Scaling an FMCG brand is no easy feat—it takes more than just demand; it requires strategy, flexibility, and strong operational foundations. In our latest roundtable, experts from Borough Broth, Scale 3PL, and Young Foodies shared real-world lessons on growing sustainably, choosing the right channels, impressing buyers, and preparing supply chains for scale. From tech stacks to packaging tweaks, their insights offer a grounded look at what it really takes to grow fast-moving brands without losing control—or sight of your values.

Meet the experts:

• Phil Peters - Director of Supply Chain Services at ⁠YF⁠

• Ros Heathcote - Founder and Managing Director of ⁠Borough Broth Ltd⁠

• Udhi Silva - Co-Founder and CEO of ⁠Scale 3PL⁠

Topics covered:

• Is There a Good Time to Scale?

• The Risks of Scaling Too Quickly

• How Do You Choose the Right Channels?

• How Do You Set Your Supply Chain to Scale?

• How Do You Convince a Buyer You're a Safe Bet?

• What Does a Scale Tech-Stack Look Like?

• Can Niche Ingredients Block Things Up?

• Going Global & Staying Green: Key Lessons for Growing Brands

• Scaling Sustainably: Smart Logistics Over Silver Bullets

Today’s product businesses are fighting a battle on many fronts, with the lingering effects of high inflation, high raw materials costs, supply chain uncertainty and an expensive labour market. But with smart customer retention and sales tactics, combined with ruthless optimisation across the three biggest lines of spend – labour, inventory and production – small-to-medium firms can outperform both their peers and the larger players that dominate the market.

As ever we chat to four SME experts to unearth their methodologies to scale in these challenging times.

Darren Glanville – Country Manager for UK and EMEA with Fathom

Dr Neil Keegan – Manufacturing and Operations Specialist

Phil Oakley - Managing Director of Outserve

Thomas Laird – MD of Salt of the Earth Deodorants

What's discussed?

Join the following experts as we share the latest fulfilment thinking and practice:

• Alex Townson – Head of Outsourced Supply Chain – YF an Unleashed Partner
• Beth Chapman – Managing Director – Starlinks Global a Mintsoft customer
• Daniel Hayward- Head of Operations – Candy Kittens an Unleashed customer
• Kate Lester – Founder – Diamond Logistics, a supplier to Unleashed customer TrueStart

Growing online retail sales puts increased pressure on the supply chain and fulfilment industry, forcing the entire supply chain to look for ways to optimise processes. Retailers, fulfilment partners, and suppliers alike must enhance operations to meet demand.

What's discussed when?

00:00 Introduction

07:57 KPIs

20:47 Monitoring Supplier Performance

33:53 UK Carrier Costs

42:58 Fulfillment Automation

49:52 Personalisation

54:27 Last-mile Innovations and Sustainability

1:02:30 Picking Accuracy

1:05:34 Returns and Exchanges

1:11:02 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

1:16:38 Advice for Supply Chain Professionals