11.25.07
Say no to a high-stress holiday? Bah, humbug!
Grist on christmas.
Too transparent?
Lynsie and I have been practicing our own version of transparency, which includes things like posting our recipes for gourmet ice cream on the company blog. But this slide (see to the right) is a new ballgame. People ask us why Perfect Flavor does this, and the answers are pretty straightforward.
First, we want people to know what we put into the ice cream, and into the company itself. These things are our competitive advantage, and hiding them negates them. We want people to know that we use only local and organic ingredients. We want people to know that our ice cream is made by hand, using the same recipes that harken back not just to your grandmother, but to Thomas Jefferson, and beyond.
Our assumption is that our customers are really very smart, well informed, and careful. They know what they want, and hiding information about how we do business works against us. Sooner or later, it all comes out, and so why have any secrets at all?
To that end, we’d like to nip the question “Why is this so expensive?” right in the bud. We’ve gotten it sporadically, mostly from folks who are used to buying a half-gallon of Bryer’s ice cream for a few dollars. When you compare the cost of Perfect Flavor against that, it’s liable to give you sticker shock.
Are we crazy to disclose the costs of our business so explicitly? Will it come back to haunt us somehow?
11.07.07
Crackin’ Eggs
Wow. We’ve been riding the whirlwind. Today Lynsie gave two interviews. Rowena Morrel of In The Kitchen came to visit us at home to talk about Perfect Flavor, and Lynsie made chocolate ice cream. The beat just goes on and on.
I finally put up our first cut at a press kit, and designed our first-ever print ad. I have no idea how one is really supposed to do that, but as they say, fake it ’till you make it.
11.06.07
Nothing Goes Away
“Throw it away.”
Think about that for a minute. Yes, I’m serious, a full minute. Sit back at your desk or cubicle, and take a deep breath, and think about what that phrase means. What is away? Where is away?
You might find that away represents a convenient (and fallacious) mental shorthand for “not my problem anymore”. I have been forcing myself to conduct this exercise several times over the last year or so, especially in the stark light of launching our own green business, Perfect Flavor. By degrees, it changes your perceptions.
For me, this awareness adds a painful dissonance to the mundane act of putting anything in the trash. Because, you guessed it: away doesn’t exist.
In that spirit, I offer your a link to Grist’s recent feature on what to do with some of those hard-to-recycle items: computers, running shoes, cellphones, and so on.
Repeat after me: “Nothing goes away.”