Charcoal - more information

[County4x4]

Hi all,

Here are a few pics of our charcoal briquettes to give you an idea. Sorry about the quality, but the camera batteries were dead so had to resort to the mobile! They are on a sheet of A4 paper which obviously shows up real well against the white desk - doh! My trusty Lister mug appears too - just for scale.







What would you think would be a fair price on these? I've had a quick look round this morning and seen prices like Weber at £5 for 3kg, Weber at £7 for 5kg and Big K at £13 for 10kg. Not being an expert, I don't know if these would be considered about right - I guess some places will charge more and some less? These are being supplied in 10 kilo bags at the moment. I guess this is where someone jumps in and says "£1.50 a bag mate!"

From my point of view - obviously I know what they're costing - and (hopefully) obviously I need to make a little on them. What I'm not wanting to do is pitch them right at the top of what you'd be prepared to pay - I'd be happier (and poorer - story of my life!) meeting you in the middle somewhere. So what do you think?

As before, but just for the record, these are produced from 100% wood briquettes, made right here in the UK from oak with the odd bit of cedar now and again. There are no additives, artificial or otherwise, of any sort - just 100% wood.

Cheers for now,

Andy

[Steve]

Hey Andy,

Makro/Booker - restaurant grade lump 12Kg = £12
Big K restaurant lump 15KG = £15
Big K standard briquettes 5kg = £5
Supagrill Cocoshell briquettes 5KG = £5.99

That's standard prices for good products. Yu've already mentioned the heat beads prices too.

I know I can get good stuff for about £1 per Kg, but for me I'd pay more if it lasted longer, it's all about how much I can cook against the cost.

[County4x4]

Hello Steve,

Thanks for that information. I wasn't a million miles out with the price I had in mind to be honest which is good. I think I can make things work at a price of around £7.50 for a 10 kilo bag initially. Large orders - for instance if a bunch of you guys got together and shared a delivery - may attract a slightly lower selling price, and of course the cost of carriage per bag would be more than halved. Using the Interparcel booking system, a single 10kg bag would be £8.21 including VAT - but we can do a whole pallet load for about 50 quid.

I've sent you a pm regarding giving our briquettes a try as well.

Cheers for now,

Andy

[British BBQ Society]

Hi Andy, the best test bed for your product would be in May at the BBQ competition, most people are around on the friday night and during the day on the saturday for a social and BBQ's are running constantly, If you could bring some to the event I am sure people will give their opinion.
Toby

[County4x4]

Hello Toby,

Thanks for your post.

Unfortunately your competition is a little far away from me up here near the Cumbrian border!

However, by the time the competition arrives, we should have a much better idea about how suitable our briquettes are for BBQ use, as some will be on their way down to Steve tomorrow for him to try out over the weekend. There have been rumours of multi million pound sponsorship deals, secret weapons in the RoyalQ competition arsenal, new kids on the block and all sorts!

Seriously though - Steve is going to have a go with them and see what he thinks. It may turn out that they are not ideal for what you guys need - and that of course is fair enough - but much better for all concerned I think if they're tested by someone with some experience. Very easy for me to tell you they're great - but I know about woodfuels - not BBQs! I'd rather the verdict was an educated one - that way you know the true results, and I know I'm selling you a good product.

Cheers for now,

Andy

[Steve]

Saturday is going to be my first run of competition chicken for the year. I'll also try a longer cook to see how these briquettes hold up.

I'm going to run them in an Excel and a Frontier if I have enough fuel to service both cookers.

I'll report back with pictures.

[County4x4]

My personal recommendation would be to use the minion method Steve

(I'm learning.... )

Andy

[DrSweetsmoke]

Send some my way and I'll test them for you.

[jaymaxruby]

hey guys, dont want to throw a spanner in the works but ive been payin £6.99 +V.A.T for 12 kilos of restaraunt grade lump wood from booker in oxford, sorry guys, still got the receipt if your interested. that said id pay more for better stuff but cant complain at the booker stuff.
regards..... Andy

[Steve]

That's a good price from Booker. The Booker near me is £9.99 + vat for 12 kilos of the restaurant grade stuff. How have you found the Booker stuff? I've been getting some bad bags recently, like they've been kicked around in transit. But in general I've found it good charcoal, as long as the consistency returns I'll be happy.