We are extremely excited to have finally received release dates from our harvest partner on the passiflora extract (which proved to be significantly more complex than our S1 formulation production).
As you are aware, there have been consistent delays on the delivery of passiflora, and we would love to give you some increased transparency on the shift in our timeline.
We will now be receiving the plant on Tuesday the 19th to begin the final mixing of formulations and packaging of both the S2 Refill Packs and S2 Starter Kits, with a plan to commence shipment in the week of the 25th of July.
To provide some context, our plant formulations are fundamentally different from what is available on sale at a local health food store. Typically, you will find plant mixtures in ethanol which is a relatively straightforward production process. However, sofi works with only the purest plant extract, which produces concentrations in excess of 20-30 times what is currently available on the shelves. This means that we have a significant distillation process which is both time and energy consuming, and also includes the total evaporation of any alcohol in our mixtures, making our plant formulations accessible to all. This is how we pack a significant quantum of active compounds from each plant into a single spray.
On the specifics of this batch production of passiflora, our harvest partner ran into additional, operational challenges. Although they have over a century of experience in this pure form of plant extraction, we still hit two critical failures in our extraction of passiflora for the S2 Pioneer Program.
If you recall from our last update, this is unfortunately not the first thing to go wrong with our beloved passiflora, as previously the drum of liquid was dropped from a great height and spilled (we can confirm the floor never slept so well!)
After being assured that a new batch of passiflora would be pushed immediately into extraction, we hit a second failure. A pump necessary to the process had to be restored due to lack of spare components by the suppliers, and we have had to proceed on a reduced capacity basis, from 100L per hour to 125L per day (slowing the process by more than 90%).
We are reviewing remedial actions implemented by our harvest partner in their mitigation program to prevent and avoid reoccurrence. We accept things that can go wrong will go wrong. New ventures and projects by their inherent nature are fragile - they are inventing and charting a path to things they have never done before. So we rely on trusted partners and wide shoulders of experience to push forward. A century of extraction did not prove to be sufficient in this case, but we have been assured that things will be different moving forward.
Throughout the process, we have been amazed not only by your love and support, but also by your patience. We can’t wait to get the new formulations to you imminently!
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