Company Blog

Taste!

by Adam Zack — October 1, 2025

“Great service is largely controllable, and largely universally appreciated.”

I have a friend who is a bourbon tasting ninja. He’s like the Tom Brady of tasting. A chess grandmaster. Tiger Woods in his prime. Michael Jordan at the buzzer. Not in terms of the quantity of bourbon that he tastes or can drink, it’s his ability to translate all the flavors, scents and sensations into words that once you read them and taste it, make you say, “Oh yeah! I get that now. Scents of apples… caramel on the finish!” Here’s an example of his description of an Elijah Craig 9-year-old Single Barrel Bourbon:

Nose: The nose opens with soft baking spices, warm caramel sauce, fudge brownies and fragrant cedar wood.

Palate: Chunky peanut butter, cinnamon, chocolate chunk cookies and vanilla sweet cream.

Finish: A rich finish of Snickers candy bar chased with a shot of cinnamon-spice latte. There is also a small amount of menthol and oak present to give it some depth.

I read that and thought, “Huh? What? Chunky peanut butter, not smooth?! Menthol?!” Now I know this all sounds super geeky. Most of us would say, “Tastes like bourbon” or “Ugh!”. But the point is that tasting is subjective to what the taster perceives and translates. You could steam me some broccoli and I don’t care how much cheese sauce you pile on; my description of the smell and taste would be: “Terrible!!” Not that there’s anything wrong with broccoli eaters, it’s just terrible to me. So many people have so many different tastes and preferences, which is why us grocers stock so many flavors, varieties and types of food. You can’t please everyone, but you sure can try. What is NOT subjective (or maybe barely subjective) is customer service. Great service is largely controllable and largely universally appreciated. It impresses and cements loyalty. It is not expensive to provide. When given consistently, it exceeds expectations and delivers results. And you don’t have to have a geeky palate to describe it. You can get the same great service with two separate questions. “Where do I find the broccoli?” and “How can I avoid the broccoli?”