Massage & Bodywork

JULY | AUGUST 2022

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S L i s te n to T h e A B M P Po d c a s t a t a b m p.co m /p o d c a s t s o r w h e reve r yo u a cce s s yo u r favo r i te p o d c a s t s 63 So what immediate and long-term impacts did these shortages have on their businesses back then? What about now? Were certain products and supply chains impacted more than others? And is the supply chain still under duress, or is it business as usual today? For answers, Massage & Bodywork spoke with four industry experts to understand their supply chain dilemmas and to see how they're maneuvering through the new normal of post-COVID restrictions and supply shortages caused by Russia's war on Ukraine. FREIGHT AND COST ISSUES Teddy Lester, founder and CEO of The Spa Mart in Austin, Texas, says the supply chain shortage hit home for his company soon after the onset of COVID-19, starting with personal protective equipment (PPE) items and products typically used in the medical industry. "For the past 18 months, the challenges have been [rising prices] and freight costs," he says. "We strive to offer our customers the best pricing; therefore, we have spent a significant amount of time working with our existing vendors and finding new vendor partners to fulfill their needs." Angie Patrick, head of distribution development and key accounts at Oakworks, Inc., agrees. "In my roles within massage distribution spanning the past 22 years, I can tell you the most recent supply chain concerns began to emerge just as the country was going into isolation from the coronavirus," she says. "It was then that the glimpses of concern began to emerge, and the beginnings of the challenges ahead began to take form." As a US manufacturer, Oakworks is not as heavily affected by import challenges like other businesses. Although some of their raw goods come from overseas, Patrick says, they began beefing up stock in the past 12–18 months. "That said, any business or brand that relies heavily on inbound container cargo from the Indo-Pacific, as well as from the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe, is subject to inconsistent deliveries and inbound goods being held out at sea or in port," she says. "The geopolitical climate in these theaters is currently causing disruption to both import into and export out of these regions." THE OIL SHORTAGE IN TREATMENT ROOMS One segment of products being highly impacted is oil that translates into body-care products. According to Kyle Rimbey, national sales manager at Sacred Earth Botanicals in Eugene, Oregon, there has been a scramble to find alternative organic oils to replace sunflower and safflower oils in their products due to Russia's invasion into Ukraine. "Because Ukraine is the world's largest exporter of sunflower oil and nearly all our products are based on sunflower oil, . . . upply chain issues are the topic du jour. We're all familiar with the shortages of oil, gas, computer chips, lumber, and, most recently, baby formula. Back in April 2020, at the height of COVID-19 uncertainties, massage and bodywork product wholesalers were already predicting their future supply chain woes.

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