June 2026: 12th Anniversary Month For Taunton Bay Kratom!

It's Our 12th Anniversary At Taunton Bay Kratom

 Come celebrate our 12th year in business thanks to you! We'll have many specials & as always, an amazing bundle for all to try on sale at a highly discounted rate! Let's also cover some recent legality updates and little bit of our history as Taunton Bay to show you how much we've grown!

 What's Happening in June 2026 At The Shop

 As every year, we are so grateful to be here and feel lucky to continue to serve you, our community. So we will celebrate with at least one sale per week, including our Special Anniversary Bundle available all month long! For only $12, you can get a mix of kratom samples and a 30g package of this year's customer favorites! 

 Sales for the month of June:

• 6/3: code free60 - free 60g of Rainbow blend kratom powder on orders $50+
• 6/9 - 6/11: code sample - get 2 free samples of your choice with any order, just add 2 sample size kratom packages to the cart with your order and use code.
• 6/16: Today's Special - a bundle of 2x 125g packages of your choice for only $32.99/$43.94 shipped. No code needed, just order when the "Today's Special" product appears in the kratom section.
• CLOSED 6/19 in observance of Juneteenth 
• 6/19 - 6/21: code save10 - Get 10% Off most items online Juneteenth through Father's Day, Sunday 6/21, with code.
• 6/24: Free Ship Friday, no code needed, no order minimum. This is our monthly free shipping sale on the last Friday of every month! 

Legality Changes & Challenges

 There has been so much going on this year in the kratom community, and we are heartbroken after so much hard work that we are seeing that undone in many states and local areas. While we believe it is NOT fair to punish and harm many in our community by arbitrary governmental overreach, there is very little we can do about it once laws go into affect and we must follow them. We apologize to anyone who has been affected, and please know that we will continue to fight for you. I personally have been making calls and writing letters on your behalf even after bans have been decided. 

We have recently updated our footer and our Shipping Policy to reflect the recent changes in kratom legality and where we can no longer ship our products to. This includes MANY cities in various states where it was a county that banned kratom, but it was agreed that it was simply easier to list the cities instead so everyone knew where we stood. We have also added other states that will be seeing an upcoming ban - like Kentucky and Kansas, with the future date included so all are informed of these changes.

 We are still shipping plain leaf powder only to Ohio. If you attempt to place an order for extracts or capsules, we will have to contact you to change your order, or if we cannot reach you, we will cancel your order altogether in accordance with our policies and your local laws.

 Our Story Of 12 Years In The Community

 There is so much to tell, and so much you have already heard before, so I know I will miss many events and special moments, but I will try to wrap up our history as best as I can without being too long-winded!

Taunton Bay Tea & Soap Co. first started off with Dereck, Veronika's husband, with his business Dayak Chill Spot (he also briefly ran Crushed Leaf Kratom with a partner prior to Dayak in early 2014). We started off like all the rest - mostly in a small Facebook group, with a small following, weekly giveaways, and a few products. I personally remember when we eventually upgraded from a small business of 1 or 2, to our own building and the addition of "professional" bags and labels - it was a big moment when felt like we truly grew into our own. 

 We were also honored to be part of the wider kratom community, which was mostly focused in a growing Facebook group that is no longer around called "NACU". We built upon our reputation and growth year by year, adding new types of kratom, and expanding our product line when we changed names and ownership - to Veronika, his wife - in early 2015 to Transcendence Rising Apothecary. We focused mainly on variety packs and smaller orders, and shifted from kratom-only to adding more herbs and teas. That, is where we really stepped up and changed things. We became a woman-led and operated company, hired our first employees (not including me, the customer-dubbed "Web Girl", because I'd handled live chat and web design remotely from a different state since October 2014). Our employees were brought on to help with customer service, shipping, and packing, and shortly thereafter we started lab testing our products.

 I remember this was a difficult endeavor because most labs didn't really know what we wanted from them, many had never heard of, let alone tested, kratom, and so we aimed to focus on what really matters - pollutants and harmful aspects of natural products such as mold and yeast levels. We developed our own protocols and acceptable limits that realistically aligned with other botanical industries, and focused on making our own "clean packing area" better than it already was - which is not the same as a "clean room". A clean packing area is similar in idea, but is not ISO-certified. It's a separate room or area closed off from other parts of the shop or building where products are packed with care by people who use special uniforms, and safety gear like masks, hair nets, etc. and we follow strict industrial cleanup measures every night.  

 This is also about the time that Norman, our other co-owner, came in with Taunton Bay and offered wholesale, where Transcendence Rising Apothecary did not. Norman's side of the business partnered with us and focused solely on wholesale to businesses and large orders over 2kg. Eventually, we merged with Taunton Bay and retained the already well-known name. Veronika and Norman officially teamed up!

 The founders and family of Taunton Bay, as an early vendor, were behind the scenes for a lot of the events and decisions that made the kratom community what it is today. Like when the need struck in 2016 for swift and immediate action to stop the DEA from scheduling kratom as a schedule I substance. We assisted in some very early decisions of the AKA, and rallied everyone we could in any way we could think of to help with the efforts. We donated and then drove many Maine-local supporters down to Washington D.C. for the 2016 Rally. Since I lived in Michigan at the time, I hitched a ride with some other folks in the community in my area (meeting my friends and employers of Taunton Bay for the first time in person) and then led a rally in Lansing in early October - even though the main "danger" was over, we still had a long way to go to educate lawmakers and law enforcement, which was the goal of the Lansing, MI rally at the state capitol building. 

 Once things settled, we went back to work and eventually I moved here to Maine and watched Taunton Bay, led by both Veronika and Norman, grow into the amazing customer-centered business and family it is today. We went back to D.C. in 2018 for the first Hill Day with other vendors and advocates. We hosted Kratom Fest in August of 2018, and met many consumers, vendor friends, and advocates from around the country (and truly we do hope to chip in with others one day for another Kratom Fest, somewhere more centralized in the U.S. where it will be easier for more to attend!). We have continued to bring new, innovative products. We sent Veronika to a week-long class for Good Manufacturing Practices certification so she could lead our business into better practices and protocols for our consumers. We restored this beautiful historical building to be another part of history - the kratom community's. And we continue to work hard to keep our customers happy, better ourselves and our business, and create a welcoming space for all.

 Today, we remain an independent, mom-and-pop type-shop with small batch kratom products and customer service and quality at the top of our list. We look forward to another year serving you!

Taunton Bay Tea & Soap Co. is proudly LGBTQ+-led, Woman-led, Disabled-led, & Veteran-led, owned and operated. Everyone is welcome here at Taunton Bay.    

 Thank you, on behalf of the whole Taunton Bay Family, for your continued support and advocacy. - Bekkah & friends at Taunton Bay Tea & Soap Co.