Resources

This week's news features makeup made for space travel; brands coming together for good; and continued demand for alternative-everything products.

Plants, Pecans, and Partnerships: CPG News, Week of Sept 21-25

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In a consumer-driven supply chain, preparing for drastic shifts in purchasing behavior is a must. Use this guide to anticipate these changes during the school year, when demand variables are sure to throw off sales and supply plans.

How to Prepare for a Potentially Volatile Back-to-School Season

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Oatmilk Everything and the Pursuit of the Gen-Z Consumer: CPG News, Week of Aug 31-Sept 4

September is here and change is in the air. This week's news features the ubiquity of oatmilk-based items, the emergence of dark stores, and the refreshing of a 167-year-old cookie classic.

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Chocolate, Trees & Bees: CPG News, Week of Aug 24-28

As August comes to an end, all eyes are on autumn. This week's news features environmentally-conscious brands, the emergence of social commerce, and a lawsuit about dairy-related labeling for plant-based brands.

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Beverage Boom, Baller Investments & Black-Owned Brands: CPG News, Week of Aug 17-21

Summer's hot and, like usual, the CPG industry is blazing. This week's news features canned tuna, NBA-led beverage funding, spicy spice sales and how candy-makers are preparing for a most unusual Halloween consumer landscape.

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21 Best Practices for Demand Planning and Forecasting Professionals [Actionable Guide + Expert Methods]

Demand planning is a complex process, that's for sure, especially given how quickly consumer behavior and market conditions can change. In this guide, we detail how automation, AI, and data science can bring your company's forecasts to the next level.

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How Dream Pops Saved $110,000 in Overhead After Automating Operations With Unioncrate

"We were running a lot of things manually—even to the point of writing out checks and invoices and mailing them. Our processes were a big time suck and caused a lot of frustration.”

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How Unioncrate Helps SOUND Brands Run Its Entire Operation With a Small Team

“Unioncrate removes the stress and headache of trying to manage several Excel sheets and inventory. It also eliminates the potential for error. That lifts a huge burden because you know your inventory is based on what’s actually there.”

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How Fishin’ Co. Increased Forecast Accuracy and Saved Millions in Carrying Costs With Unioncrate

In order to reduce inventory management costs, Fishin' Co. asked Unioncrate to improve upon its own internal forecast accuracy. This is how Unioncrate's Demand Planning AI delivered and saved the world's leading tilapia importer millions in carrying costs.

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How a Category Leader Uses Unioncrate’s AI to Rapidly Meet Demand During Covid-19

In a matter of weeks, Unioncrate’s AI self-adjusted to account for unprecedented variables like pantry loading and stockouts, resulting in forecast accuracy near its yearly mean of 84.3%.

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How Dream Pops Saved $110,000 in Overhead After Automating Operations With Unioncrate

"We were running a lot of things manually—even to the point of writing out checks and invoices and mailing them. Our processes were a big time suck and caused a lot of frustration.”

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How Unioncrate Helps SOUND Brands Run Its Entire Operation With a Small Team

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How Jade Leaf Matcha Runs a Multimillion-Dollar Business With a Team of Just 5

“We were starting to expand and dramatically increase our sales. I could just foresee a point in time where we were going to have this collision course. We’d be trying to open up more doors, but still trying to handle everything in a very manual and...

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How BOU Brands Saves $120,000 Each Year With Unioncrate Versus a Bloated ERP

“Being a startup, our supply chain processes were very manually intensive. It was becoming very challenging, and with all of our growth and the number of distribution points we were now in, mistakes were starting to be made.”

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How to Prepare for a Potentially Volatile Back-to-School Season

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21 Best Practices for Demand Planning and Forecasting Professionals [Actionable Guide + Expert Methods]

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The New Rules of Demand Planning for 2020 & Beyond [Complete Guide + eBook]

In a year marked by unprecedented changes, our demand planning eBook is the essential guide to navigating the new normal of CPG. We explain why automation, data, and AI are vital to high forecast accuracy, supply chain efficiencies, and consumer insights.

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Why Clean Data Is Crucial to Demand Planning and Forecast Accuracy

Just as high-quality ingredients are essential to the finest meals, large sets of clean data are a prerequisite for producing highly accurate demand forecasts.

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5 Steps to More Accurate Demand Forecasts

The right demand forecasting process can pay huge dividends for your business. But in order to understand and leverage key demand drivers, you first need the have the right data, the right people, and the right software in place. Here's a step-by-step guide.

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The Critical Importance of Demand Forecasting

Nothing is more important than accuracy when it comes to demand forecasting. The higher the accuracy, the better. It can help businesses run more efficient S&OP meetings, scale with efficiency, and reduce costs across the entire supply chain.

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Demand Planning Vs. Demand Forecasting

Though they are unmistakably linked, demand planning and demand forecasting are not the same thing. We explain the key differences and similarities between them and demonstrate why forecast accuracy is essential to demand planning and to the overall S&OP...

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Intro to Demand Planning

Predicting consumer demand is a tough nut to crack. The most effective demand planners have the tools to predict demand accurately and execute a confident supply chain strategy to meet future demand in its tracks...

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CPG Data Science: How Data Science Helps CPG Companies

Implementing Machine Learning models and Artificial Intelligence is becoming the norm for CPG brands looking to leverage their data to gain more accurate demand forecasts, maximize sales, and reduce working capital. We explain how to easily implement...

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Unioncrate's Glossary of CPG and Supply Chain Terms [Updated]

Call us biased, but we think the CPG Industry is an incredibly exciting landscape—from consumer behavior and e-Commerce platforms to supply chain and demand planning technologies that provide a competitive edge, and so much more...

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Full Guide: Inventory Shrinkage [Overview + Case Study]

Inventory loss is inevitable, but it doesn't have to hurt so much. To gain an understanding of its root causes, it's important to utilize a supply chain management tool that can reduce shrink rates and increase profit margins...

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Guide to Excess Inventory: What is it and how can it impact your business?

Carrying and managing excess can be very costly, and it's important to know the risks involved. We examine the causes of overstock as well as its impact on inventory management and supply chain operations.

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What's a Bill of Materials and How Do I Create One?

What parts are necessary to manufacture a product? That's the job of a Bill of Materials, a roadmap to a finished good. We explore its features and provide a free guide to creating your own...

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Essential SKU Strategy Guide

Implementing a consistent and scalable SKU strategy is critical to effective inventory management and overall growth. So what's the best way to get the job done?

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Unioncrate Hires CPG Veteran Kunal Kohli as Director of Business Development

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Turkeys & Vikings & Chefbots, Oh My!: CPG News, Week of Oct 12-16

This week's news features a hopeful look at this year's holiday season, an AI tool that will find recipes for you, and the flavors that will define 2020's fall and winter.

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It's a Bird! It's a Drone! It's Halloween!: CPG News, Week of Oct 5-9

This week's news features brands making strides to become more sustainable, what Halloween might look like this year, and the race to launch drone deliveries across the country.

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31 Best Inventory Management Software in 2020

There is no shortage of inventory management software choices on the market these days. Check out our list of the 31 best inventory management software systems for CPG brands in 2020.

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Kroger, Costco, and the Return of Expo West: CPG News, Week of Sept 28-Oct 2

This week's news features the return of Expo East, the continuous rise of oatmilk, and a commitment from 200 brands to make the planet a better place.

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Plants, Pecans, and Partnerships: CPG News, Week of Sept 21-25

This week's news features makeup made for space travel; brands coming together for good; and continued demand for alternative-everything products.

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Tyler, The Ice Cream Collaborator: CPG News, Week of Sept 14-18

The fall equinox is right around the corner, and all eyes are on seasonality. This week's news features unique celebrity/brand collaborations; how companies are informing consumer for the halloween season as a way to bolster sales; and more!

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The Shopping Experience Grows Up Fast: CPG News, Week of Sept 7-11

September is here! This week's news features eCommerce and retail behemoths race to meet consumers where they are, the continued emergence of plant-based items, and a CPG-meets-fast-casual partnership that bodes well for the industry.

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Oatmilk Everything and the Pursuit of the Gen-Z Consumer: CPG News, Week of Aug 31-Sept 4

September is here and change is in the air. This week's news features the ubiquity of oatmilk-based items, the emergence of dark stores, and the refreshing of a 167-year-old cookie classic.

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How Petit Pot's Tiny Jars of Gourmet French Pudding Are Winning Over American Consumers

Entrepreneur Maxime Pouvreau perfected his pot de crème recipe as a pastry chef at San Francisco restaurants. Years later, his brand, Petit Pot, enjoys nationwide distribution and a booming DTC business. But it hasn't come without major challenges.

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How Renewal Mill Transforms Waste Into Revenue, One Upcycled Product at a Time

Like many CPG brands, the coronavirus forced Renewal Mill to make strategic shifts midstream. With a focus on DTC channels and new product development, the forward-thinking brand is reaching a new generation of conscious consumers who put the planet first.

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SOUND's Mission-Driven Brand Is Bubbling Up Change in a Booming Category

This is the journey of two young engineers who built a sustainable beverage business based on a shared vision of bringing health and transparency to a booming category. SOUND Brands Co-founder Salim Najjar on his company's sparkling journey.

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How High Road Took Luxury Ice Cream Mainstream

Ice cream by chefs, for chefs. This was High Road Craft Brands' original business plan at least. But 10 years in, the Atlanta-based company has grown significantly, slowly but surely adding private label and retail into its dynamic business model.

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