Travel

Well, I finally did it...1095 lifetime Marriott nights...3 years of staying in Marriott Hotels...

Name: Gary Cohen
Account number: xxxxxxxxx
Member Level: Platinum
Total Membership Nights: 1,095

I am definitely headed for more...

Travel

On the road again...
Last week, I visited the Lakeside plant in Owatonna, MN (you can look it up on the map and they even have a Starbucks!!!).

That plant is where they run our Natural Value Organic Beans.

I managed to get a picture outside in front of the truck...

Closing in on 2 Million Lifetime United Miles

Slowly but surely racking up those miles...

Lifetime flight miles since joining on Jun. 09, 1989:

1,803,898 Lifetime flight miles.

Travel

Sorry I haven't kept up on the blogging for awhile...

I have started traveling again - Tabletop shows, Business Travel, Meeting new brokers.

and I sometimes wonder what happens when I am gone....at least I know what happens to my outside chair.

Marriott lifetime stays

I blogged before about my lifetime Marriott Reward status.

Once you stay for 1000 nights, you obtain lifetime Marriott Status.

I am coming up on another level - a level they don't give you a special award for...

Membership Information: Account number: XXXXXX
Total Membership Nights: 1,067

That means I have spent almost 3 years of my life in Marriott Hotels...and I am counting down the stays until I reach 1095 (365 x 3)

Only 28 nights to go

Thaifex postponed

The Thaifex show, scheduled for May in Bangkok, has been postponed. It was rescheduled for June 30 - July 3.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend.

Travel Planning

I like to travel. I enjoy getting out and meeting customers and suppliers.

The most basic function in a small business is sales. Without sales, there would be no need for accounting, administration and all of the other things that keep a business running. I know, spoken like a true entrepreneur :)

I am now planning for my trip to the Boston area for the Associated Buyers show.

Since I have been there before, I know what hotel i want to stay at, and book that reservation first....this time in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Then I look at whether I want to fly into Boston, Manchester, or Portland, Me. I weigh the cost of the plane ticket to each city, the schedule and the ability to upgrade.

Then I add "side visits" - this time, going to see a customer and perhaps a supplier or two...that hasn't been confirmed yet.Unlike those who buy travel based on whatever airline or hotel is cheaper, I always fly United, stay with the Marriott, and up until last year, always rented with Hertz. (I am dabbling with Budget now).

I remember discussing this way of travel one day with Dale Holden of Follow Your Heart. He agreed that it doesn't work to rent a car with Budget one week, Hertz the next and Avis the week after that...that when you arrive in a city you're kind of on "automatic pilot" and you look for the shuttle bus of YOUR car rental company. I have a trip to LA before I go to Boston...wait, am I with Hertz this week and Budget next week or vice versa..." Nah, not for me.

Of course, the car rental companies know this...and Hertz has done a very good job of raising their rates...to the point that I am looking around to see what else is available.

Anyway, the last step in my journey is to run Google Maps to take me from place to place...so from Boston airport to the Courtyard in Hadley, then to UNFI's office for a meeting, then to the Residence Inn in Portsmouth, then to the show, then to the Courtyard at Logan airport so I am close to where my early morning flight is... Oh, and don't forget to pack the EZ Pass - I have one of those for my trips to the East Coast...saves time waiting in toll lanes.

Then the next week is Bangkok again - a whole different type of planning for that...

Coconut Milk Issue Resolved

So My first meeting in Thailand was with our Organic coconut milk packer, who my importer told me was packing our Natural Coconut Milk as well.

The owner of the company recognized me from our booth at the Organic Trade Association show in Chicago from a few years back.

After the 5 minute video presentation showing how they produce coconut milk, I told them I had a question: why did they change our natural formula to include guar gum, stabilizers and emulsifiers?

They were very surprised at the question...and after speaking among themselves in Thai for a few minutes, they told me that they didn't change our formula...that this was the product that was ordered for us by our importer!

"No way" I said.

But when they showed me the email exchange from the importer, I realized what had happened: our importer changed packers without telling us, and wound up ordering coconut milk with additives.

There you have it.

Actually, the owner explained, he produces 4 different types of coconut milk products:

Organic
Natural
Premium
Standard

The Organic is the top of the line and most expensive...the standard is the "bottom of the barrel"

In other words, "if you don't want to pay the price for Natural, which is more expensive, I can sell you something cheaper."

So basically, 5 minutes into the meeting, I realized that our importer had changed packers (on purpose) and changed formulas (not on purpose)...so we wound up with non natural coconut milk...which was cheaper!!!

A few days later, I was able to track down our original supplier.

My importer gave me the name of the person to contact there; unfortunately, the name her gave me was the name of someone who had left the company 2 years ago.

My Thai speaking ability is non existent. So there was definitely a language barrier...and asking to leave a message for someone who hasn't been at the company for 2 years led to an initial communication problem.

Nonetheless, I did meet with the sales manager of our existing supplier, who showed me copies of emails from our importer telling them that their price was "too high" and that they had found a cheaper supplier. Now I understood the whole story.

Of course, my importer was all apologetic about the change...but I was flabbergasted that after all these years of telling him how we operate...that we don't switch packers just to save a few cents...that we are loyal to the people who provide us with our products...that in an instant, with no notification, no consultation, no discussion, none, zero, zilch, nada...they changed everything.

So we are back to producing our original formula natural coconut milk, with no guar gum and no emulsifiers and no stabilizers...but it will be about 60 days before the "same old" product is back on store shelves.

Of course, it isn't as simple as that. Stores will not simply have an empty shelf for 3 months with a sign "This space reserved for Natural Value Coconut Milk." It's going to take lots of work, and requests from consumers, to get us back into the market.

So that's the story...

I am now a Lifetime Marriott Rewards Member!

I received an envelope today from Marriott, informing me I have now earned Lifetime status as a Platinum Elite.

In addition to being in the program for a minimum of 12 years, you need a total of 1000 nights in a Marriott property to qualify...

1000 nights...that's 2.7 years of my life I have spent in a Marriott hotel!

It's the definition of road warrior! 1000 nights...