--- title: B2B Site, Popped Popcorn Launch & Wholesale Strategy — 2026-04-05 type: article created: '2026-04-05' updated: '2026-04-05' source_docs: - raw/2025-12-19-doudlah-farms-marketing-amazon-ecommerce-inventory-call-110103024.md tags: - doudlah-farms - b2b - ecommerce - woocommerce - shipstation - amazon - mcf - popcorn - product-launch - wholesale - vending - lead-generation - inventory - payment-tracking layer: 2 client_source: Doudlah Farms industry_context: food-beverage transferable: false --- # B2B Site, Popped Popcorn Launch & Wholesale Strategy **Date:** December 2025 (filed 2026-04-05) **Client:** [[wiki/clients/current/doudlah-farms/index|Doudlah Farms]] **Attendees:** Karly Oykhman (Asymmetric), Gilbert Barrongo (Asymmetric), Avokerie Onorimuo (Asymmetric), Sherry Lucy Doudlah, Mark Doudlah, Jason Doudlah --- ## Overview December planning call covering three major workstreams: (1) review of the WooCommerce B2B wholesale site and its ShipStation integration challenges, (2) launch planning for a new 4.4 oz popped popcorn product targeting late January/early February, and (3) a wholesale lead generation campaign to move 2M+ lbs of existing popcorn inventory. --- ## Key Decisions - **ShipStation interim workaround:** Use "Other" as the carrier when marking manual/DFT/MCF orders as shipped — this bypasses the tracking number requirement. Long-term goal is to add custom carriers "DFT" (Doudlah Farms Transport) and "MCF" (Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment). - **Payment tracking via WooCommerce order statuses:** Rather than blocking orders on unpaid invoices (too risky given Net 30 terms and weekly ordering patterns), Sherry will manually update order status (e.g., "Pending Payment" → "Paid") upon receiving checks or ACH confirmations. - **Popped popcorn bag spec locked:** 10" × 15.2" bag, 4.4 oz. Weight chosen to accommodate 25% required airspace for sealing and to allow for future yellow popcorn (larger volume) without a bag redesign. - **Nutritional testing underway:** $1,050 lab test sent to Nebraska to validate a "higher protein" claim — a key differentiator for biodynamic/regenerative/organic positioning. Results expected in 15–20 days. - **Vending machine bag: start design now.** Rather than waiting for 4.4 oz launch results, begin design work on a 0.5 oz snack bag immediately to accelerate a potential vending market entry. - **Wholesale outreach campaign:** Karly to pull ~1,000 leads (restaurants, hospitals, grocery, foodservice) via B2B broker system for a multi-touch email + phone campaign targeting bulk popcorn buyers. --- ## Action Items | Owner | Task | Status | |-------|------|--------| | Karly | Update B2B site bag image | Open | | Karly | Confirm subscription feature with developer; update Sherry | Open | | Karly | Send B2B test login to Sherry; Sherry places Outposts test order | Open | | Karly | Confirm B2B → ShipStation flow; enable DFT/MCF custom carriers; update Sherry | Open | | Karly | Add popped popcorn "Coming Soon" to January newsletter draft | Open | | Karly | Pull ~1,000 wholesale leads (grocery, restaurants, hospitals, schools, foodservice) | Open | | Karly | Draft wholesale outreach email; send to Mark Doudlah for review | Open | | Karly | Pull list of vending machine operators for Sherry | Open | | Sherry | Test B2B site using provided login; place Outposts test order | Open | | Sherry | Begin 0.5 oz vending bag design with Jen (cc Justin) | Open | | Sherry | Send January newsletter draft to Karly for review | Open | | All | Follow-up meeting Dec 26 | Open | --- ## Topic Notes ### B2B Site — WooCommerce / ShipStation Workflow **Current state:** Site is built and ready for testing. Initial test users (Sherry, Vitruvian, Outposts) have not yet placed orders — attributed to holiday season timing, not site issues. Full rollout expected in January. **Feature requests surfaced during demo:** - **Test login:** Sherry needs a dedicated test account to walk through the full order flow (she plans to place a real Outposts order as the test). - **Subscriptions:** Oak Crepes Cafe and similar customers want recurring orders (e.g., first Tuesday of every month). Karly to circle back with developer — a Chewy-style subscription model (skip, adjust frequency) is the target UX. - **Pallet pricing for 25 lb bags:** Pallet pricing only makes sense for 25 lb bags (max 80 bags/pallet = 2,000 lbs) because smaller bag sizes carry the same cost regardless of volume. Suggested approach: note on site that pallet pricing is available, customers call to arrange. - **Order history:** WooCommerce will retain full order history for each account going forward (pre-B2B orders not included). **ShipStation carrier problem:** > *"ShipStation is they think the order is done when it's shipped, but we're delivering. So it's not going UPS. It's going Doudlah Farms."* — Sherry The core issue: ShipStation requires a tracking number to mark an order as shipped. Doudlah Farms has two fulfillment methods that don't generate tracking numbers: - **DFT (Doudlah Farms Transport):** Their own trucks, separate LLC, deliver to Madison-area accounts (Willie Street, Epic, Metcalfe's) every Tuesday. - **MCF (Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment):** Orders placed manually in Amazon Seller Central; tracking not immediately available at time of ShipStation entry. **Interim solution:** Select "Other" as carrier in ShipStation → system allows marking as shipped without a tracking number. **Long-term solution:** Add custom carriers "DFT" and "MCF" (or "AMZ") to ShipStation account. Karly to investigate with developer/Mark. **Payment tracking:** Wisconsin Food Hub went 7 months without paying — only discovered after manually reconciling bank statements and invoices. The B2B site needs to surface unpaid invoices clearly. Solution agreed: Use WooCommerce order statuses manually. When Sherry receives a check or ACH notification, she updates the order to "Paid." Blocking future orders on unpaid invoices was considered but rejected — too risky given Net 30 terms, weekly ordering cadence, and potential for Sherry to make a status error that locks out a paying customer. --- ### Popped Popcorn Launch **Product specs:** - Bag size: 10" × 15.2" - Net weight: 4.4 oz - Rationale: 25% airspace required by federal weights & measures law for sealing; 4.4 oz (not 5 oz) leaves room for yellow popcorn's larger volume if variety is added later. - Co-packer: TS Foods **Nutritional testing:** - Lab: Nebraska facility specializing in nutritional fact panels - Sample: 30 cups / 250–300 grams of popped product - Cost: $1,050 - Turnaround: 15–20 days - Goal: Validate a "higher protein" claim — important differentiator given biodynamic/regenerative/organic/tested-clean positioning. Without the test, the claim cannot be made on packaging. **Launch timeline:** - January: "Coming Soon" page on website; popcorn featured in January newsletter (New Year's resolution angle — healthy snack, high fiber, affordable) - Late January / Early February: Product live on website - Post-launch: Evaluate sales data; if positive, expand to Amazon **Vending machine opportunity (0.5 oz bag):** Identified as a major strategic opportunity during the call. The organic/clean-label vending market currently lacks popcorn options. Target venues: hospitals, schools, courthouses, rest stops/waysides, large employers. > *"I do know if I was in a vending machine business, I would want cleaner snacks. I would be looking for those."* — Sherry Decision: Don't wait for 4.4 oz launch results — begin 0.5 oz bag design work now with Jen (cc Justin at TS Foods) to compress the timeline. Karly to pull a list of vending machine operators via B2B broker. Note on popped popcorn distribution economics: Per Justin at TS Foods, popcorn is typically popped within ~400 miles of its destination because the volume-to-weight ratio makes long-haul shipping of popped product impractical (50,000 lbs of seeds = 1 truck; 50,000 lbs of popped popcorn = ~5 trucks). Wholesale outreach should be weighted toward regional buyers. --- ### Wholesale Lead Generation Campaign **Context:** Doudlah Farms has 2M+ lbs of popcorn inventory and a near-term cash need. The B2B site alone won't move this volume fast enough — proactive outbound is required. **Plan:** - Karly pulls ~1,000 leads from B2B broker system, filtered by industry (grocery, restaurants, hospitals, schools, foodservice distributors like Performance Foods / Sysco), geography (Midwest-weighted given 400-mile distribution logic), and job title (purchasing/procurement roles) - Multi-touch campaign: email sequence → phone follow-up - Karly drafts outreach email; Mark Doudlah reviews before send --- ## Related - [[wiki/clients/current/doudlah-farms/index|Doudlah Farms Client Index]] - [[wiki/knowledge/ecommerce/woocommerce-b2b-wholesale-sites|WooCommerce B2B Wholesale Sites]] - [[wiki/knowledge/ecommerce/shipstation-custom-carriers|ShipStation Custom Carrier Configuration]] - [[wiki/knowledge/marketing/wholesale-lead-generation|Wholesale Lead Generation]]