help! my body butter is melting!

[christellita]

I sell soap at the Farmer's Market. This week, I introduced my new body butter. (shea and cocoa butter, jojoba and sweet almond oil, essential oils). it was hard when i got there, and almost completely liquid when i left!! it was like 95 degrees out. Is this normal? how can i avoid this??
Thanks!

 

[dagmar88]

Hey Christellita,
I'm sorry to say the melting point of shea is 89-95 F
For cocoa that's 93-100.
So yes, it's normal. I think the only way to avoid this is by keeping it cool... but I'm not an expert

 

[LJA]

I'd guess you'd have to use coolers at markets and shows. I'm sure the market pros will chime in with ideas.

 

[Mandarin]

Honestly, I just would not sell body butter in weather like that. You may be able to keep it cool with a cooler at a market, but what about the customer taking it home? It can be an awful mess for them when the customer ultimately gets home. This could affect future sales and the customer may for good reason not recommend you to others. Perhaps other posters have a good solution, but I can't think of anything aside from holding off sellling it.

 

[Tabitha]

You want it to melt. The joy of body butter is it melts on contact w/ your skin, which is approz 98 degrees.

Most people do not take butters to summer shows. Those that do tend to keep them in a cooler & have a big sign that reads "ask me about my body butter". You could keep a sampler jar in a bowl of ice for people to sample.

It's not a good idea to ship in warmer months either. I shipped 3 dozen jars out w/ my very 1st wholesale account... in the middle of summer.... made a HUGE mess :shock: .

 

[Lindy]

I've quit taking my body butters and sugar scrubs to markets for just that reason - they melt. I'm now reserving those for indoor markets, home parties and the mall..... Right now I won't even ship a body butter, lip balm, solid lotion stick, or anything else similar for just that reason. I've let my customers know that if they do want to order that - to do so in the fall once the temps drop so it will get them in a non-liquid state.

If you only do summer outdoor markets you could put them in a cooler and have a mocked up jar to show that the product is in your line-up and then pull out your sample and selling ones out of the cooler. Just make sure they know that they really need to keep this cool because it will melt in extreme heat....

 

[Mandarin]

Just make sure they know that they really need to keep this cool because it will melt in extreme heat....

Yes, but there is no telling some people anything. I think that it will just end up be blamed on the seller no matter how many times the seller explained the melting issue.

 

[christellita]

thank you all for the great advice.
i was worried that I was doing something wrong... a cooler is a great idea. I do, though, think I'll hold off until fall. Too much hassle!