Hi guys,
so...... ive got some not good news. and, some somewhat ok news. ill start with the somewhat ok news, i have patchouli on the way.
the bad news is, patchouli oil is having a massive shortage that is wreaking havoc for anyone in the business of buying, using, and selling anything to do with patchouli.... and unfortunately that does mean me, and trickles down to you.
to put just how bad this is into perspective for you - 5 lbs of it cost me $195 in july of this year, i found it yesterday for $819. yeah. managed to get it for $585 but thats still an insane price hike. apparently the shortage is due to a failed crop season from sumatra and sulawesi. there has not been a price hike on patchouli like this due to a shortage since 2009 and man is it brutal.
what does this mean for you and for me? well, it means i am going to do everything in my power to not raise prices on you - which means, there wont be a bunch of patchouli products available in the shop for a while, at least, until prices come back down. the sprays, the pucks, the butter creams.... whats out is out and i can tell you with confidence more of those will not be made this year. and, i can also tell you i dont know when they will be back. as soon as prices come back down is all i know.
crud is hands down our most popular soap, rooibos tea and fij are also ranked high on the list of soaps in demand.. so i absolutely have to keep my patchouli reserved to make those products with it. and no, i am not raising the prices on those things which is why i wont be using patchouli anywhere else. its like liquid gold right now and i need to be very selective where it gets used.
now, if it continues to go up - lets say by next years crop season its failed again? well.. then we may have no choice but to either raise prices or pause production on the soaps containing patchouli too. i cant as a business bleed out and pay through the nose at the same time. right? the only worse scenario is if it gets so bad that its just completely unavailable because some large powerhouse company bought up what was left on the market.
so, thats my news for today. im sorry to all you patchouli fans out there.... i will do my best to get things back in stock when prices come back down, we just have no idea when that may be.
currently in the shop you can stock up on : pucks, patchouli body spray, patchouli butter creams, and there was a whole tray of PX3 hiding on my side the girls didnt know about :) so theres some of that left too!
thank you for understanding!
until next,
-heidi