CPG SUPPLY CHAINSpore Growth Partners
CPG supply chain consulting.
Supply-chain consulting for food, beverage and supplement brands: sourcing, co-manufacturer coordination, inventory, traceability, fulfillment and cost decisions.
Your next production run depends on more than an available co-packer. Ingredients, packaging, approvals, cash, warehouse space, and a realistic sales plan all have to arrive together. Spore Growth Partners helps CPG founders and operating teams trace those dependencies, resolve unclear responsibilities, and decide what to fix before the next purchasing or production commitment.
Explore a fitWho this helps
A starting point for your team.
Brands with unreliable supply
Supplier delays, changing specifications, or packaging shortages keep disrupting production. You need to understand which commitment controls the schedule and what a workable alternative requires.
Teams changing manufacturers
You are selecting or moving to a co-manufacturer and need to coordinate technical records, material ownership, lead times, production approvals, and the handoff into fulfillment.
Businesses managing growth
B2B orders and D2C demand are drawing on the same inventory. Cash is tied up in slow stock while another SKU runs short, and the margin on the price sheet does not explain the cash left after a shipment.
What the work can include
Scope the work around the question.
Map the product flow
Follow a representative SKU from supplier and purchase order through manufacturing, release, storage, and delivery. Review who owns the material and the decision at each stage. A brand, co-manufacturer, and 3PL can each follow their own process while leaving a handoff unresolved.
Possible working output: A supplier-to-fulfillment operating map with owners, records, and dependencies.
Review sourcing and production commitments
Compare supplier qualification, minimum order quantities, quoted and observed lead times, packaging requirements, production slots, and release dependencies. Make open assumptions visible before the team orders material or confirms a manufacturing date.
Possible working output: A sourcing and production decision register, including unresolved technical questions.
Connect inventory, demand, and cost
Review the relationship between production batches, shelf life, sales assumptions, channel requirements, stock records, and reorder decisions. Examine landed cost and contribution assumptions alongside freight, storage, fulfillment, fees, and expected losses. Confirm which costs belong in each calculation.
Possible working output: An inventory and cost review with the assumptions behind purchasing and channel decisions.
Make the handoffs usable
Clarify how product specifications, lot records, inventory updates, release decisions, exceptions, and changes move between the brand, manufacturer, and fulfillment provider. Prioritize a process the people doing the work can maintain, including ERP and order-system requirements where relevant.
Possible working output: A responsibility map and prioritized implementation plan for the agreed operating gaps.
How we begin
Start with the shipment or production decision that keeps getting stuck.
Bring a product list, supplier and co-manufacturer information, recent purchase orders, production schedules, inventory records, fulfillment arrangements, and the cost model you use today. We can begin with one troublesome SKU or handoff. The review establishes the constraint, the records needed to check it, and the people responsible for the next decisions. Providers continue to manufacture, store, and ship the product; Spore Growth Partners advises and coordinates the operating work around those services.
A supplier-to-fulfillment map
An inventory and cost assumption review
A risk and responsibility register
A prioritized implementation plan
Deliverables, responsibilities, timing, and fees depend on the agreed engagement scope.
A practical starting point
Trace one SKU before changing the whole supply chain.
Use this sample map to review a single product with your suppliers and operating partners. Replace the prompts with your actual records, dates, and named owners. An unassigned decision is worth resolving before another order goes out.
| Stage | Records to bring | Decision to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Approved specification, supplier quote, MOQ, lead time | Who approves material changes and confirms availability? |
| Produce | Formula, packaging requirements, manufacturing slot, material status | What must be ready before the run can be confirmed? |
| Release | Lot records, required test reports, acceptance criteria | Who authorizes release, and how is a hold communicated? |
| Store and fulfill | Inventory by lot, storage terms, channel and order requirements | Who reconciles available stock and resolves shipment exceptions? |
| Review | Landed cost, fulfillment charges, losses, sales assumptions | Which assumption changes the next reorder decision? |
Illustrative review template, not a completed client assessment. The downloadable CSV includes fields for an owner, evidence, and a next action at each stage.
Download the editable CSV worksheet →Relevant engagement context
Sourcing, manufacturing, and D2C operations in one engagement.
The published organic CPG relaunch case connects ingredient sourcing, formulation, packaging, co-manufacturing, 3PL coordination, and Shopify/ShipStation workflows. Eight new retail locations were added over 12 months during that broader engagement. That result describes the combined work and business context; it does not isolate the effect of a supply-chain change.
Read the published case →Who leads the work
Alex Sherman, principal consultant.
Alex leads Spore Growth Partners, connecting fungal science with product development, quality documentation, manufacturing, and commercial decisions. His background includes 16+ years across fungal systems, cultivation, regenerative agriculture, and food systems, with a UC Davis background in soil biogeochemistry and fungal ecology.
Common questions
Planning an engagement.
Can we start with one supply-chain problem?
Yes. A project can begin with a late material, a co-manufacturer transition, a stock discrepancy, or a difficult reorder decision. We agree on the immediate question and expand the scope only where its dependencies require it.
Do you manufacture products or operate a warehouse?
Spore Growth Partners provides advisory and coordination support. The selected suppliers, manufacturers, warehouses, and fulfillment providers perform those services. The engagement makes their responsibilities and the brand's decisions explicit.
Do you support both B2B and D2C brands?
Yes. The review can address wholesale, ingredient sales, retail, and direct-to-consumer product operations. Each channel's order patterns, service requirements, costs, and inventory commitments need to be represented in the operating plan.
What records are useful for a first conversation?
A current SKU list, supplier and manufacturer details, recent production or purchase orders, inventory reports, known lead times, and your cost assumptions are useful. Bring the gaps as well. We can identify what needs to be collected before recommending a change.
Focused consulting
Work around a specific technical or commercial decision.
Ingredient development and commercialization consulting.
Consulting for ingredient manufacturers, mushroom extractors, and suppliers on product development, specifications, testing, technical documentation, and B2B commercialization.
Mushroom supplement manufacturing consulting.
Manufacturing consulting for mushroom supplement brands and contract manufacturers: technical transfer, specifications, quality documentation, testing, and production readiness.
Mushroom testing strategy and laboratory liaison.
Testing strategy, COA review, laboratory selection, and lab-services liaison for mushroom brands, supplement manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, and laboratories.
Explore a fit
Bring the question and the records you have.
We will discuss the work, the operating context, and the next decision your team needs to make.