Rising Shipping and Logistics Costs
Simply put, getting coffee from our roastery in Jackson Hole to your doorstep has gotten a lot more expensive. Over the past few years, shipping carriers have continually raised their rates – often by around 5-7% each year – due to higher fuel prices, labor costs, and other surcharges. In fact, major carriers like UPS and FedEx have increased shipping prices by nearly 33% since 2021 when you add it all up. These hikes aren’t just occasional; they’ve become the norm, with new fuel surcharges and fees (for things like rural delivery or oversized packages) now standard. As a result, we’ve been paying more and more to ship each box of coffee to you.
Today, on average, we lose about $10.36 on every order we ship under this policy. Given that our average order value is $59.60, this loss represents roughly 17.4% of each order — we simply cannot sustain this loss.
It’s not just postage and carrier fees going up. Packaging materials (like coffee bags, boxes, packing paper, and tape) have become pricier over the last couple of years due to general inflation. The cost of warehouse operations and labor to pack orders has also increased. When we add up all these factors – shipping rates, fuel surcharges, packing supplies, and labor – the total cost to fulfill an order is much higher than it used to be.
We’ve tried our best to absorb these costs for as long as possible. We care about providing you value, and offering free shipping was one way we gave back. For a while, we managed to offset the rising costs without changing our policy. However, as those costs kept climbing, it reached a point where continuing to ship orders for free (beyond the $75 threshold) would mean operating at a loss on many of those orders. As a small, family-run coffee roaster, we don’t have the massive shipping volume or corporate discounts that big companies do. When shipping gets more expensive, it hits us much harder, and eventually we have to make tough decisions.
One thing we want to emphasize is that our commitment to quality hasn’t changed. We’re still roasting in small batches at altitude here in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and carefully sourcing some of the best coffee beans from around the world. These values are core to who we are – and we’re not willing to compromise them to cut costs. If we continued offering free shipping on $75+ orders under today’s conditions, we’d have to make up those costs somewhere else. That might mean using cheaper ingredients, lower-quality green coffee, or less sustainable practices – things we simply won’t do. Rather than sacrifice the quality and sustainability of our coffee, we chose to adjust our shipping policy.
Ending the free shipping perk allows us to focus on what truly matters: outstanding coffee and service. It ensures that we can still source high-grade, ethically produced beans and roast them with care. Every bag you order from us will continue to be the same top-notch Snake River Roasting Co. coffee you know and love, roasted fresh in the mountain air of Jackson Hole. We’re a small business with big passions – for great coffee, for our community, and for doing things the right way. Those passions remain at the forefront of every decision we make.
What This Change Means for You
So, what does the end of the free shipping promotion mean for you? Going forward, our standard shipping rates will apply to all orders, regardless of size. You’ll see any shipping charges at checkout based on the weight of your order and your location (as determined by our carriers’ rates). We assure you we don’t add any markup to those fees – it’s simply the real cost of shipping your coffee to you. If you’re local or visiting Jackson Hole, you can always stop by our café or pick up an order in person to save on shipping. We’ll also continue to run special promotions from time to time (for example, seasonal sales or discount codes), and some of those may include reduced or free shipping deals. Make sure you’re subscribed to our newsletter or follow us on social media so you don’t miss those occasional perks!
Most importantly, we want to say thank you. We know this change might be disappointing to some of you who have relied on that free shipping deal. Please understand that we made this decision to ensure we can keep serving you exceptional coffee for the long haul. By covering shipping costs, we can maintain the quality of our coffee, invest in our team, source coffee beans sustainably, and give back to our Jackson Hole community.
Thank you for your understanding and support. We’re incredibly grateful for every order you place with us and for being part of the Snake River Roasting Co. family. We hope you’ll stick with us through this change – we promise to continue earning your trust with every cup. If you have any questions or concerns about our new shipping policy (or anything at all), please reach out to us. We’re always here to chat coffee with you. Enjoy your next brew, and hope to see you in Jackson Hole sometime!
Snake River Roasting Co. – Roasted with love at 6,237 feet. 🌄☕️
