Re: class week 4

Re: [spiers] Re: class week 4 and packaging


On Wed, 8 Nov 2006 23:51:29 -0800 (PST), M A Granich wrote
:

>
> Can designing a unique mug and telling a story be the
> innovation?

***If the customer says so, sure...***

I think coffee falls under a raw
> commodity category and John's model cannot be applied
> to such an item.

***Everything has both a commodity and specialty version. Frying pans and corn.
No
difference.***

You can't really change the raw
> coffee bean, or raw lumber, or sugar, or corn, oil,
> etc...

***Yes, one can and does. I have in hand a brochure from a grower who redesigns
fruits on a
regular basis to specification. Wells Nursery is this particular company, one
of many. You
and I may not be able to do it, but many can and do.***

John has the example of the Apple Juice with
> Japanese preference vs American preference, but
> innovating a raw food, like the Seedless Watermelon,
> is a monumental task. It would take years to develop
> a new coffee bean that is say...less bitter. It's
> just not practical I think for a small importer.

***Which is less time than microsoft takes to upgrade a program. Time is what
it is...***
>
> But can your contribution be the packaging of the
> commodities? Why can't Efren approach retailers with a
> story about a special Mexican coffee bean grown only
> in the mountains outside of Patzcuaro, picked by
> indigenous Indians, served in an innovative coffee
> bean shaped mug (that is made in China)? If there is
> nothing else like it on the market, and several
> retailers like the packaging concept, then that should
> be the first milestone right?

***Correct, it up to customers...***

OR, am I violating a
> Spier principle?
>
*** Anthony, you'll persuade me that these are my ideas if you keep this up, and
I'll end up
patenting it all... there is nothing I know or say that was not given to me by
someone
else...there is no spiers principle, it's got nothing to do with me.***

John

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