The Wilmington Area Ice Jam on the Lower Kankakee River, January 2024.  The supplier of some of our raw materials (8% of liquid sulfate-free ingredients to be exact) has a wonderful operation off the Kankakee River in lower Illinois. Supplies are shipped to create our body wash, face off and shampoo formulas. There are no substitute for these ingredients as they comprise the base of these formulas.

According to weather.gov "a significant ice jam occurred on the lower Kankakee River in the general area of I-55 and Wilmington from January 15 to January 26, 2024. The ice jam was preceded by a period of very cold air temperatures and elevated streamflow levels. At peak extent, it is estimated that the ice jam covered an area from near Bardwell Island and the Will-Grundy county line upstream for approximately 12 miles to near Custer Park. While this ice jam was in place, multiple instances of flooding occurred at different locations along its reach. In addition to flooding, ice flow damage was also noted in some areas." Our supplier was wiped out. Everything damaged.

End of story. No? A back up supplier in Iowa was just helping to get materials moving to us a couple weeks ago when mother nature dumped a deluge of rain which triggered massive flooding. Nothing was salvageable. No joke.

So here we are in July. Everyone is still cleaning up the mess, trying to get operations back on track. We have begged, borrowed and nearly stolen ingredients to keep liquid D+L products in stock. In order to have 12 ounce and 4 ounce sizes to sell we've had to place a temporary hold on all 64 ounce refills. Though our supplies are limited for the moment, we are committed to having all sizes available again as soon as nature will allow.

We find ourselves, all of us, heading into a world that looks and feels different from the one we have known. Globalization offered us abundant resources and cheap prices. On the supply side, it is becoming more difficult to get simple ingredients, especially if they have to travel on cargo ships. Weather, pirates, tariffs, drought, fire, flood, shrinking river flows, crumbling infrastructure, all of it, now part of the U.S. supply chain equation. Thank you for understanding and for your continued support.