Operations & supply chain for growth-stage CPG
Understory Ops installs the S&OP, procurement, co-manufacturing, and COGS discipline that keeps a growth-stage CPG brand from breaking as it scales.
In a forest, the understory is the layer just below the canopy. It's where the roots hold, where diverse growth happens, and where the whole ecosystem stays standing when the wind picks up. Founders build for the sunlight. Understory Ops works below the canopy, in the operations that keep a growth-stage brand from breaking as it scales.
What we do
Planning, procurement, production, and cost — the systems that let demand grow without breaking what got you here.
Match supply to real demand.
Software people and AI can both run.
A supply base you can count on.
Production that holds under growth.
Operations systems built for AI
Most software is built for a person clicking through screens. We build your operational system so that a person and an AI can both run it — through the same rules, with the same checks, and with every change proposed for approval rather than made silently. You get software that fits how you actually operate, and an assistant that can do real work inside it without being able to break it.
Who it's for
Emerging CPG brands reach a breaking point: growth outpaces the systems that got them there, and the fragility gets exposed fast. We help founders install the operational discipline they need before that point — not after it's already cost them a season of stockouts, a blown margin, or a co-man that couldn't keep up.
About
I'm Alan Berkel, founder of Understory Ops.
Twelve years building the operational infrastructure that lets high-growth CPG brands scale — now helping founders install that discipline before growth outruns their operations.
Tell us where the strain is showing and we'll tell you how we'd approach it — a straight read, no pitch.
Get in touch