“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” – Dr. Seuss
As the title eludes, change once again is upon us.
Here we are now at the beginning of June 2023 and I want to look back on this journey.
It all began in 2016 with a goal of "eating healthier". Which then led down the path of allergy and substitution. This then led towards solutions and vision. And eventually towards putting myself way out of my depth and into a brand new adventure!
Seven years later, I can say I'm very proud of the journey I have taken and the adventures it has led to. I've learned so much and feel very accomplished!
However, all good things must come to an end. I've looked up the stages of acceptance and the internet tells me there's three, or four, or five, or even seven stages. We'll go with three as it's shorter: Observe, Weigh Your Options, and Accept and Lean In.
Over the last year and a half, I have been working many angles trying to find a way to truly launch No-MaTer into the world. Short of dumping an embarrassing sum of capital into marketing companies that cannot guarantee even a modicum of success, there was very little that I have been able to do as the "little guy" to make enough waves to get noticed. Well, capital or getting onto Shark Tank or Oprah!
In addition to the struggle to get attention, the issue of shipping glass jars across the United States and having any shipping company (UPS and USPS, I'm calling you out here) reading the fragile labels and not destroying my packages in-transit has been a very difficult problem to tackle. I've had numerous customers complain (as they should) and even unsubscribe from No-MaTer over this disruption that I cannot control.
I've thought long and hard about my options over the last few months. Ultimately, they really narrow to two: stick out the duration of the 3 year best-by date (3/31/2025) and then toss the remainder; or heavily discount accepting the significant losses but at least the product can be used before the best-by date and then donate the remainder after a certain period of time.
The option for getting into stores, besides the odd mercantile shop here and there where traffic is minimal and even lower for "food shopping", is unfortunately non-existent. I have subscribed for a year to a "product discovery, sourcing, and purchasing platform where retailers and suppliers discover, connect, and grow their business" with no benefits as No-MaTer is a very very niche product and is expensive. I have attempted on multiple occasions to connect with Whole Foods and other grocery stores, but big corporate is less than inclined to notice the little guy with an abnormal product.
That brings us to the "Accept and Lean In" portion.
Firstly, I'm not a very patient person by nature. But the root of this decision has more to do with product usability than it does with my impatience.
If I were to wait this out until the bitter end (the best-by date), the likelihood of me moving 2,000+ jars of sauce is low. Over the last nearly 1.5 years, of the 3 years we started with, I've sold 231 jars of the original 2,533 jars in the inventory batch. If I do the math, even accounting for a potential uptick in interest, I'm still left with just under 2,000 jars that would have to be trashed. I really am not inclined to waste food.
Instead, what I plan on doing is to significantly mark down the price for a close-of-business sale in hopes that these jars can find good homes and not go to waste. I'll keep this price until the end of 2023. After that, I will look to donating the remainder to a food bank. The quantity that I'd be donating, I would want to ensure there was at minimum 1 year remaining on the best-buy date.
So, bottom line, discounts! Everyone loves a good deal!
As of June 1, 2023, I will be marking down the price to $7/jar (my breakeven without considering the additional costs of shipping materials and destroyed packages was $9.39/jar, so there's no profit made here). This will be the price until December 2023 when I will be closing up shop and finding a food bank (or multiples) to donate the remainder of the inventory.
Over the next 7 months, I encourage you to embrace these discounts and share with others in hopes that with your help these jars do not go to waste.
I cannot thank you all enough for your support on this journey and the kindness and understanding you have shown as No-MaTer (and myself) has grown.
All the best, Gena