Weekly marketing call covering Amazon performance review, resolution of Seller Central access issues, status of the Old World Popcorn branded packaging launch, and B2B portal rollout challenges. Mark Doudlah joined from the field (swathing pinto beans during peak harvest season through Thanksgiving).
Attendees: Gilbert Barrongo, Karly Oykhman, Avokerie Onorimuo (Asymmetric); Lucy Doudlah, Mark Doudlah, Jason Doudlah (Doudlah Farms)
mark@doudlahfarms.com to mark.r.doudlah@gmail.com. Mark's personal Amazon shopping account may need to be deleted first to free up that address.| Metric | This Year (YTD) | Last Year (YTD) |
|---|---|---|
| Ordered Product Sales | $86,702 | ~$47,000 |
| October Forecast | >$100,000 | — |
Sales have nearly doubled YTD. October is on pace to exceed $100k for the month.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Ad Spend | ~$24,000 |
| Ad Sales | ~$73,000 |
| ROAS | 3.0x |
Campaigns are profitable. Net margins have improved from consistently below 30% to consistently above 30% (recent days reaching 34–40%).
| Product | Sales | Net Profit % | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organic White Popcorn | $24,000 | 27% | Advertised units >50% of total — bids to be lowered incrementally |
| Dried Black Beans | $21,000 | — | Strong performer |
| Organic Yellow Cornmeal | ~$11,000 | — | Outperforming Old World Popcorn |
| Old World Popcorn | $10,207 | 26.4% | 4th overall; launch of branded packaging on hold |
Doudlah products dominate page 1 for generic keywords like "Organic Beans" — three of the top five listings for that search are Doudlah products. Video campaign ads also appearing at top of page.
Pink Beans, Blue Haven, and Buckwheat Flour enrolled in the Amazon Vine program to generate reviews (all had fewer than 10 reviews). Expected to improve conversion and sales velocity for these lower-performing listings.
Both organic units and Subscribe & Save subscriptions are increasing, reducing reliance on paid advertising over time.
Lucy had been unable to gain her own Seller Central login despite multiple invitation attempts. She had been logging in under Mark's credentials.
Root cause identified during call: A UI bug in the user permissions screen — checking "Grant University" did not automatically select all sub-permissions. Manually clicking the "Admin" checkbox for each individual section resolved the issue. Lucy now has her own working login with full permissions.
The primary Seller Central account is registered to mark@doudlahfarms.com, which is a non-existent email address (the domain email was discontinued). Any critical communications from Amazon (policy alerts, account health warnings, OTP codes) sent to this address will bounce with no delivery.
Blocker: The desired replacement, mark.r.doudlah@gmail.com, is already associated with Mark's personal Amazon shopping account, so it cannot be used for the Seller Central business account without resolving that conflict.
Options discussed:
- Delete Mark's personal Amazon account to free up the Gmail address
- Reinstate mark@doudlahfarms.com via GoDaddy (costs money, adds inbox to manage)
Decision: Gilbert to contact Amazon Seller Support to determine the correct path forward and execute the email change.
Doudlah Farms was awarded a VAPG (Value-Added Producer Grant) intended to reimburse costs for popcorn marketing, advertising, packaging (bags, boxes), and related expenses. The grant was set to begin October 1, 2025.
Blocker: The federal government shutdown prevented USDA from issuing the grant acceptance letter. Any costs incurred before the official acceptance date are not reimbursable.
Do not place a large order for new branded Old World Popcorn packaging (printed bags in 1 lb, 3 lb, and 25 lb sizes) until the acceptance letter is received. Ordering thousands of dollars of packaging out-of-pocket — when the grant exists specifically to cover it — is not prudent.
Interim plan: Continue ordering small quantities of plain Uline bags as needed, applying stickers as before.
Preparation work: Lucy to finalize all packaging designs (bags and boxes) now so the order can be placed immediately upon grant approval.
Current Old World Popcorn FBA inventory is sufficient — approximately 4 months of supply on hand:
- White Popcorn: ~185 units
- Yellow Popcorn: ~126 units
No urgency to rush the branded packaging launch from an inventory standpoint.
The B2B ordering portal is built but stalled at the customer onboarding step. Lucy is collecting email addresses for customer accounts, which has proven more complex than anticipated.
Epic (a large tech-campus employer with five on-site restaurants) exemplifies the problem. Rather than a single designated purchaser, 5–7 different staff members rotate ordering duties each week, each placing orders for all five restaurants. There is no consistent single contact or email address.
Similar complexity exists at Metcalfe's (3 locations) and Willie Street Co-op (3 locations).
Additional friction: After orders are placed, Lucy must manually download invoices, convert to PDF, and send to each customer's separate AP department email — a different contact than the person who placed the order.
Rather than trying to map every individual staff member, reach out to the account supervisor (e.g., Epic's Andrea) to:
1. Explain the new portal and its benefits (visible pricing, automated invoicing, order history)
2. Ask how they prefer to structure their account (shared email per restaurant, shared email for all locations, etc.)
3. Propose a restaurant-name-based email convention if they don't have one (e.g., voyagerhall@epic.com)
Action: Karly to draft a template email for Lucy to personalize and send to Andrea and similar contacts at other key accounts.
| Owner | Action | Due |
|---|---|---|
| Karly | Set Walmart fulfillment to self-ship in Seller Center; update ShipStation settings | Next call |
| Karly | Resolve gift card issue | By next Friday |
| Karly | Draft B2B portal outreach email template (for Lucy → Andrea at Epic) | Next call |
| Karly | Hold off on warehouse progress page updates until federal shutdown resolves | Ongoing |
| Gilbert | Lower bids incrementally on Organic White Popcorn (advertised units >50% of total) | This week |
| Gilbert | Increase bids on other top-performing campaigns | This week |
| Gilbert | Contact Amazon Seller Support to change primary account email to mark.r.doudlah@gmail.com; advise on personal account conflict |
ASAP |
| Lucy | Finalize Old World Popcorn packaging designs (1 lb, 3 lb, 25 lb bags + boxes) | Before grant approval |
| Lucy | Send B2B portal email to Andrea (Epic) once Karly drafts template | After draft received |