The great bottle crisis of 2022
Unfolding before my eyes is the great bottle crisis of 2022. Upon enquiry, my regular chocolate milk bottle supplier advised we have none in stock and are no longer importing, stocking or selling that particular bottle (thanks for the notice my friend). He said, “But we can offer you this similar bottle, for a dearer price, and I can’t imagine you will even notice the difference.”
Hmm, how about the 50,000 labels we got printed now obsolete? How about these new bottles being too tall for the cartons we package them in and the additional volume of stuffing required to prevent breakages? No, I can’t imagine that we will notice the difference!
It was time to call Visy, the biggest glass bottle supplier in Australia. At first, their response was music to my ears, yes they do have a bottle of the same size which soon came to a screeching halt- that bottle is patented to a juice maker so you are unable to use that one. Adding further salt to the wound, they will not deal with you unless you order 500,000 bottles at a time which is not an option for us as we simply don’t have a food safe, vermin-proof, storage facility of that size.
In the end, you have to deal with an agent of one of the bit bottle resellers who put a margin on the price. It is hard to compete in a competitive marketplace and to fit into the typical distribution model when you are new, small and have no idea what you are doing.
People suggest to me not to worry about the glass bottle, plastic is fine, not to mention cheaper, they say! Does anyone care if it’s in glass or plastic? Fundamentally though, the problem is I care, but sacrifices might need to be made.
The next “boomshanka” moment comes from my two litre bottle supplier, who says due to supply chain disruptions, thanks for your business but we can no longer supply or label your bottles for you! Another large supplier of milk bottles says we can supply you at double the price but not until July…what do I do until then I wonder? At short notice I have to research, find and install labelling machine and somehow pay for it whilst I’m more broke than usual.
If one of my boys were having a rant like this I’d say, “change you perspective, it is not the crisis that matters but how you respond to it that’s important!” Then I’d patronise them further by saying, “turn your crisis into an opportunity, use it to your advantage!”
Taking on my own advice, I mustn’t remember this situation as “the great bottle crisis of 2022”, instead as a turning point that started us on the path to the domination of the chocolate milk market. I am so lucky to have the job I have, I am constantly challenged past my capabilities but the stretch is the fun part.
Have a great week and do something special-you deserve it!
Paul