We can’t even express how the comments above make us feel.
It’s an odd feeling.
On the one hand we couldn’t feel more grateful that we’re at a place where Schoolyard Snacks is so loved. But on the other hand we lose sleep at night worrying about the disappointed people that miss out. We never want the words “Schoolyard Snacks” and “disappointed” to be said together.
With the recent release of the Keto Cheese Puffs it’s become noticeable by everyone that we’re struggling to keep up with demand.
We read the comments, the emails, the DMs, the messages.
We hear you.
We want you to know that we’re sorry that we haven’t been able to do better in this area. The happiness of our community is always our top priority and we understand that selling out of a new release in days creates a lot of unhappy people. It’s unacceptable.
We’ve seen the writing on the wall, it’s not just this recent new release. Just in general, it’s been difficult to keep a lot of things in stock. Every time we add our Keto Cereal back into stock they’re gone just as quickly.
We promise, that’s not done on purpose!
However, as of today, we have started on a new path to correct our supply/demand issues (more on that below).
OUR CURRENT SITUATION
It’s no secret that we’re in the middle of a pandemic.
As a small business this is challenging.
Actually, even big businesses are struggling. The biggest business in the world (Amazon) can’t even get items out the door without 3+ weeks of wait time. We all understand because it’s not just businesses that have difficulties, every individual feels it in one way or another.
Everything in the world has either slowed down or stopped all together.
In our scenario, we’re feeling it in a lot of places. But the one we're sharing with you today is our challenge to find more warehouse space. Finding warehouse space isn’t easy in a normal world. Sprinkle in a pandemic and things reach a new level of difficult.
Wondering how this relates to selling out of Keto Cheese puffs in days? This is how it relates….
We’re out of space.
Actually, 8 months ago we were out of space. Today, it’s next level.
You may look at the photo above and think it’s a huge warehouse. That’s a reasonable thing to assume because it is a huge warehouse. And it’s completely full.
There’s not space for even one more pallet.
A large portion of our days goes towards working with Rob (our Head of Logistics) to help figure out a new way to fit more boxes in our warehouse. Recently, we’ve even started having two full trucks of our snacks sitting outside of the warehouse to create more space. We’ve made it this far, but to be honest, it’s all just band-aids.
And after this last new product release, it’s obvious the band-aids aren’t holding.
WHAT WE’RE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT
We’ve been on the hunt for additional warehouses since the beginning of 2020. After seeing the amount of disappointed people we have said enough is enough. Today we signed an agreement to open 5 additional warehouses across the country!
This is a big step.
Scratch that, huge step.
As owners of a small business during these uncertain times, any risk is scary. But it’s time. We’ve been pushed out of our comfort zone, but that’s where we thrive.
It’ll take some time to ramp up, realistically several months. But the plan is there. It won’t be a quick fix, but it’s coming. So hang in there. There will still be several months of things selling out faster than they should but we’re hoping to be much more prepared by the end of the year.
Thanks for hanging in there!
Again, we apologize for the quick sell out.
If you missed out on the Keto Cheese Puffs we will try to restock as frequently as possible, so keep coming back to check on availability. As we're typing this, we also still have some Keto Cereal left.
Lastly, we just want to say thank you for all the support. We hear the positive messages too!
-Helen & Dylan (Founders)
