From growing pains to CPG gains

Growth is a good problem to have, but for food brands, it can change the supply chain quickly.

One on-the-go breakfast brand was experiencing that firsthand. As the company expanded beyond pantry mixes and into prepared frozen foods, the logistics behind the business became more complex. The cold chain needed to support new products, increasing volume and a growing retail footprint.

The company recognized that what had worked before might not be enough for where the business was headed next. It needed a supply chain provider with the connected network, specialized capabilities and seamless flexibility to grow alongside it.

That search led to Lineage.

Finding the gaps in a growing supply chain

Before choosing its next provider, the breakfast brand took a closer look at what it needed both now and in the future.

The team developed a scorecard to evaluate its supply chain operations and identify where its incumbent provider was falling short. The process surfaced challenges ranging from fragmented operational support and cybersecurity concerns to slow crisis response and limitations in retail distribution.

Lineage used those findings to develop a more connected solution around the brand’s needs today while considering how those needs could change as the business continued to scale.

With stronger support across these areas, the brand could turn its attention to one of the biggest opportunities created by its growth: getting its products to more retailers efficiently.

Using multivendor consolidation to support retail growth

As a food brand expands its retail presence, moving more product doesn’t necessarily mean simply shipping more of the same.

New retailers can bring different order volumes, distribution networks and delivery requirements. A transportation strategy built primarily around serving the largest customers may not provide the same reach as a brand expands into mid-sized and regional markets.

That made Lineage Velocities multivendor consolidation particularly relevant for the growing breakfast brand.

Through Velocities, products from multiple manufacturers can be consolidated into shared shipments headed to common retail destinations. For the breakfast brand, the program offered access to a broader retail network that included mid-sized and regional retailers in addition to larger customers.

It also gave the company a way to evaluate what that expanded distribution could look like before putting it into practice.

Modeling a distribution strategy built to scale

Growth creates questions that aren’t always easy to answer by looking at today’s volumes.

Where should inventory be positioned? How might adding distribution points affect day-to-day logistics? What does a broader retail footprint mean for transportation costs? And will the same strategy still make sense as volume increases?

Through Velocities, the breakfast brand could model those decisions against its own growth plans.

The company used the program’s heat-map simulator to verify consignee matches and evaluate day-to-day logistics across scenarios ranging from one to five distribution centers. This helped the team understand the potential financial benefits of different approaches and see how the program could scale alongside the business.

The performance behind the network also gave the brand a strong foundation for that growth, with 92% on-time delivery and a 100% consignee match.

Instead of building a distribution strategy around where the company was at that moment, the brand could plan for where it wanted to go next.

A cold chain ready for what comes next

The supply chain that supports a growing food brand today may look very different from the one it needs tomorrow.

For this breakfast brand, moving into prepared frozen foods and expanding its retail reach created an opportunity to rethink how its cold chain supported the larger business. By identifying gaps early, connecting the right capabilities and building a distribution strategy designed to scale, the company created a stronger foundation for continued growth.

Working with Lineage ultimately helped support a 150% increase in annual throughput, giving the brand more room to grow without leaving its supply chain behind.