The latest news as of yesterday was that the freighter should now arrive closer to the end of March. We originally expected SR500’s end of February. But the Oakland port strike here is messing things up for everyone. And then there’s customs clearances which could go quickly or not, effecting unloading in Oakland.
The Coffee Project currently has the 6 lbs of beans offer on our site until the roasters are imminent. But we’re also getting a lot of pre orders stacking up already, and based on past history of this type of thing, there’s a chance I could sell out of our incoming order before the NEXT freighter arrives in (I’m guessing) May. As supplies dwindle and arrival gets closer, the present online offer will end.
The manufacturer has also requested all Freshroast vendors raise prices to a $179 MAP (+$10) with his wholesale price increase at the end of March. So all lots of reasons to pre-order NOW, even if the SR500 coffee roasters are still many weeks away.
(You know what? even think about ordering some for next Christmas. Yeah, really. Six lbs of beans and a $10 bump coming up? An order of 4 roasters is $40 bucks less and you get 24 lbs of beans to roast in the meantime. Just sayin.)
If there’s any good news, it’s that The Coffee Project has typically been able to start shipping within half a day of a freighter unloading and supplies reaching the warehouse. Most of our competition have to wait for their supplies to arrive by truck to them before they can ship. To the Midwest or East Coast that’s another 4-5 days before their shipping can even start. So in addition to a great short term deal going on, The Coffee Project is generally way ahead in super fast shipping of FreshRoast roasters.
James