Mystic Monk Coffee – Group A

It is a very nice presentation of Group A. I have never heard about Mystic Monkey coffee before, but am excited to try it. From what I understood, they seem to be a different organization, because their priority is not their product, but their devotion to prayer and buy a new Monastery which includes a new roaster too. Then, they depend on donations to do all of that. The managerial purpose of setting objectives is to convert the strategic-vision into specific performance targets (Gamble, Thompson Jr., 2011, p. 22). In order to achieve their objectives, Monks need to focus on coffee distribution and advertising (online, newspaper, etc.) to build brand recognition and acquire newer costumers, consequently, people will be aware of what they do and Monks may obtain the money they need to buy the Monastery, roaster and more donations.
Gamble, J. E., & Thompson, A. A. (2011). Essentials of strategic management: The quest for competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Group A I enjoyed learning about Mystic Mink coffee, I too have never heard of it. I also agree with Maria in that their goal is not to become the industry leader in coffee roaster but is in a effort to support their ultimate goal of prayer and devotion. However, they do have significant challenges and obstacles to overcome in order to obtain their new Monastery. The coffee industry is a very competitive industry. Therefore it is important that the Monks adopt some sort of differentiation strategy. In some ways they have already done so by creating an organization for the sole purpose of growing their Monastery. Such creation in itself will appeal to most consumer and change the buyers perceived value. With proper marketing and advertising the Monks can change the perception of the buyer from “How Much” to “Look at what I am supporting”. Such tactics can help the Monks in reaching their end goal.
Gamble, J. E., & Thompson, A. A. (2011). Essentials of strategic management: The quest for competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

A very interesting company, to say the least. I enjoyed the presentation, as this is a company that I had never heard of either. It definitely is a rarity to see a company that is not focused primarily on profitability. Mystic Monk Coffee pronounced their vision as purchasing Lake Irma Ranch through donation and the sale of their coffee and ensure that Mount Carmel be refounded in the Rockies of Wyoming for the glory of God (Gamble & Thompson, 2011, p. 243).Mystic Monk Coffee appears to have the resources to accomplish their vision, given the fact that the each monk had a special set of skills that enabled the monastery to independently maintain its operations. I would venture to say that any company would love to have a self-sustaining entity driven entirely by the skill sets of the employees. Mystic Monk is a unique company with an achievable vision, and the resources to get there.
Gamble, J. E., & Thompson, A. A. (2011). Essentials of strategic management: The quest for competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Wow what an amazing story! Like any business in today’s industries, the Monks decided they needed a way to sustain and pay for their expansions. Gamble and Thompson said that “coffee sales were a means of support from the outside world might provide the financial resources to purchase the land” (p. 245). They had a goal in mind – buying the Irma Lake ranch – and they created a vision, a company, and a means to do so. This is testament of all business success stories. Regardless who you are or what you come from, anyone can compete and thrive in the business industry. All you have to do is commit yourself to it!
Gamble, J. E., & Thompson, A. A. (2011). Essentials of strategic management: The quest for competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin

I really enjoyed watching your presentation. I too had never heard of Mystic Monk coffee. I think it is very impressive that they are able to make this coffee in between their prayer times. I visited their website, and all of their flavors look really good. They are in business for a specific cause. They have a vision they are working towards. “The brothers located a 496-acre ranch that was offered for sale that would satisfy all of the requirements to create a new Mount Carmel” (p 243). This ranch costs $8.7 million so they are selling coffee and asking for donations to help purchase this property.
Gamble, J., & Thompson, A. (2011). Essentials of Strategic Management. The Quest for Competitive Advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

I was very interested to learn about these monks and their quest to relocate. I do not agree, however, that the product is not one of their main priorities. In fact, they state that their simple vision is to “found a new Mount Carmel here in America.” The Directors of the New Mount Carmel Foundation are professed businessmen, looking to fund a project that will be a lasting legacy for them. They also heavily solicit monthly donations, and are actively involved in the licensing and distribution of the coffee.
New Mount Carmel Foundation, Inc. (n.d.). New Mount Carmel Foundation, Inc.
Retrieved November 12, 2011, from http://www.newmountcarmelfoundation.org

Amazing presentation Group A. Mystic Monk Coffee is such a unique example of how anyone with a sincere desire to succeed in America and who is willing to put in the work can achieve a worthy goal. Although I had never heard of Mystic Monk Coffee either, I can see how they have found a great way to differentiate themselves in the highly competitive coffee market. The novel cause of raising funds to purchase land and to build a monastery for prayer can have rotund appeal to coffee drinkers who are also Catholics, religious or who would like to make a difference for others who are, “Mystic Monk Coffee’s target market was the segment of the U.S. Catholic population who drank coffee and wished to support the monastery’s mission (Gamble and Thompson, 2011, p. 245). Although the coffee market is a highly competitive one, it seems like Father Daniel Mary found a way to have measurable success by gathering a team with the needed set of skills and the community support to operate and maintain a successful coffee business.
Gamble, J. E., & Thompson, A. A. (2011). Essentials of strategic management: The quest for competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

I agree with Champ, while the monastery is their main motivation they recognize that they have a commitment to success of their coffee business. While the concept is unique, I am still wondering what makes it exceptional or what type of customers they are looking to attract other than Catholics. I don’t know if Catholics will change their daily coffee because some Catholic monks have a monastery. I think i might go buy some of this coffee to give it a shot. Good presentation, I liked the music.

The group did a great job with the presentation and made it very entertaining to watch. This was the first time that I had heard of Mystic Monk Coffee, and I consider myself quite a coffee connoisseur. I find it very interesting that the Monks are using the coffee industry as means to achieve their ultimate goal of building a new monastery called Mount Carmel, considering that competitive nature of the industry (Gamble & Thompson, 2011, p. 243). In an April of this year Mystic Monk Coffee received a score of 89 form the experts at Coffee Review for their dark roast (Coffee Review, Mystic Monk Coffee, 2011). Currently the company apparently is not seeking market leadership, but they have differentiated their brand solely on the fact that they are producing the product not for market share but for a higher religious purpose.
Coffee Review, Mystic Monk Coffee. (2011, April 1). Retrieved November 11, 2011, from Coffee Review: http://www.coffeereview.com/review.cfm?ID=2480
Gamble, J. E., & Thompson, A. A. (2011). Essentials of strategic management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill / Irwin.

I thoroughly enjoyed this presentation. It is such a great model for all groups such as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, churches, orchestra, band, you name it, any group that has to be self sufficient. My son is an Eagle Scout, and one time when we were fundraising for the Boy Scouts we tried to get them to sell coffee, because almost everyone drinks coffee. We were going to call it Camp Grounds. They did not buy into the idea but this Mystic Monk Coffee ensures me that the idea might have worked. Non profit groups all over the world have to find a means to be self sufficient with a niche, just like any business. There are just so many groups that have to continuously raise funds from the same population that eventually the donor’s pockets run dry, especially when you live in a small town.
Being a Christian, I always love seeing the glory for God in any effort. The faith that these monks have and the patience that it takes to always put God first, not the mission first, is going to bring their hopes and dreams to fruition. This is a beautiful thing! Thank you!

This was a very good presentation and I too, had never heard of Mystic Monk Coffee. Although it is a coffee, just like other coffees, this one has a divine purpose and therefore differentiates the product from other coffees. With consumers that are faith oriented, this could be the value created for them through this differentiation. Gamble and Thompson indicate that a business should “incorporate features that enhance buyer satisfaction in noneconomic or intangible ways” and I believe the Monks have done this. However, I would like to see more information spread to churches, congregations, and other Christian faiths around the world, so that we can help to support their mission through out purchases. Are there any plans to do this?
Gamble, J., & Thompson, A. (2011). Essentials of Strategic Management. The Quest for Competitive Advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

This was a really good presentation. This was a very interesting topic to me, because first of all I never heard about Mystic Monk Coffee. Secondly I love Brazilian coffee. It’s my energy drink during the day and I’m always looking to try something different. I like some of the flavors of this coffee. By the way I think this hold my attention that the Monks has the most popular Mystic Monk flavors were Mystical Chants of Carmel, Cowboy Blend, Royal Rum Pecan, and Mystic Mond Blend. All varieties of Mystic Monk Coffee were sold via the monastery’s web site. (Gamble & Thompson, 2011, p. 244). In my opinion this is awesome because all the purchases from the Mystic Monk Coffee are from the website and were delivered by UPS or the United States Postal Service. With Father Prior realizing that his vision of purchasing the ranching would require careful planning and execution I think because of that they have found a great way to differentiate themselves in the highly competitive coffee market.
Gamble, J., & Thompson, A. (2011). Essentials of Strategic Management. The Quest for Competitive Advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.