Hops Bulk Buy: Problem

[cooperplace]

Fellow home brewers,

especially those who have been in touch with me by email re cascade hops. The hop supplier, Hopco, who had previously quoted prices for cascade hops supplied in 5kg lots, stopped replying to my emails, so I called him. The man said, "I saw you had a posting on Aussiehomebrewer so I decided not to supply you".

He then told me that he didn't have any cascade hops. He says that he gets grief from his retailers if he supplies people in bulk thru this website.

Make of that what you will.

To all of the people who emailed, I'm sorry, but the hops are no longer available.

Peter

 

[THE DRUNK ARAB]

Wow, now there's a turn up for the books! :lol:

Peter, in future if you can get a hold of bulk hops or bulk grain then don't advertise it on the open forum, it always ends in tears Perhaps send a few private messages to people in your area.

C&B
TDA

 

[Batz]

First you come across this?

I could add several bits of interesting info as well,but I won't

Batz

 

[Cortez The Killer]

Market forces hey... :unsure:

Who would have thought hop market was so stitched up ^_^

Edit: Next it'll be the grain market...hang on a second

 

[Fourstar]

Huh.... All the kudos we put into retailers and the SUPPORT/MONEY we put into their business. Then to see the response we get from a supplier because of a select few. <_<

Seems like the homebrewing scene is ran under a dictatorship after all. I wonder if hop distributors will eventually stop supplying some mircobreweries because they are making better beer than their Macro counterparts and they might get upset.

 

[fraser_john]

Same thing happened at Toledo Metal Spinning. They were selling 12 gallon stainless steel cones for US$82, which lots of home brewers were buying and turning into their own conical fermenters. Once they found out what was going on, they changed the purchasing rules so that unless you were buying ten at a time, they were well over US$120 each! All of a sudden, they had no one-off customers!

Seems contrary to the idea of a company making a profit, to turn customers away. Naturally, its up to them who they do business with....

TMS Conical price list now!

 

[dpadden]

From what I can see they are a wholesaler and generally wouldn't sell directly to the public. The retailers would be buying a hell of a lot more than 5kg so is important to keep them happy. thats business.

Having said that, he should have told you this upfront and not tried to do a sneaky deal like he has. HE has only stopped it once it was out in public

 

[peas_and_corn]

I can't say I'm surprised. This was a BIG kerfuffle a few years back when the hop supplier veto was first imposed. More info (if you can get it) would be great, it'll be good to find out where this leads to.

For anyone who wants to do a hop bulk buy, I'm always interested... and let's do it VIA PM, eh?

Cheers,
Dave

 

[AndrewQLD]

Fellow home brewers,

especially those who have been in touch with me by email re cascade hops. The hop supplier, Hopco, who had previously quoted prices for cascade hops supplied in 5kg lots, stopped replying to my emails, so I called him. The man said, "I saw you had a posting on Aussiehomebrewer so I decided not to supply you".

He then told me that he didn't have any cascade hops. He says that he gets grief from his retailers if he supplies people in bulk thru this website.

Make of that what you will.

To all of the people who emailed, I'm sorry, but the hops are no longer available.

Peter

I bet they didn't expect you to quote them on AHB either :lol: I wonder if he will get a dressing down from his "retailers" for letting the cat out of the bag . There are not that many hop suppliers around, how is it they can be held to ransom like this?

Andrew

 

[Batz]

I bet they didn't expect you to quote them on AHB either :lol: I wonder if he will get a dressing down from his "retailers" for letting the cat out of the bag . There are not that many hop suppliers around, how is it they can be held to ransom like this?

Andrew

Someone forwards messages posted on here that's been proven.
As for information,do an advanced search and go way way back,then read what's happened over the years.

Batz

 

[warrenlw63]

Warren -

 

[MarkBastard]

Haha at least the great hop conspiracy is confirmed.

Isn't this practise illegal?

 

[peas_and_corn]

Warren -

I thought Big Brother had a moustache?

 

[jonocarroll]

Rush job; due for a meeting.

 

[warrenlw63]

I thought Big Brother had a moustache?

:lol: Haven't got him mixed up with Uncle Sam have you?

I think our big brother model looks more like Hoover or McCarthy.

Warren -

 

[peas_and_corn]

:lol: Haven't got him mixed up with Uncle Sam have you?

I think our big brother model looks more like Hoover or McCarthy.

Warren -

It's been a few years since I've read 1984, but I remember references to the 'mustachioed face'

 

[warrenlw63]

It's been a few years since I've read 1984, but I remember references to the 'mustachioed face'

One could draw a lot of Orwellian parallels with certain aspects of this forum. h34r:

Warren -

 

[Cortez The Killer]

 

[peas_and_corn]

One could draw a lot of Orwellian parallels with certain aspects of this forum. h34r:

Warren -

We're always pushing AGthink

 

[Fermented]

Isn't this practise illegal?

No, unfortunately.

Any seller can refuse to sell to any person or organisation for any reason they see fit.

How this bloke has done it seems rather unethical. However, he's putting his long term income from his dealer channel against his retail channel which if anything is a sound business practice. He should not have started trying to sell direct in the first place or without at least considering the consequences.

I have businesses with both retail and wholesale channels. Same product, different outlets, different prices. I set my prices in the upper end of the market for retail, the dealers set the prices they think that they can sell at (usually lower than my retail), everyone is happy. If the reverse situation occurred, then I would have no dealers. That said, I still cut some dealers off for unethical dealing or bastardising or falsely representing the products. And no, not brew related businesses.

Cheers - Fermented.