Blame Inflation, Not the Soapmaker
Why the price changed, but the recipe didn't.
Well, I’m feeling the discomfort of change. I’m sure many folks around you are also feeling pressures around change.
My big blister right now is the need to raise my prices. It's just so hard to make a change like this knowing how hard it is for so many to make ends meet, let alone engage in the economy in a robust way.
My inclination is to make the change as painless as possible. But the reality is that I put it off for so long and the world is changing so fast, the option to make a small increase has passed.
So, where do we start? I could increase as little as possible and then increase again, like putting out fires. Or do I go all the way by making the cost of operations take care of itself and its employees and the environment to the fullest, like fire mitigation.
Knowing this libra, we are going to land somewhere in the middle!
I’m making sacrifices for the project, like working more (much much more! But those that know me, know that I love my work- there really is so much to love!) and raising prices enough, hopefully, to get us through this challenging time!
But what I’ve really been feeling angsty about is the bigger business models cutting their quality for the bigger profits while they tell their customers that it's “business as usual, all good here”. I’ve watched (and felt) well loved natural body care brands cheapen their products bit by bit until you can hardly recognise them anymore. And what kills me is that some really gorgeous formulas have been lost to this process. And we paid for it with our skin! I recently did some research on a brand that hit some considerable success over the past 5 years due to some genuine marketing genius. That brand went from 100% natural to 98% natural. Can you even imagine what kinds of yuck can be in that 2%. As many of you know, I can go on about synthetic fragrance (plant derived or not). I will just say this, typically the essential oils in my bar soap make up 2% of the volume of my bars, but they make up 25% of the cost. When companies make quality cuts that involve using synthetic fragrance, regardless of what they “say”, it IS to save money. Its significant! And at the same time, knowing what I know about how harmful synthetics are in trace loads when we are being exposed to dozens of these loads in all areas of our lives from the gas pump to clothes washing, I have decided to not make THIS sacrifice.
Working harder (hopefully not for forever!!!) is my choice for the health of all and the true beauty of these products!
So, sorry, not sorry, but actually a little sorry! This is the unescapable change that is affecting us all, but at least we get to keep the part we really love, eh?
All my Love,
Roxanne
