Today:
Getting our sh*t together for faster and cheaper shipping for web orders
US shipping and reducing the shipping cost for our US friends
We’ve signed a distribution deal what that means for us and you
Pick'em up in person
Those who know me, know that patience isn’t my strong suit.
I’m an Aries, so sitting and waiting for things to happen doesn’t really make me happy.
But that’s exactly what I had to do these last few weeks. Lesson learned here: Sometimes things go faster when you leave them alone and don’t try to hurry.
On this note and somewhat unrelated, but also not because like I said in my last letter to you it looks like most things are related in some way, I read this recently in an article about good sailboat handling (of all things) and it struck a bell in other areas of my life:
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
Wisdom here! Apparently it’s a motto of the US Marines, but fact check that before repeating the story. No guarantee that it’s true.
Anyhow, here are the things I was waiting on, and they are all coming together this week, which is good news on so many levels.
1. E-Commerce shipments
Those who have ordered from our online store (thank you, thank you, thank you!) will know that delivery by Canada Post can take longer than we would want it to be. And from my own experience, I know how much I hate waiting for deliveries longer than a couple of days - that Aries temperament again!
So what we’ve been doing in the last couple of weeks is talk to 3PL companies. 3PL stands for “third-party logistics” and that’s a fancy name for “we ship your stuff for you”.
And typically, these companies don’t just ship, they ship quickly and reliably because that’s what they do. We ship cans to their warehouse and when orders come in they send them out. We’re talking to a number of potential partners, some of which are even offering same-day delivery in the GTA - so you can order your chaga in the morning and receive it before the day is over. Magic!
We should have this in place before the next of my little letters will hit your email inbox. Oh, and if one of you has a good supplier of custom cardboard boxes that is a: affordable and b: runs with smaller orders would you make an introduction?
We’re looking to have a couple of hundred boxes made for our six and 12 packs, but everybody I’ve spoken to so far wants thousands of them as a minimum order.
2. US shipping
For our friends from south of the border, right now shipping to the US is idiotically expensive. Like, hand over your firstborn expensive and there’s nothing we can do to change that.
Working with the right 3PL company will, hopefully, make this pain go away, or at least substantially reduce it, because these companies get better shipping deals than those that we can get our hands on.
3. We signed a contract with a Canadian distributor
This, my friends, is huge for us and the people who love our drinks. Gigantic. Enormous. What this means is that in about three to four weeks you’ll see our cans on the shelves of Canadian stores and supermarkets.
(I swear, half the fun writing these letters is finding amusing gifs!)
We can’t share exactly which stores we will be available at this point, but we will announce them as soon as they come online. Follow us on social to stay in the loop.
This was the hardest one to wait for because it is so important to us - getting a good distribution relationship into place is make or break for a company like us and we’ll be working with a fantastic partner with experience in the “better for you” section.
4. In the meantime, we’re offering free pickup in Toronto and Sharbot Lake
While all of this is playing out, and to make sure that people get their orders asap, you can select “pick-up” when checking out. That way there’s no shipping cost and you can come by my house and pick your order up. Or, if you’re nearby, I’ll drop it by your house - contactless of course.
Thanks for bearing with us - I feel I should write something about our products, but you all know the drill. Booze isn’t great for you, but mushrooms rock. Drink less booze, drink more mushrooms.
Oh, and try @alexjchops morning cocktail, with espresso and lemon. It’s amazing.
Peace and out for now. The second there’s more news, I’ll be sharing them
Andreas
Founder, Boreal
PS: I nearly forgot, we got some sweet PR. Menu Magazine and Sustain Magazine will both be featuring us.