Apr 2026
Cut SKUs from 22 to 6, lifted margin 11 points
Killed the long tail. Single-origin tier disappeared, replaced with three blends + three single-origin rotations. Average basket value held; gross margin moved from 47% to 58%.
Food & beverage · scaling
North Star Coffee Roasters
From wholesale-only to a $40k/month DTC subscription in eight months
A specialty coffee roaster that built a subscription business on the back of one thing: an opinionated tasting note PDF that landed in customers' inboxes the same day the bag did.
SubscriptionEmailWholesaleFarmers markets
Documented by Faculty Member Three
Updates
Mar 2026
Tasting-note insert tested on 200 orders
Half the orders shipped with a one-page printed tasting note from the roaster, half didn't. The insert version had a 14-point higher second-month retention. Rolled out to all subscriptions.