IOL Strength and Conditioning

Drought in California and Australia, plus the rise of fuel and transportation costs, higher demand from Chinese consumers and feed corn diverted to ethanol production have all combined into a sort of perfect storm, shooting a price rumble through the catalog of dairy products. Increasing dairy prices affect everything from milk, cheese and yogurt, to secondary markets that use dairy products, such as Starbucks espresso drinks, Hershey’s chocolate and Round Table pizzas.

And protein powders, all of them, everything using any form of whey or casein. As manufacturers take delivery of new shipments, we’ll begin to see price increases across the board. I’m guessing in that regard, of course, but I’d be *very* surprised if protein powder makers will be able to absorb a price increase this large and remain in business.

Today marked our second cost increase this year; we took a loss the first few months on the off-chance whey and dairy prices would return to normal this summer. That didn’t happen as hoped, and with receipt of our new shipment this week, we simply have no choice but to pass the price increase on, representing our first price increase since bringing Bomber Blend to market six years ago. The cost increase? $5.00 per jug.

No kidding. That’s how much *more* our whey and casein costs per jug this year over last. And that’s the amount we’re forced to pass on to the consumer. If we had a choice, we’d choose something different. In fact, we’ve had minor cost increases over the years and have chosen to hold our price steady. This time, unfortunately, it can’t happen that way.

One bright light in this otherwise gloomy picture: We’ve negotiated new UPS shipping rates that will decrease the shipping costs for most packages. We’ll continue to ship smaller one-pound parcels via the postal service’s priority mail service, and will shift the majority of our other US mainland orders over to USP delivery.

This switch enabled us to switch to flat-rate shipping costs.

I think you’re gonna like this part: Freight charges for a case of protein will now be a flat $10, down from $18-$25, depending on delivery location. Other packages with multiple items will all be cheaper to ship, and all with better online parcel tracking.

US Mainland Flat Rate Shipping
Order Total - Freight Cost
$1-$49 - $ 5.00
$50-$99 - $ 7.50
$100-$199 - $10.00
$200-$249 - $15.00
$250-$299 - $20.00
$300-349 - $25.00
$350-$399 - $30.00
$400-499 - $35.00
$500+ - $40.00

We’ll continue to ship USPS parcel post and priority mail to Alaska and Hawaii, and USPS Priority and Priority Flat Rate to international locations. Top Squats are shipped via DHL from the manufacturing plant in Indiana.

So it goes, a bit of good news mixed with the bad. But you know, all in all, things are pretty favorable when we can continue to feel healthy, train, eat right and share our experiences with the terrific friends of IronOnline.

Those arriving here from the online store Bomber Blend page can return by clicking here.