Timeline
What has shipped, what failed and was fixed, and what the round is sequenced against. Dates before October 30, 2026 are from invoices, carrier records and supplier correspondence; later dates are plans and carry the assumptions stated.
ROON trademark application filed
USPTO serial 99400905, Class 3 (deodorants, cosmetics, fragrance, non-medicated deodorant balms). Owner Roon Body LLC. Since published for opposition with none filed; Notice of Allowance issued May 5, 2026; Statement of Use being filed with counsel.
Formula development across three labs
Pure Chemistry Consulting (foundational samples) → Nuno Cosmetics Lab (original balm formulator, Production Run 1). Off-the-shelf HCT 17.5 g twist-up tube selected for launch.
Soft launch on roonbody.com
Four scents + Discovery Set. Creator seeding programme opens; Meta learning-phase test runs Mar 11 – Jun 18 (~$7K).
Tatapack engaged for the proprietary mini tube
Deposit paid; artwork and Pantone references transferred. Roon owns the mini tooling.
First production run fails QC — ~80% of units
Oils separated at the base of the component and leaked out of the seams. Root cause traced largely to formula instability, with tube tolerances as the secondary path. Decision: rebuild both sides. IP counsel (Carr & Ferrell) retained the same month.
Reformulation and bridge fill
New lead formulator Kenna Whitnell builds a more stable anhydrous formula; it passes accelerated stability testing and a test-ship. Private Label Labs (Wixom, MI) contracted for a ~2,100-unit bridge fill into the remaining QC-cleared HCT tubes (invoice D363, Jun 16). Unit cartons arrive Jun 16; Discovery mailer boxes ~Jun 30. Strategic IP workshop with counsel.
Formula R7 locked
DeodorantFF-R7: shea and apricot kernel oil out; murumuru butter, jojoba esters and a probiotic ferment in. INCI panels re-issued for all four scents.
Cosmoprof North America — hard launch
777 booth tubes air-freighted (shipment 1). 586 sampled or sold through in three days; Coastal Citron sold out. 35+ buyer contacts; first wholesale payment taken at the booth.
Wholesale opens
Luxa Beauty ($690) and Summer House ($231) via Faire; zero ad spend. Amazon listings converted to FBA; A+ Brand Story approved.
Tatapack pricing and tooling terms
Component pricing adjusted +4.5% (PP resin and FX); the 20,000-unit mini order is unchanged. Tatapack offers 50/50 co-funding of the $36K 50 g mold program as an option alongside outright ownership.
Bridge-fill shipment 2 lands — short
1,141 tubes received against 1,323 requested (Coastal Citron 486 · Coconut Shore 333 · Vanilla Drift 281 · Bare 41). Vanilla Drift and Bare under-ran; some Vanilla tubes arrived warm with product past the seal. Consequence: paid media is sequenced behind the next run rather than launched on thin stock.
Amazon live (FBM bridge offers)
All five SKUs selling merchant-fulfilled on the same ASINs that will carry FBA.
V2 component pilot
Pilot-run minis on the new tube (gloss finish) shipped to Shoppers Drug Mart, Bloomingdale's and Free People alongside a Discovery Set in the original tube. Production finish from the first week of September is soft-touch with logo.
FBA first shipment postponed · cruelty-free declarations signed
No inventory ships to Amazon FBA until the V2 tubes deploy — a deliberate choice not to stock the old component. Same day, both fillers (Private Label Labs and Klen Earth Products) signed their Leaping Bunny supplier declarations, completing Roon's application file.
Two contract manufacturers mixing R7
Early samples of the R7 formula received from Klen Earth Products (new CM, Santa Ana, CA — first sample round complete across three SKUs; a 5,000-unit opening PO is being booked so raw materials are ordered ahead of the September tube arrival) and from Product Society (N. Hollywood). Two independent fillers reproducing the formula under NDA — the redundancy the RFQ was designed to create. The Goodkind Co has the component on its lines for a fill-feasibility read; Bentley Labs has given preliminary pricing.
20,000 V2 mini tubes ship from Tatapack
The full mini-tube production run is complete and departs Ningbo in two lots: 5,000 by air and 15,000 by sea. Freight (~$2,800, both lots) is paid; the ~$9,600 tube run is 50% paid with the balance due on arrival. Roon-owned tooling; this is the component the whole Q4 plan is built on.
PO RB-1011 issued to Klen Earth — first V2 fill
Purchase order for the first 5,000 finished units (1,250 per scent) at the $2.77/unit contract-fill price = $13,850; 50% deposit on acceptance, balance on completion; will-call pickup in Santa Ana. Roon supplies tubes, stickers, cartons, fragrance and formula.
5,000 V2 tubes land by air
Quoted 10–15 days. Expected around Sep 8; the plan commits the co-manufacturer to nothing before Mon Sep 14. Klen Earth Products (Santa Ana) fills the first 5,000 — PO being issued at the $2.77/unit 5K-break fill price; 3-ply stickers and secondary components at the warehouse by Fri Sep 4.
Paid-media go/no-go → launch
Gate: air lot received, ≥270 uncommitted tubes for Meta, ≥8 Amazon reviews. Meta relaunches on proven creative (5.15% CTR) at the $54 Discovery Set offer; FBA resumes on the V2 tube.
15,000 V2 tubes land by sea
Quoted 30–35 days; expected Sep 21–28, planned to Mon Sep 28 with the first week of October held as buffer. Fill of the 15,000 is open between Klen Earth and Product Society (or a mix) — both being held to the $2.77 fill price. This is the volume behind Q4 — FBA restock, Meta scaling, wholesale depth.
Canada + full-size
50 g mold cut at Tatapack (~30 days from final approval); bilingual Canadian cartons; Shoppers / Well.ca vendor setup.
Full-size scales; Product Society at volume
Go-forward filler at lower per-unit COGS; Product Society's 3PL activates at ~600 orders/month, co-located with manufacturing.
Why the paid-media launch waits for inventory
Inbound freight — the two V2 lots
Desk reference prepared Aug 19; both lots departed Sat Aug 22. Dates land on a business day the warehouse can receive (Labor Day and weekends excluded). Forwarders quote in calendar days; if the quote is to port rather than door, every date moves right by about a week.
| Lot | Quantity | Quoted transit | Earliest | Latest | Plan to | Components at warehouse by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air | 5,000 tubes | 10–15 days | Tue Sep 1 | Mon Sep 14 | Mon Sep 14 (expect ~Sep 8) | Fri Sep 4 — stickers + secondary components |
| Sea | 15,000 tubes | 30–35 days | Mon Sep 21 | Mon Sep 28 | Mon Sep 28 (hold first week of Oct as buffer) | Thu Sep 24 — mini-run components |
Supply chain
Primary and backup partners across formulation, filling, component, packaging, fragrance and fulfilment. Five contract manufacturers were trialed on the anhydrous balm; two can hold the batch.
| Function | Partner | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Formulation | Kenna Whitnell | Lead formulator; built and stability-tested the R7 go-forward formula | Primary |
| Formulation | Nuno Cosmetics Lab · Pure Chemistry Consulting | Original formulator / Run 1 manufacturer; foundational formulator | On reserve (tech transfer complete) |
| Filling | Private Label Labs · Wixom, MI | Bridge fill (~2,100 units) for Cosmoprof and the Aug 1 replenishment | Incumbent |
| Filling | Product Society · N. Hollywood, CA | Quoted the $2.77 fill at the 5K break; R7 samples received week of Aug 17; candidate for the 15,000-unit sea-lot fill; 3PL division at scale | Go-forward · sampling R7 |
| Filling | Klen Earth Products · Santa Ana, CA | First R7 sample round complete (3 SKUs); fills the first 5,000 V2 units at the $2.77 5K-break price — PO being issued; Leaping Bunny declaration signed | First fill · PO in progress |
| Filling | The Goodkind Co · Round Rock, TX | Anhydrous / natural-deodorant specialist; samples received, operations assessing whether the component runs on their lines (read due ~Aug 25) | Fill-feasibility review |
| Filling | Bentley Labs | Preliminary pricing received; fragrance samples and empty components requested for lab evaluation | RFQ, pricing stage |
| Component | Tatapack · Ningbo | Proprietary mini twist-up tube; Roon-owned mini tooling; 20,000-tube run shipped Aug 22 (5K air / 15K sea); 50 g full-size mold; net-30 terms | Primary · in transit |
| Component | Viva · NF Beauty · Lombardi | Alternative tube suppliers (Canada, California, New York) | Redundancy |
| Component | HCT (KDC/ONE) | Original off-the-shelf tube | Wound down |
| Packaging | Skillful Printing | Unit cartons, mailer boxes, PDQ counter displays; 3-ply scent stickers in production for the first V2 fill (needed by Sep 4); window-carton samples ~Aug 25; FSC / SEDEX | Primary |
| Packaging | Box Printing Co · Parker · Virtual Packaging | Quoting the bilingual Canadian mini-carton run for Shoppers / Well.ca / The Green Jungle; vendor selection in progress | Quoting |
| Fragrance | Belle Aire Creations · Custom Essence | Belle Aire supplies the scents for the next production run; Custom Essence naturals (fully-natural classifications) in sampling; Orchidia (Flavorchem) developed the originals | Primary · sampling |
| Fulfilment | In-house, Newport Beach → Product Society 3PL | Self-fulfilled today; 3PL at ~600 orders/month | Staged |
Component ownership
Mini tube (15 g) — owned
Roon paid for and owns the mini tooling at Tatapack (engaged Mar 2026). Pilot units were in buyers' hands by Aug 21; the full 20,000-tube production run (soft-touch with logo) shipped Aug 22 — 5,000 by air landing Sep 1–14, 15,000 by sea landing Sep 21–28. Proprietary 45–60-day mold cycle that a copycat would have to fund and wait out.
Full-size (50 g) — $36K tooling program
Budgeted at the full $36K for outright ownership of the mold. Tatapack has also offered a 50/50 co-ownership option at an $18K Roon share with a buy-out path — an option that would free capital for inventory and marketing. Decision is the founder's; either way the round covers it.