Pop Popcorn — Amazon Launch Strategy

Overview

"Pop Popcorn" is Doudlah Farms' new ready-to-eat popped popcorn product line. The decision to launch on Amazon (rather than website-only) was finalized in the ^[1], driven primarily by the ^[2], which can only reimburse Amazon-channel fees — not website sales. A website-only launch would forfeit all grant reimbursement on marketing and production costs.

Why Amazon

• The $250k VAPG grant reimburses 100% of Amazon fees (ads, storage, shipping, pick fees) for popcorn products
• Launching exclusively on the website provides no reimbursement pathway under the grant terms
• Amazon's existing traffic and Doudlah Farms' proven popcorn velocity (white popcorn is a top seller) reduce market risk
• Old World Popcorn's rapid sell-through on Amazon demonstrated strong demand for the category

"The reason we probably are forced to do Amazon is due to cash flow and reimbursement. If we just stay within our website, then we don't have any reimbursement ability." — Lucy Doudlah

Production: TS Foods

TS Foods will handle all popping and bagging operations.

Bag Specifications:
- Minimum order: 25,000 bags at $0.40/bag (~$10,000 total)
- 30,000 bags: $0.32/bag
- 45,000 bags: $0.28/bag
- 8 printing plates required at $400/plate = $3,600 upfront plate cost
- Plates are a one-time investment; minor design changes require replacing only affected plates

Oil:
- Mark prefers Wildly Organics coconut oil over TS Foods' default Nutiva option
- The distinction is refined vs. non-refined (blue label vs. orange label) — TS Foods has equipment constraints around this
- Final oil sourcing decision pending

Certifications required before production:
- Demeter certification approval
- ROC (Regenerative Organic Certified) approval
- Ingredient documentation (percentage breakdown of each ingredient for certification compliance)

Bag Design & Approval

• Bag design features 8 colors, requiring 8 printing plates
• Design approval from Moza is pending — Lucy will follow up if no response received soon
• Karly's team to resend the Moza approval email to Lucy
• Once approved, estimated 15 business days for bag production and delivery (direct to TS Foods)

Timeline

Estimated ~1 month from decision to launch, contingent on:

Launch Planning: Open Questions

Before placing the bag order, Asymmetric (Mark) is tasked with drafting a launch plan covering:

• Sales velocity projection — benchmarked against comparable popped popcorn products on Amazon
• Case pack configuration — units per case, box dimensions (novel challenge: popped popcorn is extremely light)
• Initial send-in volume — how many units to ship to FBA on first run, balancing shelf life (~6 months) against stockout risk
• Production cadence — likely quarterly batches coordinated with TS Foods' schedule

Lucy's concern: committing to 25,000+ bags before knowing sell-through velocity. The velocity research is intended to inform this decision before the order is placed.

Distribution Channels

Primary: Amazon FBA (required for VAPG reimbursement)

Secondary (post-launch, once kinks resolved):
- Doudlah Farms website
- B2B site
- Local/regional retail (stores Doudlah Farms already delivers to)

Deferred: Vending machines — tabled for 1–2 months until Amazon launch is stable. Bag fit and drop mechanics need testing before committing to that channel.

Financial Context

VAPG grant eligibility covers Amazon fees (ads, storage, shipping) on popcorn — potentially offsetting the ongoing cost of selling through Amazon. Production and bag costs may also qualify; Asymmetric to confirm with Stewards Unlimited (Daniella & Stephen).

Related

• ^[3]
• ^[4]
• ^[5]