Danny Recommends: TrueVine Pre-Packaged Communion / Concordia Supply
Every so often we dip our toes into a series called Danny Recommends:, posts that tip you off to the stuff that I…you know. The recommendations might be products for use in your ministry, resources that will help you develop leaders around you, or just fun stuff that you need. Want. Whatever. I have a full list of recommended books and such over at the Reading List, but these posts will go into further detail. For other posts in the series, check out the link at the bottom.
Since this is a blog post on communion, it feels appropriate and fitting to start with confession:
I remember the first time I received a sample pack of those little “pre-packaged communion cups” well over a decade ago. I got my stack of mail (remember mail?), opened an odd-shaped package, and out came a small box with four sample cups nestled within. I had a grand old time parading them around the church office, making fun of the sheer insanity of those products, popping off snide one-liners, and assuring the staff that our congregation would see the pre-packaged body and blood of Jesus over my dead body.
Fast forward to 2020.
A pandemic didn’t do any favors to the “pass the plate” crowd, whether we’re talking passing out communion or taking up offering. And suddenly, those pre-packaged cups didn’t seem like such a silly idea.
The problem
As we came out of the covid season, we realized that there was a lot more simplicity to those cups than we’d originally thought. There were no more juice fillers, and therefore no more sticky juice trays. No extra team of communion preppers showing up hours before the first service. And no waste at the end of a Sunday morning when all the unused juice and crackers went down the sink or in the trash can.
But if you remember The Great Communion Shortage of 2020 (and beyond), it seems that finding a consistent, reliable pre-packaged pipeline is easier said than done. As an example, one month we’d order Brand A from Amazon. The next month Amazon was on backorder, so Brand B came from LifeWay. But both Brand A and B contained “bread” that tasted like it was actually present at the last supper.
The process
So our team undertook some research. We found 13 of what seemed to be the most reliable communion vendors, and 11 brands of every pre-packaged option we could find at the time (some vendors carried the same brands by the same manufacturer). Then we pulled data on every item count available (ranging from a case of 1,500 cups to an adorably-smöl box of six). We compared that info to per-item cost and shipping cost to give us a total per-unit price. And then we compared shelf life based on the manufacturer’s recommendations.
Once we compiled all that info, we had a spreadsheet of 35 individual product lines to choose from. Out of that, we chose five “regular” samples and three gluten-free samples. And then – in a process that questioned everything I believe about the sacredness of communion – we taste-tested all of them in one sitting. Our criteria was (a) ease to open the packaging (including the noise factor of peeling off the lid), (b) taste of the juice, and (c) freshness of the cracker or wafer.
The product
We settled on a product we’ve been really happy with. We chose the TrueVine Cup based on the above criteria. Specifically:
- The cracker and juice compartments are bottom and top. No more fumbling with the “wafer on top” deal that is more challenging than you’d expect.
- The lids peel off easily and silently.
- TrueVine has a four month shelf life in a cool, dry place, or one year if frozen.
- While TrueVine wasn’t our cheapest option, it certainly wasn’t our most expensive. (More on this in “The Vendor” below.)
We also utilize the gluten-free option in the chalice. Now, the chalice resurfaces my own personal, this-is-too-silly-to-be-a-real-thing feelings left over from that first sample kit I received, but we opted for the chalice because it makes it really hard to overlook the “GLUTEN-FREE” stamping on the lid, thereby sending someone straight from a moment of reflection to a moment of intestinal panic.
The vendor
Finally, though the TrueVine Cup is available from a number of different vendors, we opted for Concordia Supply for a number of reasons:
- They have an auto-ship policy which allows us to be at the top of their planning, and avoid most supply chain issues.
- They gave us a bulk discount based on the number of units we order monthly.
- They have a rewards program where we earn points to get discounts off of future orders.
Factoring in all of those things, we actually got a lot closer to the cheapest option on the market.
Check out TrueVine from Concordia Supply.
See all posts in the Danny Recommends: series.
Disclaimer: FTC watchdogs will probably want to know that the vendors listed / linked above did not ask for this endorsement, nor did they provide me with free swag in order to do so. I’m just a really satisfied fan who wants to let you know about helpful things. I only promote items that have benefitted me and that I believe will benefit you. So there.
