wiki/knowledge/amazon-strategy/doudlah-farms-october-performance.md · 1411 words · 2025-10-24

Doudlah Farms — October 2025 Amazon Performance

Overview

Review call covering Amazon YTD performance, Seller Central access resolution, Old World Popcorn launch status, and B2B portal rollout. Amazon sales are nearly double year-over-year with profitable campaigns at 3.0x ROAS. Several operational blockers were identified and partially resolved during the call.

Attendees: Gilbert Barrongo, Karly Oykhman, Avokerie Onorimuo (Asymmetric); Lucy Doudlah, Mark Doudlah, Jason Doudlah (Doudlah Farms)


Amazon Performance Snapshot

Year-to-Date Sales

Metric This Year Last Year
YTD Sales (through Oct 24) $86,702 $47,000
October Forecast >$100,000

Sales have nearly doubled year-over-year. October is on track to be the first $100k month.

Campaign Performance (Last 30 Days)

Metric Value
Ad Spend ~$24,000
Ad Sales ~$73,000
ROAS 3.0x

Campaigns are profitable. The team will continue increasing bids on top-performing campaigns to push October over the $100k threshold.

Profitability Trend

Keyword Visibility

Doudlah products dominate the first page for broad, generic keywords such as "Organic Beans." On a search for "bulk dried organic beans," three of the five top-of-search results were Doudlah listings, plus additional placements further down page one (video campaign, multiple SKUs).


Top Product Performance (Last 30 Days)

Product Sales Net Profit Notes
Organic White Popcorn $24,000 27% (~$6,700) Advertised units >50% of total — bids to be lowered incrementally
Dried Black Beans $21,000 Strong performer; inventory replenished this season
Organic Yellow Cornmeal ~$12,000 Outperforming Old World Popcorn
Old World Popcorn $10,207 26.4% (~$2,712) Launch of branded packaging on hold (see below)

Action (Gilbert): Lower bids incrementally on Organic White Popcorn to reduce advertised unit share and improve net margin. Increase bids on other top-performing campaigns.


Review Generation — Vine Program

Three low-review products were enrolled in Amazon Vine to build social proof:

Vine reviewers receive product in exchange for honest reviews. Expected to lift conversion rates on these SKUs.


Seller Central Access Issues

Issue 1: Lucy's Employee Access — Resolved

Lucy had been unable to access Seller Central under her own credentials and was forced to log in as Mark. The root cause was a UI bug: the "Grant University" checkbox in user permissions did not automatically select all sub-permissions as expected. During the call, the team manually checked the Admin box for each permission section, which granted full access. Lucy confirmed she could now log in independently with her own credentials.

Issue 2: Primary Account Email — Unresolved

The primary Seller Central account is registered to mark@doudlahfarms.com, which is a non-existent email address (the domain email was discontinued). This means:

Blocker: The desired replacement (mark.r.doudlah@gmail.com) is already associated with Mark's personal Amazon shopping account, so Amazon's system rejects it as "already taken."

Resolution path: Gilbert will contact Amazon Seller Support to request the email change and get guidance on resolving the personal account conflict. Mark has indicated he is willing to close his personal Amazon account if necessary.

Action (Gilbert): Contact Amazon Seller Support to change the primary account email to mark.r.doudlah@gmail.com; advise on personal account conflict.


Old World Popcorn — Branded Packaging Launch on Hold

Background

Doudlah Farms has a VAPG (Value-Added Producer Grant) that covers marketing costs for popcorn, including packaging, advertising, and agency fees. The grant was set to begin October 1, 2025.

Blocker

The federal government shutdown has delayed issuance of the official grant acceptance letter. USDA cannot reimburse any costs incurred before the acceptance date is formally established. Ordering new branded packaging now would mean paying out-of-pocket for a large run with no reimbursement path.

Decision

Launch of new branded Old World Popcorn packaging is on hold until the grant acceptance letter is received.

Preparation Plan

Lucy will finalize all packaging designs (bags and boxes, across 1 lb, 3 lb, and 25 lb sizes) so the order can be placed immediately upon grant approval — no further design delays once the federal shutdown resolves.

Action (Lucy): Finalize Old World Popcorn packaging designs for all sizes. Be ready to place order the moment VAPG acceptance letter arrives.


B2B Portal — Rollout Stalled

Background

Doudlah Farms is launching a B2B ordering portal for wholesale customers (restaurants, co-ops, institutions). The final step before go-live is collecting email addresses for each customer account.

Blocker

Customer ordering structures are highly inconsistent. Key example:

Similar complexity exists for Metcalfe's (3 locations) and Willy Street Co-op (3 locations).

Proposed Solution

Karly will draft a template email for Lucy to send to key customer contacts (starting with Andrea, Epic's supervisor for all five restaurants). The email will:

Lucy will personalize the template before sending.

Action (Karly): Draft B2B portal outreach email template addressed to Andrea at Epic; send to Lucy for personalization and delivery.


Walmart — Fulfillment Decision

Doudlah Farms is onboarding to Walmart Marketplace. The team decided to start with self-fulfillment (self-ship) via ShipStation rather than Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS), given current low Walmart sales volume. Will reassess and shift to WFS if volume grows.

Action (Karly): Set Walmart fulfillment to self-ship in Seller Center; update settings.


Other Updates


Key Decisions

  1. Amazon campaigns: Continue current strategy; increase bids on top performers; lower bids incrementally on Organic White Popcorn to reduce ad dependency.
  2. Old World Popcorn launch: Hold all new packaging orders until VAPG grant acceptance letter received. Finalize designs now.
  3. B2B portal: Unblock via outreach email to key customers proposing account structure options.
  4. Walmart: Start with self-ship; revisit WFS when volume warrants.
  5. Seller Central email: Escalate to Amazon Seller Support; Mark willing to close personal account if needed.

Action Items

Owner Action Due
Gilbert Lower bids incrementally on Organic White Popcorn Ongoing
Gilbert Increase bids on top-performing campaigns Ongoing
Gilbert Contact Amazon Seller Support re: primary account email change (mark.r.doudlah@gmail.com) ASAP
Karly Draft B2B portal outreach email template (to Andrea at Epic) for Lucy Next call
Karly Set Walmart fulfillment to self-ship in Seller Center Next call
Karly Resolve gift card issue By next Friday
Karly Hold warehouse donate page updates until shutdown resolves
Lucy Finalize Old World Popcorn packaging designs (all sizes) Before grant approval
Lucy Send B2B portal email to Andrea (Epic) once template received After Karly drafts

Sources

  1. Index
  2. Vine Program Review Generation
  3. B2B Portal Implementation
  4. Vapg Grant Doudlah Farms