TS Foods Popcorn Co-Packing Project

Overview

^[1] is pursuing a co-packing arrangement with TS Foods (contact: Justin) to produce a branded popcorn product at scale. The project is currently stalled due to unresolved conflicts over ingredient sourcing and the complexity of achieving multi-certification label compliance. The project carries significant financial urgency: Amazon sales of this product are the primary mechanism for cost recovery under Doudlah's VAPG (Value Added Producer Grant).

Current Status

Stalled. As of the March 27, 2026 sync, the project has not moved past final ingredient and process decisions. Lucy Doudlah has been the primary point of contact with Justin at TS Foods and is described as frustrated with the lack of progress. Mark Hope (Asymmetric) has been asked to intervene and apply pressure to accelerate the timeline.

Core Conflict: Ingredient Quality & Consistency

Doudlah Farms requires specific, consistent ingredients — particularly a defined oil and salt — to ensure a predictable, high-quality end product. TS Foods prefers to use its own on-hand ingredients, which have shown variable quality across batches. Past reviews of TS Foods' oil have ranged from poor to acceptable.

This is not merely a preference dispute. Because the product must carry organic, ROC, and Demeter certifications, every ingredient must be:

• Certified organic
• Approved and listed on the label
• Compliant with all three certification bodies before production begins

Substituting or varying ingredients after label approval is not feasible at production scale.

Labeling & Certification Risk

The product label must simultaneously satisfy three certification standards:

Label approval must be secured before any production run. A labeling error on a 20,000-bag batch would result in the entire run being unusable — a significant financial and operational loss. This risk is a key reason the project cannot be rushed carelessly, even as urgency mounts.

Strategic Importance: VAPG Grant

The VAPG (Value Added Producer Grant) provides Doudlah Farms with reimbursable funding, but only for costs tied to Amazon sales. Website and direct-to-consumer sales do not qualify for reimbursement under the grant terms. This makes the TS Foods popcorn project — intended to sell through Amazon — the only viable path to recapturing grant-eligible costs.

"Amazon is, through the Value Added Producer Grant, is the only way we can recapture our money. Our website and stuff, we can't get reimbursed for that, but we can if it has anything to do with Amazon." — Mark Doudlah

Action Items

• [ ] Karly Oykhman — Contact Mark Hope and ask him to intervene directly with Justin at TS Foods; request a status update be relayed to Mark Doudlah
• [ ] Mark Hope — Step in as escalation point with TS Foods to unblock ingredient decisions and accelerate the project timeline

Key Contacts

Related

• ^[2]
• ^[3]
• ^[4]