Not only that, but they're also made right here in the USA! They have a more solid and durable feel than the originals. And they don't have this tiny little mark on the outside of each cap that added a second of detailed labeling delay to every single tube! So we're almost as stoked about cutting out that bit of tedium from our production process as we are about saving the mighty Spruce forests of the Rocky Mountain region and beyond!
Here's where you can follow along for some highlights from the day of driving a 6 hour from Breck to Empire to Lakewood to Monument and back through personally never before driven roads! I looovvveee a scenic biway, and Colorado is aplenty with them!
More good news as we work towards scaling up this little spru-centric venture and streamlining production and materials 100% domestically! As we actively pursued a new and local lip balm tube source before committing to larger filling trays, we happened to find a family operation in Monument who are already honing their online marketing and product distribution skills for their own scaling up in the distribution game over the next few years.
They sat me down to a home-(office)-cooked meal -- my first such meal in as long as I can remember, at least several years -- and passed along their contact with an FDA approved cosmetic laboratory production facility, who will be "ready and at our service" when we reach a demand size of qty. 40,000 lip balms at a time.
I've got some work to do! Seems like the best method for "spreading the Spruce" as I call it, is taking it on the road with me to new mountain towns for a direct presentation in person to the workers and the shopkeep, leaving behind free gifts from the "Spruce Man," as I'm coming to be known around the state of Colorado, either way.
Just one perk of making in-person restock deliveries around the state: @theBackwatersCafe in Empire is hardly 5 minutes off of i70 and WORTH THE STOP! Call in ahead! Easy Peasy!
And let's be honest, that was the major perk of this venture from the get-go: being forced to see more of the great State and then the Mountain West and beyond! Meeting all the hardworking and entrepreneurial town folk and getting to trade my goods for theirs, especially when it's a much needed coffee or burrito or sandwich treat, for our first encounter if they want to try it out first" is truly a greater blessing than I ever expected to receive from this undertaking of reconnecting People to the magnificent giving Spruce during its time of need, recuperating from the widespread spruce beetle damage of the past decade.
The proof is in the product and usually only takes 3 to 7 business days for a call back sounding something along the lines of, "Hey, that Spruce stuff really works! Can I get a couple boxes?" :)
We need to have an immediate response and pricing + quantity breakdown for "3rd party labeling" options, too. I'm asked that question fairly often, actually since year one from Breck Coffee Roasters, if we can do promotional labeling, and I think the answer should always be yes! Only the quantity and price per tube needs to make sense on the design and production end!
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