case studyDTCscaling

From One Pot to Global Distribution: Fulfillment Lessons from a DTC Brand That Scaled Production

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2026-01-28

10 min read

Liber & Co.'s rise from a stove pot to 1,500‑gallon tanks reveals clear fulfillment milestones: when to hire a 3PL, add batch control, and scale packaging.

Hook: Your shipping costs are rising, delivery times slip, and returns are piling up — but you know growth won’t wait

Scaling a direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand is exhilarating and brutal. Liber & Co.’s journey from a single pot on a stove to 1,500‑gallon tanks — and worldwide distribution — exposes the operational inflection points most founders miss until it’s too costly. If you’re juggling rising per‑order costs, inconsistent fulfillment, and patchwork inventory controls, this playbook translates Liber & Co.’s real milestones into exact signals and steps for when to hire a 3PL, add batch control, and invest in scalable packaging.

The top-line lessons — what matters first (2026 edition)

Most brands make tactical mistakes: they wait too long to outsource fulfillment, they underinvest in traceability for food/beverage SKUs, and they overpay for shipping because packaging wasn’t engineered for e‑commerce. In 2026, that gap is costlier than ever because customers expect faster delivery, carriers demand tighter integrations, and sustainability rules affect packaging choices.

Here’s the inverted pyramid: the three operational milestones you must monitor now — and the immediate actions to take.

Order volume & complexity: When orders and channels exceed manual capacity.
Traceability & compliance risk: When food safety, recalls, or exports require batch-level visibility.
Packaging economics & fulfillment efficiency: When packaging drives DIM weight or slows packing.

Why Liber & Co. matters as a model

Chris Harrison and his co‑founders didn’t start with a plan to scale. They were food people who learned by doing. That DIY mindset preserved product quality and cost control, but scaling required systematic changes: bigger tanks, documented batch control, manufacturing SOPs, and distribution partners. Their shift from stove-top test batches to 1,500‑gallon vessels illustrates the exact triggers that should prompt operational investments at other DTC brands.

Chris Harrison: “We handled almost everything in‑house — manufacturing, warehousing, marketing, ecommerce. We learned as we went.”

Milestone 1 — When to hire a 3PL: thresholds and timeline

Transitioning fulfillment is one of the hardest decisions for DTC founders. Outsource too early and you lose control and margin. Wait too long and fulfillment becomes the bottleneck for growth. Use these clear signals instead of gut feel.

Quantitative signals

Orders per month: 1,000–3,000 monthly orders = strong signal to evaluate 3PLs; 3,000+ = strong case to onboard within 3–6 months.
SKUs and kitting: More than 10 SKUs or frequent bundling/kitting steps that add manual pack time.
Warehouse labor hours: Fulfillment consumes >30% of operations time or multiple full‑time pack teams.
Shipping cost per order: When shipping and fulfillment make up >15–20% of total order cost and trending up.

Qualitative signals

Increasing pickup errors, delayed shipments, or 1–2 day spikes in transit time during promotions.
Seasonal surges that exceed storage or packing capacity.
Requirement for international distribution or HACCP-certified handling.

3PL selection & onboarding checklist

Define KPIs: pick/pack accuracy, OTIF (on time in full), average ship time, returns SLA, and cost per outbound order.
Prioritize integrations: robust Shopify/Magento/BigCommerce and WMS APIs; look for real‑time inventory sync and order acknowledgement.
Network fit: regional fulfillment nodes within your largest customer clusters to cut transit days and costs.
Service scope: kitting, labeling, cold chain (if needed), batch/lot labeling, returns handling, and international compliance support.
Commercial terms: onboarding fees, minimum monthly charges, storage tiers, pick fees, and true landed cost modeling (including dimensional pricing).
Run a 30–60 day pilot with limited SKUs and measure KPIs before migrating all SKUs.

Implementation steps (first 90 days):

Create an RFP with your KPIs and traffic forecasts for the next 12 months.
Run a three‑way test: send one small SKU, one best‑seller, one bundled kit for end‑to‑end proof.
Map exceptions and resolution processes (damaged goods, lost orders, mispicks).
Implement daily reconciliation between your ecommerce platform and the 3PL WMS.

Milestone 2 — When to add batch control and traceability

For food, beverage, and nutraceutical DTC brands, batch control is not optional once you scale. It’s the difference between a contained recall and a brand‑ending crisis.

Why batch control matters in 2026

Late 2025 saw faster adoption of electronic batch records and public demand for provenance. Retail buyers and distributors increasingly expect digital traceability and GS1‑aligned lot codes. And regulators continue to tighten expectations under frameworks like the U.S. FSMA and international export rules.

Operational signals to implement batch control

Batch sizes: When batch output exceeds your ability to manually track production (rough threshold: >500 bottles per batch).
Multi‑channel sales: Wholesale and retail distribution demand lot traceability for quality and claims.
International shipping: Exporters often require batch and ingredient source data for customs and food safety checks.
Recalls or customer complaints: Any quality event that makes root‑cause analysis slow or imprecise.

How Liber & Co. scaled batch control

When Liber & Co. moved to 1,500‑gallon tanks, a single tank could produce roughly 12,000–24,000 bottles (depending on bottle size — 16 oz vs. 8 oz). That scale made manual traceability impossible. They implemented formal batch records, lot codes on bottling lines, and digital logs tied to their ERP to ensure each case could be traced to an ingredient lot and production date.

Batch control implementation checklist

Adopt a digital batch record (DBR) solution integrated with production equipment and the ERP/WMS.
Define lot code schema: plant code, production line, date, and sequential batch number (GS1 compatibility is recommended).
Attach batch/lot QR codes to cases and products to enable scans at packaging and at receiving in 3PL warehouses.
Run monthly mock recalls to validate traceability within SLA targets (goal: identify affected lots within 24 hours).

Milestone 3 — When to invest in scalable packaging and automation

Packaging isn’t just marketing. In DTC, packaging is logistics. The wrong bottle, over‑box, or poor pallet configuration can inflate DIM weight (dimensional pricing), damage rates, and shrink margins.

Economic signals to invest

Production volume: Monthly output >10,000 units suggests automated filler/cartoner investment or contract fill/pack relationships.
Fulfillment cost per order: If packaging and labor push fulfillment to >$6–10 per order for small DTC SKUs.
Damage rates: Damage >1% of shipped units signals packaging redesign for e‑commerce shipping environments.
Dimensional pricing: If average package DIM causes 20–40% higher freight than weight‑based pricing.

Packaging options that scale

Right‑sizing packaging: Custom mailer sizes and crush‑resistant but low‑volume void fill to reduce DIM pricing — consider eco‑friendly wrapping trends when right‑sizing.
Automated filling and capping: Semi‑automatic fillers that handle 5–40 bottles per minute vs manual fill lines; think about packaging + on‑device tooling for quality at scale.
Case packing and palletization: Automated case erectors and robotic palletizers for consistent stacking and lower freight per case — plan this into your cross‑channel fulfilment model.
Modular secondary packaging: Use dividers and rail systems designed for e‑commerce to minimize breakage without overboxing.
Sustainable materials: 2026 buyers expect recyclable or compostable mailers; this can reduce retailer friction and align with regulatory shifts — see recent eco‑wrapping trends.

Packaging ROI assessment (simple model)

Calculate current per‑order fulfillment cost (labor + materials + damage + shipping).
Estimate new per‑order cost after packaging automation and right-sizing (include amortized capex).
Compute break‑even month (capex / monthly savings) and evaluate risk across 12–24 months.

Concrete examples from Liber & Co.'s trajectory

Use these concrete data points to benchmark your own thresholds.

Single stove‑top batch — ideal for product development and initial customer validation, but impossible for reliable wholesale or retail timelines.
Mid‑scale (150–500 gallon runs) — signal to add documented SOPs, a single digital batch log, and to test contract bottling for high‑volume SKUs.
Large scale (1,500 gallon tanks) — requires integrated ERP/WMS, formal lot control, engineered packaging, and distribution partnerships (3PLs or co‑packers) for multi‑channel distribution.

Estimated bottles per 1,500‑gallon tank:

8‑oz bottle: ~24,000 units
16‑oz bottle: ~12,000 units

At these volumes, manual bottling and manual record keeping become the rate‑limiting step for growth and compliance.

Advanced strategies and 2026 trends you must adopt

Beyond the basics, scale‑minded brands in 2026 are using advanced techniques to lower cost per order and improve resilience.

1. AI forecasting and prescriptive logistics

AI models now provide near‑real‑time demand signals, letting brands preposition inventory across regional 3PL nodes. Use probabilistic forecasting to size safety stock and reduce expedited freight.

2. Distributed inventory and micro‑fulfillment

Put inventory closer to customers. Micro‑fulfillment reduces last‑mile costs and improves delivery promise windows. In practice, split high velocity SKUs across two to three regional warehouses.

3. Digital batch records & blockchain‑assisted provenance

Consumers and wholesale partners ask for ingredient source data. Digital batch records that integrate with QR codes allow instant access to provenance and support faster recalls.

4. Sustainability and packaging regulations

Late 2025 saw increased retailer mandates for reusable or easily recyclable packaging. Design packaging for both protection and recyclability to stay ahead of buyer requirements.

5. Carrier API maturity & TMS/Parcel optimization

Carriers have improved APIs and dynamic pricing models. Invest in a shipping optimization layer (TMS or parcel optimizer) to route shipments by cost, speed, and carbon footprint.

Risk controls: Avoid common pitfalls

Don’t sign long 3PL contracts without exit clauses and SLAs tied to measurable KPIs — negotiate like a pro and insist on exit terms.
Don’t assume packaging that works for retail will work for e‑commerce — e‑commerce packing protects against transit patterns and varied carrier handling.
Don’t defer batch control because it’s “expensive” — the cost of a non‑contained recall is orders of magnitude higher.
Don’t treat co‑packing and 3‑PL as mutually exclusive — many high‑growth DTC brands use co‑packers for manufacturing and 3PLs for multi‑channel fulfillment.

Implementation playbook: 6 practical steps to scale like Liber & Co.

Benchmark current costs and capacity: Calculate orders/month, pick/pack time per order, damage %, and per‑order shipping cost.
Map future state for 12–24 months: Forecast demand, SKU growth, and channel mix. Determine where production will bottleneck.
Decide on fulfillment model: Pilot a 3PL for a region or set of SKUs while keeping production in‑house for quality control.
Standardize batch and quality controls: Implement DBR, GS1 lot codes, and QR labels tied into your ERP and 3PL WMS.
Engineer packaging: Run three packaging tests (current, right‑sized, sustainable) and measure damage, DIM pricing, and customer unboxing metrics. Consider a pop‑up to permanent approach when testing prototypes in live channels.
Measure and iterate: Weekly cadence for the first 90 days post‑pilot: monitor KPIs, exceptions, and customer feedback. Optimize pick paths and packaging based on data.

Checklist: The first 90 days after you commit to scaling

RFP issued to 3PLs with KPI requirements.
DBR tool selected and integrated with production.
Packaging prototypes tested through a carrier stress test.
Pilot fulfillment run with 1–3 SKUs through selected 3PL.
Returns and reverse logistics playbook documented and trained.

Key takeaways

Use triggers, not instincts: Orders, batch size, and packaging economics are objective signals for the next operational move.
3PLs are for scale, not escape: Choose partners who will integrate and improve your product quality and delivery promise.
Batch control buys trust: For beverage and food DTC brands, traceability is an investment in customer trust and channel access.
Packaging is logistics: Right‑sized, e‑commerce‑tuned packaging reduces DIM weight, damage, and shipping spend.
Adopt 2026 practices: AI forecasting, distributed inventory, and digital batch records are now proven levers to reduce costs and time‑to‑fulfillment.

Final example — a phased timeline inspired by Liber & Co.

Month 0–6: Validate product/market fit and small batch production. Implement basic SOPs and manual lot codes.

Month 6–18: Scale to mid‑volume (150–500 gallon runs). Add a DBR system, test contract filling for select SKUs, and pilot a regional 3PL for DTC orders.

Month 18–36: Move to large scale (1,500‑gallon equivalent runs). Implement automated filling, full digital lot traceability, multi‑node 3PL network, and engineered packaging to optimize cost and reduce breakage.

Call to action

If your DTC brand is crossing any of the thresholds above, you don’t need to guess the next move. Download our 3PL & packaging decision checklist or schedule a short consultation to map a tailored scaling plan — costed, phased, and focused on reducing per‑order spend while protecting product quality.

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