My coffee grinder broke this morning.
Normally, I wouldn’t share such personally devastating news, but I’m now in the market for a new coffee grinder and I’m in the market immediately. (I’ll buy a new grinder today.) Which has me thinking about loyalty.
Before we get there, here’s who I am as a category buyer:
I spend a good amount of money on coffee. Probably about $100 per month on single origin beans and my daily set up (a Fellow electric kettle, Chemex, Heath Ceramic mugs, and—until today—a Baratza Encore grinder) is worth a couple hundred dollars. I’ve twice in the last six months paid for beans to be shipped to me from Norway. I’m not an espresso drinker, so my habit is probably the most expensive it could be without dropping a couple grand on a prosumer espresso machine.
I like my setup. I like my habit. It’s an indulgence. Brings me a little joy each morning. And that Baratza grinder is part of it. I’ve recommended it to many friends.
But now?
It stopped working yesterday and I fixed it (or thought I fixed it last night). When I went to grind beans for this morning’s coffee, it stopped working again. Except this time it broke.
Baratza is a solid brand. They have customer support, and there’s a number I can call to see what they can do for me. But it’s Saturday and the hand grinder I have for traveling is, frankly, annoying to use. So, I probably won’t call.
Instead, I’ll buy a new one today. But will I buy another Baratza?
This is what I’m asking myself right now.
Fellow, the brand which makes the kettle I use, also makes a grinder. It’s really nice looking. The kettle has worked just fine. They also also have a cool, text-to-buy drop program for some pretty unique coffees.
Fellow has been pulling me deeper into their brand. I’m now getting direct mail catalogues of all their coffee gear. I get their SMS marketing, so I get those drop opportunities.
But their grinder is twice as expensive.
And, yet, I might just pull the trigger, because the other one stopped working.
The loyalty part of all this is interesting to me: I would have never thought about replacing my Baratza grinder. An “upgrade” wasn’t necessary. I’ve been loyal to the product.
But here I am this morning, with my coffee in hand, wondering if I should upgrade. Because what if my grinder breaks again?
Now I’m on the edge of my seat! Part 2?