Hilltop Coffee manufactures a coffee product by blending three types of coffee beans. The cost per pound and the available pounds of each bean are as follows:
Consumer tests with coffee products were used to provide ratings on a scale of 0-100, with higher ratings indicating higher quality. Product quality standards for the blended coffee require a consumer rating for aroma to be at least 75 and a consumer rating for taste to be at least 80. The individual ratings of the aroma and taste for coffee made from 100% of each bean are as follows:
Assume that the aroma and taste attributes of the coffee blend will be a weighted average of the attributes of the beans used in the blend.
a. What is the minimum-cost blend that will meet the quality standards and provide 1000 pounds of the blended coffee product?
b. What is the cost per pound for the coffee blend?
c. Determine the aroma and taste ratings for the coffee blend.
d. If additional coffee were to be produced, what would be the expected cost perpound?