#360 - Supply Chain Lessons from Building Seed, Liquid IV, and Celsius

Natan Bershtel is the Director of Business Development at Pelagic, a fractional supply chain partner for growing brands and CPG companies. Before Pelagic, Natan spent nearly 20 years as a public school teacher before joining and eventually running his family’s contract packaging business—where he worked with iconic names like Seed, Liquid IV, Celsius, and Element. After his company’s exit, Natan teamed up with John Morgan to help brands avoid common operational pitfalls and build supply chains that scale. In this episode of DTC Pod, Natan breaks down what it takes to build a resilient supply chain at every stage of brand growth. He shares practical strategies to avoid common pitfalls, tips on sourcing the right partners, and insights on how successful brands approach manufacturing, fulfillment, and logistics. Natan also highlights why supply chain is core to a brand’s success and how founders can create real competitive advantages by making supply chain decisions based on quality, relationships, and flexibility. Episode brought to you by Stord Interact with other DTC experts and access our monthly fireside chats with industry leaders on DTC Pod Slack. On this episode of DTC Pod, we cover: 1. Importance of supply chain in DTC and omnichannel brands 2. Key players: sourcing, manufacturing, co-packers, 3PLs, and fulfillment 3. Differences in supply chain needs for emerging vs. established brands 4. Supply chain pitfalls and how to avoid them 5. Vetting, relationship-building, and collaboration with your supply chain partners 6. Overlooked areas of supply chain where founders lose time/money 7. How to approach minimum order quantities and negotiations 8. When to outsource fulfillment vs. doing it yourself 9. Logistics of manufacturing, packaging, and distribution 10. The impact of scale on supply chain decisions 11. Using data and timelines to make faster, smarter choices 12. Leveraging agency and partner networks for supply chain speed 13. Why in-person vendor relationships are crucial 14. How truly great supply chains build brand moats Timestamps 00:00 Intro and the state of supply chain in DTC 01:40 Natan Bershtel’s background and path to Pelagic 02:24 Lessons from growing a contract packaging family business 04:11 Why supply chain is the backbone of every brand 05:28 The role of execution vs. creative vision in CPG 07:09 How to find and vet the best manufacturing/packaging partners 11:15 The agency advantage: getting reps and sharing supply chain intel 12:41 Core players in bringing a product to market 15:04 Aligning supply chain strategy with brand vision and goals 16:56 Two playbooks for scaling: bootstrap profit vs. capital-intensive growth 19:48 Timelines—how to ask supply partners the right questions 21:41 How and when to ask for what you need from partners 26:32 End-to-end product launch: manufacturing, packaging, and fulfillment 28:42 When to move fulfillment to a 3PL (and when to keep it in-house) 33:15 Tech and process innovation at leading 3PLs 35:14 Strategic decisions: packaging, location, and unit economics 38:58 Challenging assumptions and reviewing supply chain regularly 42:08 Supply chain as brand moat and advantage 44:13 Final tips: Always go in-person and build real relationships Show notes powered by Castmagic Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.   Additional episodes you might like: • #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth • #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content • #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views • #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands • #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook • ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands ----- Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further? Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you. Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox? Check out our newsletter here. Projects the DTC Pod team is working on: DTCetc - all our favorite brands on the internet Olivea - the extra virgin olive oil & hydroxytyrosol supplement Castmagic - AI Workspace for Content Follow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates! DTCPod Instagram DTCPod Twitter DTCPod TikTok Natan Bershtel - Director of Business Development at Pelagic Blaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Castmagic Ramon Berrios - Co-Founder of Castmagic