Product quality not guaranteed
I want to be fair with this review. First off hand, the shipping is always timely and fast with packaging well done. The customer service via mail has been reasonably timely. With this order for Grass Fed Beef Tallow, I did not have a good experience. Let me established that I am an experienced soap maker that sells soaps online. I make Grass Fed Beef Tallow Bars (100 percent ingredient only) for individuals who have skin sensitivities. This batch of Grass Fed Beef Tallow from the start of using the fat, caused all my tallow soaps to turn pink hue after a week of curing time. I reached out to Essential Depot customer service via phone and email and while they attempted to help me figure out why it was doing this, they did not guarantee their product by refunding me for this tallow even when I submitted a physical sample of the grass fed tallow fat and a soap bar that was affected. Pictures of the soaps that turned pink were dated and provided to Essential Depot as well. Lot numbers were provided on the sodium hydroxide (Lye) used for the batches made. No lot number(s) were provided on the bulk size tallow (50 Lbs) order, with possibility that the label did not get attached to the plastic bag it was in, but rather on the box which could not be found. A chemist that is affliated with the organization was given these samples as per request to inspect it and perform an analysis on it. They were not able to given me details on the cause nor was I provided with a data sheet that perhaps was used by the chemist (provided that it was done) to give details of the possible contaminants or chemical exposure that may have caused the soaps to turn pink. I could not return the grass fed tallow as the majority of it was used within 3 - 4 days upon arrival where I make large numbers of soaps at once. So the end result was not seen until after a week of curing time. The remaining fat, I attempted to see if I could do a wet rendering to see if potential contaminents were removed. Made soap with this rerendered portion and the soaps did not turn pink. However, over 4 weeks of cure time some bars had some slight pea size light brown spots. Bottom line is I lost much profit with this batch of tallow along with good sodium hydroxide that I had purchased as well within the same week the tallow was purchased. Very disappointed with how customer service handled this transaction for a long time customer. Been purchasing there sodium hydroxide for 9 years and never once had a problem with this. I had just started to buy their Grass Fed Tallow Fat with the use of discounts from Greener Life membership. I doubt it was a lye problem and my measurements are always the same with consistency guaranteed with the recipes and use of weight based scale in grams or ounces of the ingredients. My process of making these soaps had never changed including the use of equipment. I would caution in purchase of Grass Fed Tallow since this is a product that uses all sources of fat from the cow and from my undertanding has multiple vendors sourced out for this fat which might not guarantee each sourced fat or the rendering process that may lack good quality practices.