teefus
    Teefus Posts: 1,208
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    I feel a little bad for Bill. He has a great product but chooses to alienate about half his market with his political rants. I don't begrudge the man his views, but his approach is bad for business. I've opted out of all the mailers and email crap.
    Michiana, South of the border.
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  • thetrim
    thetrim Posts: 11,357
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    Surprised he couldn’t come up w something more exotic for his anti-Trump giveaway than VANILLA.  Sure, it’s (allegedly) Mexican vanilla.   That’s a little like George Zimmerman who NBC liked to refer to as a white Hispanic just to turn up the racial heat.   
    =======================================
    XL 6/06, Mini 6/12, L 10/12, Mini #2 12/14 MiniMax 3/16 Large #2 11/20 Legacy from my FIL - RIP
    Tampa Bay, FL
    EIB 6 Oct 95
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  • GrillSgt
    GrillSgt Posts: 2,507
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    Penzey's revenues are up substantially this year. More than enough to cover the giveaways.
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  • TEXASBGE2018
    TEXASBGE2018 Posts: 3,831
    edited July 2018
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    GrillSgt said:
    Penzey's revenues are up substantially this year. More than enough to cover the giveaways.

    I honestly don't know the answer but is Penzey's a privately owned company? How do you know his revenue is up substantially? Because he says it is? And surely someone who is a business owner who is so outwardly political would have zero incentive to boast about increased revenue. It couldn't possibly be that he's full of it. Again, I don't know because I don't know if they are public or privately held, I'm assuming they are privately held and I know enough small business owners to know that if you have to boast about your increased revenue to everyone on the internet especially after you make politically charged comments, you could be in fact hurting and it could easily be used as a mechanism to increase sales. Again, I don't know. All I know is that its your right to support him and my right to buy stuff everywhere else. So if someone wants to buy from them they can go for it. My parents do all the time and I have Penzey's spices in my cabinet right now. I will never spend any of my own money on them but if my parents want to buy me a set for a Christmas present I'm not gonna throw them away. We are talking about a spice company here. What % of Americans do you think buy spices from Penzey's? I would guess around 1% and of those 1% what % are Republican or Democrat? Its probably 50/50. What are the odds that anyone beyond his mailing list of say 3 Million people at best are gonna even know who the heck Penzey's spices are. Not a large chance. So essentially this guy is at most speaking to 3 Million people of which 1.5 Million would buy from him anyways. All he's done is maybe pissed off another 500,000. The odds that his revenue is going up substantially is looking smaller and smaller. Unless of course the 1.5million that would have bought from him anyways increased their purchases by say 30-40% which is doubtful.

    So to sum up. WHAT THE HECK ARE WE YELLING ABOUT?????


    Rockwall, Tx    LBGE, Minimax, 22" Blackstone, Pizza Party Bollore. Cast Iron Hoarder.

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  • HeavyG
    HeavyG Posts: 10,346
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    Teefus said:
    I feel a little bad for Bill. He has a great product but chooses to alienate about half his market with his political rants. I don't begrudge the man his views, but his approach is bad for business. I've opted out of all the mailers and email crap.
    My bet is that the percentage of his customers who even notice/care enough about his political statements/marketing is very small and likely just a rounding error in sales.


    “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ― Philip K. Diçk




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  • stlcharcoal
    stlcharcoal Posts: 4,684
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    GrillSgt said:
    Penzey's revenues are up substantially this year. More than enough to cover the giveaways.
    Privately held company.....no proof.  

    Even if they are, revenue doesn't mean anything, profit or EBITA are what it comes down to.  I've had years where revenue was WAY up, but profit was stagnant because of the extra help I needed to make that extra revenue, or building up infrastructure so I didn't need the help, or if I blew a ton on advertising.  Lot of variable costs when you increase your revenue.....does not equal the same % in profit.  Then you don't find out until the next year if those worked or not.  Staring blindly at my YTD reports for the 1st & 2nd quarter '17 vs. '18 right now.
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  • JohnInCarolina
    JohnInCarolina Posts: 30,948
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    stlcharcoal said:
    Seems to be a new marketing campaign out there......brand yourself as a trump hating company and make that your battle cry.  Bold strategy, especially when things will change in 2 or 6 yrs.  

    Kind of stupid if you ask me.....since you're immediately alienating half the country.  Then you're only appealing to a percentage of the other half that is hard core enough to spend money with you just because you share the same political views.  Might pick up some customer, but will surely lose some too.  Which had more money and brand loyalty?

    Sell your brand based off quality, customer service, etc.....not playing off emotion.  Time will tell how it works out for him.  Seems to have worked out for the last 2 yrs.....but the climate is rich for it 
    All things being equal, I agree with you. If you make a product that pretty much lots of people want and you have the lowest prices and the best customer service (or some combination), it's better to be apolitical, and to serve all customers equally, regardless of race or creed, political views, and etc. 

    What I don't know is whether or not the kind of strategy Penzey's has adopted here increasingly makes sense for specialty companies as the world becomes more and more Amazonified.  It's a strategy to distinguish yourself in a world where anyone can find a dozen varieties of smoked paprika via Amazon prime, and probably get them faster and more cheaply, than the single variety that you can afford to stock, for example.  

    And I agree that the current resident of the White House will eventually change, but our country is increasingly polarized.   It's not as though liberal causes are going to disappear just because there's a new President or a new Congress.  Many companies are also starting to incorporate aspects of social justice into their marketing and charitable donations.  That sort of thing is going to turn some customers off too, while attracting others.  

    I don't have all the answers to this by any stretch and the small consulting business that I run is hardly a point of reference that's any use here.  I'm just not sure it's as black and white as you suggest it is for all companies.  
    "I've made a note never to piss you two off." - Stike
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  • TEXASBGE2018
    TEXASBGE2018 Posts: 3,831
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    HeavyG said:
    Teefus said:
    I feel a little bad for Bill. He has a great product but chooses to alienate about half his market with his political rants. I don't begrudge the man his views, but his approach is bad for business. I've opted out of all the mailers and email crap.
    My bet is that the percentage of his customers who even notice/care enough about his political statements/marketing is very small and likely just a rounding error in sales.


    I doubt its a rounding error but I can somewhat agree with you that maybe not a whole lot of people would notice or care. My parents buy from them all the time and until I told them about his political leanings they didn't even know. It's just not a smart business decision to inject your personal politics into your business. That goes for anyone. Chickfila, Yeti, Penzeys, anyone. Why risk it. In todays society of snowflakes on both sides of the aisle. Why even bother when if you kept quiet you could reap the benefits of everyone liking your product.


    Rockwall, Tx    LBGE, Minimax, 22" Blackstone, Pizza Party Bollore. Cast Iron Hoarder.

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  • DoubleEgger
    DoubleEgger Posts: 17,174
    edited July 2018
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    Conventional wisdom is to stay out of the political arena; however, these aren’t conventional times. I would suspect that well over 99% of the population has never even heard of Penzeys. I think he’s made a calculated business decision to get political in order to keep from fading into obscurity. 

    If his business is so great, why is he giving away spices all the time? 
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  • JohnInCarolina
    JohnInCarolina Posts: 30,948
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    DoubleEgger said:

    If his business is so great, why is he giving away spices all the time? 
    It’s a loss leader as someone upstream pointed out.  It’s the spice world analog to a $0.99 Big Mac.

    Clearly, you’ve never been in sales =)
    "I've made a note never to piss you two off." - Stike
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  • stlcharcoal
    stlcharcoal Posts: 4,684
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    JohnInCarolina said:

    What I don't know is whether or not the kind of strategy Penzey's has adopted here increasingly makes sense for specialty companies as the world becomes more and more Amazonified.  It's a strategy to distinguish yourself in a world where anyone can find a dozen varieties of smoked paprika via Amazon prime, and probably get them faster and more cheaply, than the single variety that you can afford to stock, for example.  
    Good point on Amazon.  Got to make yourself stand out from them somehow....and that's definitely a way to do it.

    Our Amazon sales WAY outsell our webstore even though we charge a lot more.  It's tough to compete with that kind of convenience and trust.  Blows my mind how much more people will pay to buy it there.

    Either way, we'll stay apolitical here......doesn't matter what religion, political party, or color, if your money is green, you are my best friend and favorite customer!
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  • GrillSgt
    GrillSgt Posts: 2,507
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    stlcharcoal said:
    GrillSgt said:
    Penzey's revenues are up substantially this year. More than enough to cover the giveaways.
    Privately held company.....no proof.  

    Even if they are, revenue doesn't mean anything, profit or EBITA are what it comes down to.  I've had years where revenue was WAY up, but profit was stagnant because of the extra help I needed to make that extra revenue, or building up infrastructure so I didn't need the help, or if I blew a ton on advertising.  Lot of variable costs when you increase your revenue.....does not equal the same % in profit.  Then you don't find out until the next year if those worked or not.  Staring blindly at my YTD reports for the 1st & 2nd quarter '17 vs. '18 right now.
    So we shouldn't believe anything you say, correct?
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