The Philosophy of Best

Last month's awards season inspired blog post was one of the best yet in terms of stimulating conversations with customers and suppliers alike.  Customers have delighted in seeing some of their favourites mentioned and some have been tempted to try new things. The lovely people at Stockans, were so pleased to have been most popular savoury biscuit that they are sending me a box of goodies so I can offer samples to customers soon (I'll let you know when).

What I enjoyed about writing the post was that I got to mention a surprisingly large number of  products we've been selling for years and years. Things which were new before I started announcing new and exciting things on facebook and twitter. It was a great opportunity to mention some old favourites, but also showed how hard it can be for new products to "break through".  Which could be seen as a downside of a loyal local customer base. Once they find something they like, customers return again and again and again. Usually extending their shopping to other non-competing products, but never replacing the original. Fortunately the compact size of the shop means I don't really have many competing products, everything I have is the best in its (sometimes very small) field!  Which reminds me...

Each summer we are visited by lots of Japanese students, who almost without fail will ask "what is the most popular ...". Which is a question I've only ever been asked by the Japanese students or people wanting to source lines for their own deli. I'm not sure if that is a Japanese cultural thing, or just because most of the students I see come from the Eton College Summer Schools where they are learning English from the same people. Or maybe they are all aspiring deli-owners!

At first, I didn't think they were asking the right question. Why would they want the most popular tea? Why not the best tea? Or the smokiest tea? Or the most refreshing tea? Or the lightest tea?

But they might have the right idea. Best is so subjective and we rarely have more than one version of the same thing; we think they are all the best they can be. I couldn't objectively answer "which is the best".  Describing exactly what you think is best in a foreign language is tricky. So why not choose the most popular. Hundreds of local shoppers can't all be wrong! Its taken me years to realise this, the value of the crowd.

I shall update you on the 2015 best sellers next year. To see your favourite product excel just come along and buy lots of it ;) Online sales count as well!