The supply chain that got you here won't necessarily get you where you're going. Here's how to think about building for the next stage of growth — before you need it. One of the most consistent patterns I've seen in 15+ years of supply chain work is this: companies invest in supply chain infrastructure reactively, not proactively. They build for today, and then scramble to upgrade when growth or disruption exposes the gaps. It's understandable — supply chain isn't usually whe

Packaging is one of the largest cost buckets and biggest risk areas in Wine & Spirits supply chains — and it deserves far more strategic attention than most companies give it. Ask any Wine & Spirits operator what keeps them up at night, and packaging will usually make the list. And for good reason. Packaging in this category is complex, expensive, brand-critical, and supply-chain-fragile all at the same time. The bottle you choose, the closure you specify, the label you desig

Vendor business reviews are only valuable if they lead to action. Here's how to run them in a way that drives real accountability and improvement. Most companies have some version of a vendor business review process. Some do them quarterly, some annually. Some are thorough; many are not. Here's the truth: a vendor review that doesn't result in commitments, accountability, and follow-through is mostly theater. It might feel productive, but it rarely changes behavior. Here's ho

When a company is between supply chain leaders — or operating without experienced leadership — the costs are real, even if they don't show up immediately on the P&L. Leadership transitions are a fact of business life. But in supply chain, gaps at the top create downstream effects that most companies significantly underestimate. The cost of the gap can be much higher than the cost of addressing it proactively. Decisions That Don't Get Made Supply chain generates a constant s

The era of "lowest-cost-wins-everywhere" sourcing is over. Smart companies are rethinking their sourcing geography — and finding that closer isn't always more expensive. Five years ago, if you told a CPG executive that nearshoring was a better sourcing strategy than offshore manufacturing, you'd have gotten some politely skeptical looks. A lot has changed. Between pandemic disruptions, geopolitical uncertainty, rising overseas labor costs, and a renewed focus on lead time fle

The holiday season makes or breaks annual performance in Wine & Spirits. Here's how to build a supply chain plan that keeps you from scrambling when it counts most. In almost every other consumer goods category, demand is reasonably predictable across the year. In Wine & Spirits, the fourth quarter is a different game entirely. For many brands, Q4 represents 35–45% of annual volume. Get your supply chain planning wrong and you're either sitting on unsold inventory or turning

Great vendor relationships don't happen by accident. They're built through consistent communication, clear expectations, and a partnership mindset that benefits both sides. I've seen a lot of approaches to vendor management over the years. The ones that work all have something in common: they treat supplier relationships as partnerships, not just transactions. That might sound obvious — but in practice, a lot of companies manage vendors reactively. They escalate when there's

Big brands have scale. Mid-size brands have agility, specialization, and the ability to move fast. Here's how to turn that into a competitive supply chain advantage. Here's a question I get asked a lot: "How do we compete on supply chain when we don't have the volume leverage of the big guys?" It's a fair question. Large CPG companies have enormous negotiating power, sophisticated systems, and dedicated supply chain teams. Mid-size brands often can't match that — but they can

Post-pandemic, "resilient" has become a buzzword. But real supply chain resilience isn't about recovering fast — it's about being built so disruptions don't knock you sideways in the first place. Every company I've talked to in the last few years has said some version of the same thing: "We need to make our supply chain more resilient." And they're right. But I think a lot of companies are building for the wrong thing. They're building systems that help them recover faster fr

From regulatory compliance to seasonal demand and fragile product handling, Wine & Spirits supply chains come with challenges most CPG playbooks don't fully address. I often describe Wine & Spirits supply chain work as "CPG on hard mode." The fundamentals are the same — sourcing, production, logistics, vendor management — but the industry adds layers of complexity that can catch even experienced operators off guard. After 11 years in this space, here's my honest take on what

5 Places CPG Companies Are Leaving Money on the Table Most supply chain cost savings aren't hidden in complicated analysis — they're sitting in overlooked vendor contracts, excess inventory, and inefficient processes. I've spent 15 years working inside CPG supply chains, and I can tell you with confidence: almost every company I've worked with had significant cost savings hiding in plain sight. Not because they weren't smart — but because when you're busy running the busi

Technology alone won't fix a broken supply chain. You need a clear strategy first — then the right tools to support it. Let's start with something I see all the time: a company invests in a shiny new ERP or inventory platform, expecting it to solve their supply chain headaches — and six months later, they're still putting out fires. Here's the thing: systems don't fix broken processes. They amplify them. If your supply chain doesn't have a clear strategy behind it — defined p