As of the March 20, 2026 marketing call, Doudlah Farms is managing several concurrent inventory and logistics challenges that are affecting Amazon sales performance. The primary concerns are a near-term warehouse stockout of DFO Yellow Popcorn, a pending Old World Popcorn shipment, and an ongoing carrier reliability issue with Estes at the Madison Hub.
These issues are being tracked in the Doudlah Farms Product Data spreadsheet (shared by Gilbert via email). Inventory health is color-coded by months of supply: yellow = under 6 months, green = 6–12 months.
Status: Anticipated stockout beginning ~March 24, 2026; resolution expected ~April 15, 2026.
The Doudlah warehouse will be depleted of yellow popcorn kernels once the current stock ships to Amazon FBA. Replenishment requires:
Mark confirmed he has been on Stengel's cleaning queue for two weeks. The full cycle is estimated to take until approximately April 15. With FBA receiving and processing time on top of that, a meaningful gap in yellow popcorn availability on Amazon is expected.
"Starting Monday, we will have no yellow popcorn in the warehouse until we get a semi from our grain bin to South Dakota at Stengel to clean, and then back to our warehouse." — Mark Doudlah
Mitigation: White popcorn inventory is not affected. Gilbert is monitoring FBA stock levels and will flag when yellow popcorn inventory drops into the warning threshold.
Status: Pickup scheduled March 20, 2026 (same day as call).
Jason completed a bagging run of Old World White Popcorn. The shipment consists of:
This shipment is in addition to approximately 2,000–2,300 units already in FBA, giving a projected total of ~5,300 units once received. Gilbert noted this will provide sufficient runway to maintain organic rankings for Old World while the new inventory processes in (typically 1–2 weeks after pickup).
Carrier: Not Estes (see below); a different carrier was used for this shipment.
Status: Amazon case filed and open.
A prior shipment handled by Estes experienced a ~1-week delay at the Madison Hub, resulting in a stockout that negatively impacted sales and organic rankings. The Estes driver attributed the problem to poor management at the Madison Hub specifically.
Amazon subsequently emailed the Doudlah account asking whether the shipment had been picked up (it had been, approximately 2–3 days prior to the call).
Actions taken:
- Gilbert filed an open Amazon case to flag Estes as a problematic carrier
- Karly will avoid routing future shipments through Estes where alternatives exist
"I just don't think that Madison Hub is run very well." — Jason Doudlah
| Product | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| DFO Yellow Popcorn | ⚠️ Stockout imminent | Warehouse empty ~Mar 24; replenishment ~Apr 15 |
| Old World White Popcorn | ✅ Healthy | 3,000-unit shipment in transit; ~2,000–2,300 units already at FBA |
| DFO White Popcorn | ✅ Healthy | Not affected by current issues |
| Black Beans (25 lb) | ⚠️ Low | Flagged for priority pull-in |
| Pinto Beans (25 lb) | ⚠️ Low | Flagged for priority pull-in |
| Cornmeal | ✅ Healthy | Part of "big three" with stable inventory |
| Buckwheat Flour | 🔵 Overstocked | Coupon active to reduce excess inventory |
Color coding per Gilbert's dashboard: red = <3 months, yellow = 3–6 months, green = 6–12 months, blue = >12 months.
Inventory instability from November–January contributed to a ROAS dip (down to ~3.2). As inventory issues have been resolved for the core products, ROAS recovered to 3.63 in the most recent 30-day period ($82k sales / $22k ad spend). Maintaining steady inventory — especially for the "big three" (popcorn, black beans, cornmeal) — is identified as the primary lever for sustaining and improving ROAS.
See also: [1] | [2]