I think these people make Arko
Tried the puck for the first time today and you're sort of right, it seems to me to be exactly the same soap so it's probably a problem with form rather than formula, I did get the exact same lather but the way I did it was by loading the brush once, face lathering for a minute, then reloading the brush and doing my proper face lather, once I'd done this it was fine and subsequent coats were fine too, I did a three pass and still had plenty left in the brush.
I think it's because when you use the stick you're using much more soap by covering your face whereas it's harder to get that amount on the brush. I'm going to test this tomorrow by using the puck in the exact same way I use the stick and see if that changes anything.
I'd agree, sticks put so much more soap down which or me works out great. Sticks still last forever too.