This brand used to have it the last time I bought it at Whole Foods.
First off, this is an insanely far away “best by” date.
Second, I remember a discussion popped up before where people get confused by having both dates or thinking the best by is the expiration date. For something like coffee beans all we need is the roast date. The rest is up to personal preference.
by lord-krulos
28 Comments
I think they do it at large retailers. My guess is Whole Foods has trouble moving stock fast enough to keep up with preferences on freshness
We all know why… come on!
I think James Hoffman did a YouTube video where he said large chains don’t like the roasted date printed because of customer perception. It doesn’t necessarily mean the roaster is doing anything different than before.
Grocery stores sometimes push suppliers, as they dont want buyers to know how old something is. It is very deceptive, and I do NOT buy from those brands. Its like olive oil. Check the Harvest date. If there is none, you know its likely old. Often suppliers use a numerical code that IS the roast date, but don’t disclose it. Some managers of the store will know this code..
Just don’t buy it if they don’t put the roast date.
Because great coffee is not the result of chance… and neither are higher profits at lower quality.
My favorite local roaster just got bought out with new ownership and they are doing this now =(
Unrelated but I’m still sad about it, they also started over-roasting all their beans. Time to find some new roasters
I just noticed, too. The one I was going to also removed lot number. I didn’t need it but provided some assurance they’re serious about roasting. All gone now. So I went elsewhere.
Seems easier to sell. Idk. Went to Safeway just for
Kicks and only Stumptown provided roast date. Blue bottle and others just give expiration date. Useless to me.
In retail they avoid it. If you buy it on site they will have it.
I’m finding, in the SF Bay Area, a lot of the regular supermarkets (Luckys, Safeway, Mollie Stones, etc) are getting the ‘old’/unsold beans from these generally reputable roasters. I’ve seen beans from Intelligensia, Ritual, Verve, Counter Culture, Sightglass, etc.
Giving these unsold beans a second chance from consumers who really don’t care about freshness.
Though, I’ve always seen the roast date on these, never expiry date.
That’s why I buy counter culture at the grocery! Whole foods has it I believe. It still has a date on it usually right in the sweet spot. It’s the only one at my grocery. I got to liking it so much I ordered direct should be here hopefully Monday. Its called Big trouble/ it’s hard to believe at the prices at whole food they don’t have all dates on thier stock. I mean it’s a healthy store supposedly
I bought intelligentsia beans yesterday that had the roast date on them. I think this might be related to buying them at the grocery store vs as the coffee shop
Fight back by not buying
Huh – I’ve never seen one without the roast date at the grocery store. Bizarre. Of course, all the ones at the grocery store are at least a month old so I just assume they’re second freshness at baseline.
As others have said, it’s up to the retailers in many cases, I’ve seen the same bag with and without roast dates in different retailers.
“Brands”
The ones that are grocery stores.
People see the roast date and they think it’s old stock.
Consumers have been trained to look for best by or expiration dates. 99% of people if you hand them a bag with yesterday’s date on it they will think it’s old.
Isnt the “best buy” date always a year after the actual roast date?
2 reasons.
Espresso enthusiasts have all been taught: 14 days after roasting, is the optimal brew time. We’ve also been taught (and this is true to some extent), that the beans start to go stale after a month. So would we as an espresso hive mind buy 3 months old beans, which crema is hurt by degassing?
Second reason is quantity. Large scale production means it will be on shelves for a long time. In various warehouse, before hitting the supermarket. You want to maintain an illusion of freshness. You can’t do that with a roast date on the packaging.
I’ve worked in a number of Chicago companies, and this is common for retail store stock. Usually the Best By date is exactly 1 year from the roast date, but it depends on the company.
If you can, hit up your local cafe instead!
Because you’ll realise it’s old
Probably because people would think one week beans are stale
Hey cool that’s my birthday!
Have to get single sorce olive oil from one place
Because the retailer makes you.
They don’t want something getting old on the shelf, they want something far away from expiring
I’ve sold to whole foods and kroger
Don’t buy it. Find a local roaster and the dates will be there. This product is not for you if you care about freshness and consistency
at supermarkets they sell different versions. for example, the retailer version of blue bottle is like this, no roast date, no names like giant steps, just medium roast or something. but when you go to the blue bottle website and buy it from there, it still has roast date. the coffee you buy at a supermarket is like outlet brands for clothes.
Peet’s removed their roast dates years ago.