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Where is the Tallow?!

I don't care much for the scent... I'm not one of those people who can't stand Tabac because of the scent; I actually like it. Only thing that worries me with this formula is the performance. Will it be as slick? Will the lather be as luxurious?
I'll be testing it after work today.
Also, please post your results after shaving with the new formula.
 
To my knowledge tallow is still an extremely cheap ingredient, because it's a byproduct of the mass factory farmed and mass market meat industry which is a very major industry in Germany.

While there are more people in Germany who chose a vegan or at least meat free life style, the overall consumption of meat as well as animal and meat export is still not that much declining. On the other hand, with cosmetics there is a growing demand for products that are animal free in their ingredients. That's also true for shaving products. Suppliers as Haslinger or Palmolive changed formulas to non tallow or put tallow products off the market (e.g. the Palmolive Stick which is no longer produced, but the non tallow creams are still in production). There is also a growing number of people who think tallow is not good for the skin but vegetable oils are. So, it is possible that also Tabac (or Mäurer & Wirtz) decided to change to a non tallow formula.

But last time I looked at the supermarket shelf, the soap listed tallow:

POTASSIUM STEARATE,SODIUM STEARATE, POTASSIUM TALLOWATE, AQUA, POTASSIUM COCOATE, SODIUM TALLOWATE, FRAGRANCE (PARFUM), SODIUM COCOATE, GLYCERIN, LIMONENE, LINALOOL, HYDROXYCITRONELLAL, POTASSIUM HYDROXIDE, TETRASODIUM EDTA, TETRASODIUM ETIDRONATE, SODIUM HYDROXIDE, CI 77891, ISOEUGENOL, CITRONELLOL, COUMARIN, BENZYL ALCOHOL, ALPHA-ISOMETHYL IONONE, GERANIOL, BENZYL SALICYLATE, CINNAMYL ALCOHOL, CITRAL, EUGENOL.


Manufacturers who are making huge batches of soap for consumption by the masses can afford to pay the cost of certification of products containing tallow. Since tallow is cheap, the cost savings more than offsets the cost of certification.

Most manufactuers of shaving soaps, however, are producing small batches for a much smaller group of consumers. The cost of certification might be similar, but the savings wold be much less due to the batch size. I have no idea how much soap a company like Maurer & Wirtz might produce at one time, but it is likely to be a lot less than huge companies like Colgate-Palmolive or Unilever might produce.
 
Ah, so they can hide behind that... instead of labeling it as new and improved shave soap with Tabac Original scent.

Not really. Formulas changed all the time for different reasons, even before EU regulations.
At least the scent is indeed still original, but it came close, when there was the threat that coumarin could also be banned from cosmetic products. It was banned from other products like pipe tobacco though.

None the less. This change in formula is most likely pressure from the consumers in the EU and esp. Germany.
But let's be honest, it wasn't an A&E or Stirling in the first place, and it looks like it won't be a Saponificio Varesino eiher.
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
But let's be honest, it wasn't an A&E or Stirling in the first place

+1
Quite right you are sir!
The Tabac fragrance is more than 60 years old and comes from a company making soap since 1845, not a home startup soap company that wasn't even in existence 8 or 9 years ago.
As well liked as these newcomers may be, it's going to be about 150 years before a change in their formula makes a similar impact.
 
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Haslinger was very successful in transitioning to a vegetable based formula. I've 3017nd both versions of Haslinger and cannot detect any loss of performance whatsoever. Hopefully Mauerer & Wirtz will follow Haslingers lead and continue to provide customers with a top notch product.

As long as they are putting this effort into their shaving soap I sure wish they would being back Sir Irisch Moos.
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
Haslinger was very successful in transitioning to a vegetable based formula. I've 3017nd both versions of Haslinger and cannot detect any loss of performance whatsoever. Hopefully Mauerer & Wirtz will follow Haslingers lead and continue to provide customers with a top notch product.

As long as they are putting this effort into their shaving soap I sure wish they would being back Sir Irisch Moos.

They very well may make a top notch non-tallow performer, there are other established soap companies doing it, some which are making soaps that rival anything ANY company is putting out.
I'm just a little saddened to see another tallow source drop off the map.
I'll shift my purchases to those makers who are still producing tallow soaps till they all dry up (which seems inevitable) at which time I'll either switch to an alternative besides tallow, or grow a fantastically long Rip Van Winkle beard.
 
This is hilarious in a way! Everyone knows that there is going to be a huge run on Tabac now, right?

I’m always suspicious when tallow is removed. I’m really glad that I stocked up on the original formulas of both Häslinger and Tabac.

I stocked up on Irisch Moos also before that was discontinued.
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
I already have 4 Tabac tallow sticks and almost ordered 4 more tonight. Thankfully decided that I don’t need more soap.

How many people are going to panic and buy more of the tallow version then they will ever use?

Count Me

How will anyone know which version will show up?

Bought stateside and hoping for the best in warehouse stock.
If not, it's going back.
I bought from a retailer that specifically stated the ingredients with tallowate.
 
So they replaced the tallow with potassium and sodium laurate? Tabac, what have you done?
Or they replaced the potassium cocoate and sodium cocoate with potassium laurate and sodium laurate, respectively

(Coconut oil is rich in lauric acid.)



Could very well be.
Stocking up just in case.
There is precedent that dropping tallow made things worse.
Czech & Speake, Art of Shaving etc.
C&S reformulated, but did not drop the tallow.
 
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