Problem with Vanilla 2.0 viscosity
Gallery
Problem with Vanilla 2.0 viscosity

Keto Chow

Problem with Vanilla 2.0 viscosity

This entry is part 88 of 131 in the series Ketogenic Diet

TL;DR: we’ve pulled Vanilla 2.0 and it’s going to be re-mixed, it’ll be a few weeks before we have Vanilla in stock. The other flavors coming next week appear to be just fine.

I was super happy to have Vanilla Keto Chow 2.0 in stock and available. I regularly do quality control on the product so I grabbed a bag of Vanilla 2.0 and mixed up 6, I could tell immediately that there was a problem – the viscosity (thickness) was all wrong. Instead of being thick like a milk shake it was thin like milk or a protein shake. I let it sit overnight and it was still thin in the morning. It tastes the same, and nutritionally it’s not a problem – all the xanthan gum does is increase viscosity.

So, I spent the day driving back and forth to the manufacturer figuring stuff out. They definitely added xanthan gum to the mix – each batch goes through a pretty meticulous quality control procedure:

The formula is multiplied out into the size batch they need and the total mass required in kilograms for each ingredient is put onto a tracking sheet
As each ingredient is weighed out, the technician notes the reading on the scale, initials the reading and a second technician initials that it was correctly done
the total batch weight is compared to the target weight
they routinely verify their inventory based on what they brought in minus what was supposed to be used.

The batch for Vanilla should have used around 9 Kg of xanthan gum – that’s roughly 20lbs. The final weight was within 0.01kg of the target.

So we’re not sure what is going on with Vanilla – the only difference between it and most other flavors is color (or lack thereof) and the flavor mix. The end result is we yanked Vanilla from the site and zeroed out the inventory. All this got me spooked that the other flavors might have similar problems, Chocolate is fine but Cookies & Cream along with Salted Caramel are going into bagging early next week. So that was my first trip down there. I brought two blender bottles with the right amount of water and heavy cream and mixed them up right there. Viscosity is perfect on Cookies & Cream as well as Salted Caramel. We discussed several options and ultimately it was decided that they are going to re-do the batch. So I drove back down, this time with all of the remaining Vanilla 2.0. We’re going to have to get new bags printed which may slow things down some. I expect the earliest we’ll see Vanilla 2.0 will be 3-4 weeks from now (early to late June 2017).

Anybody who was shipped Vanilla 2.0 should have gotten an email from me earlier today with options for what they want to do. One thing I forgot in the email was that if they choose to keep the Vanilla and happen to have xanthan gum on hand (or if they want to order some using the refunds) it just needs 1.3g of xanthan gum in 44.1g of vanilla and you have the right viscosity – I tested it myself =) If you happened to have ordered Vanilla 2.0 and didn’t see an email from me, I’ll be following up with those that haven’t responded yet.

By Chris|2017-05-05T16:43:25-06:00May 5th, 2017|Categories: Keto Chow|Tags: ketochow2.0, xanthan gum, Keto Chow, flavors|0 Comments

State of the Keto Chow – the transition to 2.0, and you

This entry is part 86 of 131 in the series Ketogenic Diet

Updated

It’s time to talk about the status of switching to Keto Chow 2.0, what to expect from 1.9 and such. About 2 months ago we did “one great last” purchase of protein powder for 1.9 – it was essentially how much of each flavor we had used over the previous 2 months – except Rich Chocolate, we ordered 3 months worth of that. The idea was to get everything finalized as far as mixing went and hopefully be running out a bit after 2.0 became available.

As you know: 2.0 was delayed, and delayed, we finally got Chocolate 2.0 in the large bags. The progress manufacturing the bags has been somewhat slow and steady – I actually did a good/bad thing in having them do chocolate first – which had nearly 2x as many packages as any other flavor – it’s good that we have a lot of Chocolate but it took a while to work through the production of it, at the expense of having other flavors quicker. Anyway, here is the order they are making the flavors in:

Chocolate – delivered
Cookies & Cream – delivered
Salted Caramel – delivered
Strawberry – delivered
Banana – delivered
Peanut Butter – delivered
Mocha – delivered
Vanilla – delivered

So here’s a quick rundown on 1.9 availability for the week packs:

Gourmet Vanilla – out of stock.
Cookies & Cream – out of stock.
Chocolate Peanut Butter – out of stock.
Snickerdoodle – out of stock.
Rich Chocolate – out of stock.
Chocolate Fudge – out of stock.
Strawberry Blast – out of stock.

The question came up yesterday: What about the people that like v 1.9 better than the 2.0? I haven’t had anybody try 2.0 and like 1.9 better. I’m sure there will be a few though, if you happen to fit into that category: I’m truly sorry for the disruption. A potential fix would be to get the Base Powder and use the same Dymatize Elite protein that I have been using for 1.9. You could also mix up the recipe for Keto Chow 1.5.

What about the 2.0 samples? That’s a fun one: the “stick pack” roll film we’re using has been breaking in the machine every 20 or so samples. I’m trying to get the place that made the stuff over to help dial in the settings so they can get it running. It’s very likely that the packaging I had printed (7000 of each flavor) will need to be re-done with a different medium.

By Chris|2017-07-28T08:40:27-06:00May 2nd, 2017|Categories: Keto Chow|Tags: xanthan gum, Keto Chow, flavors, ketochow2.0|2 Comments

Temporary Supply issues, you’ll notice stuff going out of stock, should be OK March 8
Gallery
Temporary Supply issues, you’ll notice stuff going out of stock, should be OK March 8

Keto Chow

Temporary Supply issues, you’ll notice stuff going out of stock, should be OK March 8

We are having supply issues with several components, notably xanthan gum and the silver bags we use. We placed an emergency order for some xanthan gum but the order we placed for the bags is finally shipping today, 6 days later. Likely we won’t have suitable supplies until the morning of Wednesday, March 8, when we can restock the several flavors that are out of stock. To that end, the sale on Cookies and Cream has been extended a week, until March 12. So it’ll be on sale and in stock for a 7 days, just with a sad week of no Cookies between. We’ll try to make certain that the stock quantity for all the flavors and sizes are kept up to date so that if you can place an order, there shouldn’t be a delay waiting for other stuff.

The ironic thing is we have enough protein powder to fill over a month’s worth of orders. We’re just simultaneously out of stock of Xanthan Gum, Potassium Citrate, Acacia Gum and the bags. Now would have been a super convenient time to have Keto Chow 2.0 done and ready!