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0 pointsXixi3y ago0 comments

https://tomotcha.com/ — a Japanese tea subscription service. Although we had to suspend our activities for the better part of 2022, we've been able to resume in January 2023.

Logistic is brutal in what is starting to look like a post globalization world: shipping fees are through the roof, delays are long, regulation (especially in the EU) is ever more stringent. COVID-19 pretty much killed bemmu's Candy Japan (https://www.candyjapan.com), and EU regulation just killed Candysan (https://candysan.com): they threw in the towel one week ago.

And yet we keep going... gross margin is around $800~$1000 per month.

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pks0163y ago

Interesting. I am curious about the tea (as a customer). I usually try different kinds of tea. The pricing looks steep. Is it always green tea every month?

XixiOP3y ago

It is indeed mostly green tea, although different kind of green teas: "standard" green teas (from Sencha to Gyokuro), teas made of twigs (Karigane), roasted green teas (Hojichas), green tea with rice (Genmaicha), green tea flavored with yuzu (Yuzu Ryokucha), etc. Sometimes we throw in something completely different, like a Zaracha, a Sobacha, or even a Japanese black tea.

This is the 2023 lineup so far: Sencha (January), Yuzu Ryokucha (February), Karigane (March), Genmaicha (April). But while there definitely is variety, yes, you need to really like green tea to fully enjoy the subscription...

gverrilla3y ago

Funnily, "tomo chá" means "I drink tea" in portuguese.

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