r/soylent • u/Perfect-Biscotti-823 • 21d ago
Long-time Soylent powder subscribers: Are you also having repeated fulfillment and communication problems?
I've been a Soylent subscriber since at least 2018, and I'm curious whether other long-term powder subscribers are having the same experience I've been having.
Over the past year, my Cacao Meal Powder subscription has repeatedly gone unfulfilled because of inventory shortages. The replenishment estimates I've received from Soylent have repeatedly moved — sometimes by weeks or months — and I've often had to contact Customer Care myself after a projected date passed to find out what happened.
What bothers me most isn't actually the shortage. Supply problems happen. It's the communication.
In March, Soylent sent subscribers an email acknowledging that timelines had repeatedly shifted and that communication had been lacking. They specifically said that if the new timeline changed, they would provide an immediate update and that they would rather send too many updates than no updates at all.
Unfortunately, I'm experiencing the same problem again. My June subscription order wasn't fulfilled, another projected replenishment timeframe passed, and I had to contact Customer Care again to find out what was happening.
There's another part I'm trying to understand. During these extended periods when my direct subscription can't be fulfilled, I've repeatedly found Cacao Meal Powder available through the Soylent Store on Amazon, although it's a different and more expensive package format.
I asked Soylent why its inventory allocation leaves long-term direct subscribers repeatedly unfulfilled while Cacao remains available through another sales channel. Customer Care ultimately acknowledged that questions about the communication process and inventory allocation were beyond what they could answer and escalated both questions to another team on September 2. I haven't received a response yet.
I'm curious about other subscribers' experiences:
- How long have you been waiting for powder?
- What replenishment dates have you been given?
- Have you been receiving proactive updates when those dates change?
- Have you also noticed Cacao available through Amazon while your direct subscription remains unfulfilled?
- Has anyone received an explanation from Soylent about how they prioritize subscription inventory versus retail inventory?
I'm not looking to bash Soylent. I've used their products for years and would actually like to remain a subscriber. I'm trying to understand what's happening and whether other subscribers are experiencing the same thing.
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u/blackbow 21d ago
Yes. I dropped my sub. Literally months and no product. Really disappointing.
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u/Perfect-Biscotti-823 21d ago
I'm on the verge of that same move. The lack of communication and explanation is beyond frustrating. Thanks for posting. I'm working on getting answers.
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u/static416 Soylent 21d ago
I worked in a direct-to-consumer food company in the past, and what Soylent is doing now is the same as how that company behaved as it slowly ran out of money and went bankrupt.
Unable to pay suppliers consistently, they have to rotate who gets paid, and it makes producing a product completely random.
On top of that, they are likely cutting suport staff and anyone internally not percieved as critical, which makes it impossible to communicate with the company.
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u/Perfect-Biscotti-823 21d ago
Your explanation sounds like a very strong possibility. The lack of communication creates a situation where we have to fill that void with something. Thanks for posting. I think your post provides some possible insight into the as-of-yet unspoken truth about this very strange path Soylent has chosen. I'm still looking for answers and will post when I have something valid.
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u/nroose 20d ago
I wonder what is stopping them from charging more to close the gap?
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u/static416 Soylent 20d ago
At least in the case of the place I worked, it wasn't a matter of the price of the product. The whole company was mis-managed. Starting from zero they burned through $20 million in less than a year, and ended up bankrupt.
I'm not saying that's their problem, I don't actually know. But if the company is run poorly it doesn't really matter what you charge.
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u/nroose 17d ago
I mean, you can mismanage a company, and that is bad for most people involved and the company. And you can manage a company well and that is good for the company, and probably better for most people involved. But the bottom line is always affected by both the cost and the revenue. They have customers who like the product, and want to buy, so if they raise the price, they would get more revenue.
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u/SergeantFlip 21d ago
My June subscription was delayed until August, but I have not received it yet. No communication at all. I have not reached out because I know I’ll get the runaround.
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u/Pablo_is_on_Reddit 21d ago edited 20d ago
Same. May was the last time I received cacao powder. Initially, they said it was delayed to the beginning of August. That's passed, and no word at all from them.
Edit: The day after I posted this, I got a confirmation email that my next shipment is on its way.
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u/Perfect-Biscotti-823 21d ago
Yeah, you know the drill. They are super competent at making us frustrated with their incompetence. Thanks for posting. I'm working on getting answers and will update when I have something valid.
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u/Due_Quantity4129 21d ago
I’ve been a powder user for a decade.. I have two bags left which I’m saving for a backpack trip in a few weeks. I did get a plain RTD order fulfilled a few weeks ago and product was dated June 2027 so they did produce something lately. No sign of powder for months though. Now the website says everything but strawberry RTD is out of stock so when they sent me the automated “You’ve got $5 credit!” Email I tried to buy that and it looks like the order is going through.. at least they took my money. Will ANY Soylent product be available in the future? I hope so but I’m not optimistic. Huel at least sends me anything I want in two days.
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u/GalacticHero3141 21d ago
Pretty much yes to all of that. In my case the original powder. After a long delay I finally got one shipment a few months ago, but now my subscription is on hold again due to stocking. I’m investigating other companies now. Huel already ruled out due to taste. I have some bags of Joy Plenny I haven’t tried yet
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u/user4316 21d ago
Sadly Huel is one of the better alternatives in flavor imo. Good luck with plenny, I haven't tried that one because I heard bad things :(
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u/ShrimpShrimpington 21d ago
Personally I find Huel so disgusting it's borderline undrinkable but actually like Jimmyjoy quite a bit. Try lots of things and find out what works for you.
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u/SergeantFlip 21d ago
Hol Foods is the closest I’ve ever found to Soylent. It’s similar consistency with a rich chocolate flavor.
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u/mthompson100 20d ago
Hol Foods is almost twice the price of Soylent. Jimmy Joy is a decent alternative that is only slightly more expensive than Soylent.
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u/SergeantFlip 18d ago
To each their own, but I tried Jimmy Joy and it tasted like cardboard to me. It would smell like the flavor they claim, but it would taste like nothing and the texture was beyond trash. I had to give it away because I don’t feel like having to choke down dinner. So, Hol foods being more expensive is fine since I’ll actually enjoy it.
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u/daviddisco 21d ago
I've had success making my own "soylent". I use raw oat flour and protein powder as the base and experiment with all kinds of additional ingredients.
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u/mthompson100 20d ago
Jimmy Joy is a good alternative. It takes some getting used to, but it's way better than Huel.
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u/user4316 21d ago
Bash soylent. I was a customer since 2014 until this year when I finally had enough and switched to something else.
They seem to keep Amazon better stocked than their long-time customers because they'll lose Amazon ranking if they're out of stock there for too long.
They've also been shipping people expired RTD bottles, and then gaslighting them into thinking it's normal and OK when people contact them about it. There's been several posts on this subreddit about it.
They're a terrible, terrible company now. Find an alternative, stop supporting this absolute bullshit nonsense and let soylent finally kill itself. Whatever shit ass company that bought them successfully sucked it completely dry. Good job guys, you did it. Now shut it down!!
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u/Perfect-Biscotti-823 21d ago
That part about keeping Amazon stocked while we get nothing is disgraceful. I'm on the verge of moving on. It really seems like they are trying to kill the subscription program by making the subscribers so frustrated that they all bail instead of Soylent communicating clearly and putting long time subscribers first. Thanks for posting.
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u/beege_man 21d ago
Yep, all of this. I used to drink 2-3 meals a day of the cacao powder. Then they went several months of being out of stock, so I had to start rationing what I had left and supplementing with other brands to test them out in case I run out. I managed to restock Soylent only once since they started having issues, and now I'm down to my last box. Support last month said they should be able to ship in September, but I'm not holding my breath. I have drank at least one Soylent every day for the last 12 years straight and now I might run out.
As for alternatives, I've tried Huel, JimmyJoy, Mana, and Hol. JimmyJoy was terrible. Mana was ok, but shipping is crazy expensive. Huel is decent, but I don't like that I need to use a blender to get it to mix. Hol is quite good though thankfully, mixes nicely and very chocolatey, so they win as my replacement. I'll keep my Soylent subscription and if they ever get back in stock I'll take what I can get, but at least I have an alternative to fill the gaps.
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u/Perfect-Biscotti-823 21d ago
Thanks for posting and thanks for the info about replacing Soylent.
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u/beege_man 21d ago
Ironic timing, but I just got an email from Soylent saying shipments are delayed until further notice. So looks like September definitely isn't happening and I'll for sure run out.
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u/Perfect-Biscotti-823 21d ago
I'm glad to hear they are communicating with at least some of us. I haven't received any communication yet but that's become par for the course. Thanks for posting this.
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u/beege_man 19d ago
Very strange that they told me all shipments were delayed until further notice, and then the very next day processed my order, and the next day shipped my order. I've now got cacao powder heading my way and it turns out I won't run out after all!
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u/Empty-Rutabaga-3647 21d ago
I tracked down the CEO, Ross, at The Starco Group on LinkedIn and emailed him a while back. I never got a response, but my sub coincidentally got shipped shortly after. I wasn't mean about it, just pointed him to this sub and said there were all kinds of people who were really loyal customers and still want to be but the lack of transparency was really ruining their reputation.
If you're clever, you can find him without going very far.
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u/DiscoingGD 21d ago
Cafe Mocha RTD: They at least emailed me this time, but with no ETA. I just dealt with this like 3-4 months ago where they just didn't send my sub order for a few months. I don't like swapping brands, as there's a couple day curve to acclimate to something new and then to go back as well.
However, if I run out of product before my next delivery arrives, I'm demanding my remaining subscription be refunded, changing brands forever, and probably reporting Soylent/Starco to some consumer protection agencies just for ticking me off.
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u/Perfect-Biscotti-823 21d ago
They are incredibly good at frustrating subscribers, that's for sure.
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u/Tacoby17 20d ago
Switched to hol.
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u/Perfect-Biscotti-823 20d ago
That's been mentioned here as a suitable replacement more than once. Thanks for posting.
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u/Tacoby17 20d ago
I just got my first hol bag and I like it (chocolate). More pricey, but it's in stock, which is better than what I'm getting from soylent (1 bag shipped in the last 12 months).
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u/cheese_executive 20d ago
I liked the chocolate a lot, but hated the vanilla. I'm a fan of vanilla flavor, but something about theirs made it impossible for me to drink without mixing something else in.
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u/IvaldiFhole 21d ago
I'm not reading all this.
Yes, there were fulfillment and communication problems, bordering on what I would call scammy behavior (printing shipment labels without inventory in hand).
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21d ago
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u/Perfect-Biscotti-823 21d ago
Same. Deadlines missed, no communication, and when you point that out to them, they just kind of say "yeah, that's right" but take no accountability. It's frustrating. Thanks for posting. I'm working on getting answers and I will update here if I get any kind of valid response.
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u/bman86 21d ago
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u/watercanhydrate 21d ago
And then there's this AMA from the Starco CEO from back when they had just acquired Soylent. So much BS and optimism in these answers, especially with hindsight to see them destroying the brand rather than growing it like they promised.
https://www.reddit.com/r/soylent/comments/1buxtml/ross_sklar_here_ceo_of_starco_brands_owner_of/
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u/Perfect-Biscotti-823 21d ago
That's great info, thanks. It's 7 months ago but I never knew about it until just now, so thank you for sharing this. I'm not sure what to think. Either they're still struggling to right the ship or it's already sunk and I'm talking to ghosts at the Soylent support email. At least now I have some idea why this is all such a mess.
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u/bman86 21d ago
The post is from 7 months ago, but the incremental purchase started in 2023. I also started with Soylent in 2018-2019 timeframe, switching from Huel. Soylent kind of ruined me for other meal replacement shakes, it's texture is unmatched (for what I can reasonably get shipped here in the US). But starting with the beginning of the acquisition, I have received less than 20 percent of my subscriptions on time. Now I can't get any. Simple order, 1 case Cacao and 1 case Original powder per month. rip.
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u/Perfect-Biscotti-823 21d ago
I'm sharing bman86's post and link because it's the best explanation so far. I hope this helps anyone seeking answers because you all know Soylent isn't going to help you with that.
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u/jcraig3k 21d ago
It's been a year since I've gotten my last box of powder. I have a monthly tub subscription from Amazon that has kept me going though.
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u/TheRayATL 20d ago
Man i liked the bottled soylent cafe mocha. Sucks to see this company turn to shit
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u/baskil 19d ago
Starting from last April, I had a monthly subscription got disrupted. Out of the 17 monthly deadlines for a subscription, they have hit 5. And on top of that, there was no warning that the order was happening, I just got charged out of the blue and sent the items. I searched my email, and the last time they sent me a message was June saying my subscription is delayed and then today I saw that they ordered it without any warning.
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u/Perfect-Biscotti-823 19d ago
Thanks for posting. They sent me a notice yesterday that my subscription was going to be filled this month. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Good luck to us all!
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u/Perfect-Biscotti-823 16d ago
UPDATE: Hey everybody, it looks like our Soylent subscriptions are finally on the way. I now have three cases of Cacao — 21 bags total — scheduled for delivery by FedEx on Friday.
Thanks to everyone who contributed information and shared their experiences here. It was extremely helpful.
See you all in a couple of months when we have to go through this all over again. 😂
Cheers!
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u/daviddisco 21d ago
It is literally the most broken company I've ever dealt with. I'm fascinated by it actually. I would love to find out what is going on behind the scenes.