Original post · Tue, September 15, 2015 · Ceretropic & Nootropics Depot
Nootropics Depot
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · Ceretropic & Nootropics Depot
I think a lot of us were upset when Nootropics Depot suddenly shut down last year. Matt and everyone at the Parmatrix team provided great products and services, and were a huge asset to the community. They were the first Nootropics company to have their own in-house testing lab, and helped me out with all manner of things. I also became very good friends with Matt and the whole crew over there. So when the executive decision was made to shut the site down, it came as a surprise to me as well. When they came back a couple months later with a drastically reduced product list, it was never really the same. Nobody was more heartbroken and frustrated than Matt. The company he worked hard to build was shut off, and he had to step back from the community that he loved to be a part of.
Since the executive decision was made to steer the larger company away from Nootropics, and Matt's hands were tied with what he could do. It was only a matter of time before the site shut down completely. Seeing the inevitable ahead, a couple months ago Matt approached me about a possible solution to the problem. He could not resurrect the company that he built from scratch, but I could. His hands were tied, but he knew mine were not. Knowing how much people loved the way he operated things, and the care he had for the community, I felt honored that he would consider turning the reigns over to me.
You may have noticed the site go down last week with a cryptic message, and a countdown. Some of you may have even gotten frustratingly repetitive auto responses with the word "SOON" from the support email. Haha. That was my doing. We needed time to get things switched over and setup. From this day forward, everything regarding Nootropics Depot is being handled by my excellent team. All raw materials, testing, and packaging for the products being sold from this date forward are from my suppliers, being inspected by my lab, and being held up to my standards. Which leads me to the elephant in the room.
About a month ago, someone reported a batch of L-Theanine from Nootropics Depot that had a strong solvent smell. This obviously was very concerning to everyone. Unfortunately, Matt was in the hospital at the time, and then immediately had to leave for his honeymoon. I knew everyone over at Parmatrix, so I contacted their lab manager, and had him test a sample from that batch. It tested pure. It also had no smell to it. However, when I went and got a couple jars from them to see for myself, there was certainly a strong solvent smell coming from it. At first I thought the jar had leeched the smell into the powder, as the smell dissipated from the powder when putting it into a beaker, but could still be smelled in the empty jar. However, after smelling their bulk stock in their warehouse, 2 out of the 3 supplier's powder they used had that same smell in the bulk containers. These are US-based suppliers too. So now I am thinking the smell leeched from the powder into the jars. The solvent left over seems to be in very small quantities, but is strong enough to give off a very potent odor, similar to paint. Organoleptic testing would have caught that, and should have been done. This leads me to my next point.
All products sold on the site from this point forward have been sourced by me, inspected and tested in my lab, including organoleptic testing, and packaged by my team. All of the processes and standards that I have set for Ceretropic will be carried out and followed for Nootropics Depot. I care about the safety and trust of the community, and any company that I control will be held to my standards. I will work day and night to ensure that every single customer is taken care of, even customers that came before my time. So anyone that was affected by the L-Theanine issue can come to me, and I will replace the jar with one from our supplier. The same level of customer support and response you hopefully know and love from Ceretropic, will carry over to Nootropics Depot. I will treat it as my child; a stepchild born to a different father, but my child nonetheless. ;-)
So with that, fire away with any questions or concerns you might have, and welcome to the new Nootropics Depot!