// MARKET: FOOD_&_BEVERAGE
Food & Beverage 3PL: NSF-Certified Repack, Co-Packing, and Fulfillment for Grocery, Club, and D2C
Retail display packs and variety packs are short runs that production plants hate. Club and grocery each score compliance differently. D2C wants a branded box. Most brands stitch together a co-packer, a retail 3PL, and a parcel 3PL to cover it. We are one operator for all of it.
Productiv is a food and beverage 3PL for shelf-stable brands that sell through grocery, club, distributors, and D2C at the same time. We run NSF-certified repack and bundling (variety packs, club packs, multipack conversion, display-ready packouts, and retail-compliant case packs) alongside D2C fulfillment from the same inventory. We have packed 2.7 million meals in two weeks and 150,000 grocery boxes in 33 days for emergency relief programs, and we hold pre-wired EDI connections to 100+ retailers, including grocery and club trading partners.
2.7M
meals packed in two weeks for a federal disaster relief program
150K
grocery boxes assembled in 33 days for disaster relief
100+
retailers with pre-wired EDI, including grocery and club
30M+
kits and packs assembled a year across all programs
What changes when a food or beverage brand sells through every channel
Grocery, club, distributors, and D2C each want the product in a different pack, to a different spec, on a different schedule. The plant is built for straight case packs at line speed. Everything else is secondary packaging.
| What changes | DTC e-commerceShopify, marketplaces, subscription | Wholesale & distributorsCase packs, distributor POs, B2B | Major retailBig-box, club, prestige, grocery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Packaging & labeling | Right-sized shipper with protective dunnage, branded inserts, and a carrier label. Bundles and samplers built to order. | Case packs and inner packs to the distributor's assortment; relabel or over-label to the account's item setup. | Club packs and multipacks with club-specific labeling, GS1-128 case labels, pallet display and half-pallet builds to the retailer's pallet spec. |
| Compliance regime | Carrier rules and the consumer SLA: ship-by time, order accuracy, and arrival condition. | Distributor routing guides, appointment scheduling, PO and fill-rate accuracy, lot and date-code visibility on the packing list. | EDI 850/856/810, retailer routing guides, OTIF windows, ASN accuracy, pallet specs, and chargebacks that scale with cost of goods. |
| Kit & display formats | Variety bundles, samplers, gift boxes, and subscription assortments that rotate with the season. | Variety packs and mixed cases converted from bulk single-SKU product; repack to the buyer's case count. | Club packs, shippers, PDQ trays, pallet displays, and seasonal display packs built to planogram and reset dates. |
| Order profile | Thousands of parcel orders a day, spiking on launches, promotions, and gifting seasons. | Multi-line POs on LTL and truckload on a replenishment cadence, with lot and date-code rotation. | Large POs against fixed ship windows and cancel dates; Q4 variety-pack and display crunches stack on top of steady replenishment. |
DTC e-commerce
Shopify, marketplaces, subscription
- Packaging & labeling
- Right-sized shipper with protective dunnage, branded inserts, and a carrier label. Bundles and samplers built to order.
- Compliance regime
- Carrier rules and the consumer SLA: ship-by time, order accuracy, and arrival condition.
- Kit & display formats
- Variety bundles, samplers, gift boxes, and subscription assortments that rotate with the season.
- Order profile
- Thousands of parcel orders a day, spiking on launches, promotions, and gifting seasons.
Wholesale & distributors
Case packs, distributor POs, B2B
- Packaging & labeling
- Case packs and inner packs to the distributor's assortment; relabel or over-label to the account's item setup.
- Compliance regime
- Distributor routing guides, appointment scheduling, PO and fill-rate accuracy, lot and date-code visibility on the packing list.
- Kit & display formats
- Variety packs and mixed cases converted from bulk single-SKU product; repack to the buyer's case count.
- Order profile
- Multi-line POs on LTL and truckload on a replenishment cadence, with lot and date-code rotation.
Major retail
Big-box, club, prestige, grocery
- Packaging & labeling
- Club packs and multipacks with club-specific labeling, GS1-128 case labels, pallet display and half-pallet builds to the retailer's pallet spec.
- Compliance regime
- EDI 850/856/810, retailer routing guides, OTIF windows, ASN accuracy, pallet specs, and chargebacks that scale with cost of goods.
- Kit & display formats
- Club packs, shippers, PDQ trays, pallet displays, and seasonal display packs built to planogram and reset dates.
- Order profile
- Large POs against fixed ship windows and cancel dates; Q4 variety-pack and display crunches stack on top of steady replenishment.
Productiv runs the repack, the club and grocery POs, and the D2C orders from the same buildings and the same inventory pool: one team, one WMS, one set of hands on your product.
Every co-packer and 3PL says they can do it all. Q4 is where you find out.
Variety packs and display packs are the formats that win grocery and club placement, and they are the work production plants and generalist 3PLs handle worst. Short runs kill changeover economics at the plant; hourly-priced repack at a 3PL gets whatever labor is left after parcel orders ship.
Q4 variety-pack and display crunches
Seasonal packs are bought in spring and built in a compressed fall window. A co-packer scheduled to capacity, or a 3PL staffed for daily parcel volume, cannot add a repack line for eight weeks and stand it down again.
Display-pack programs bolted onto production plants
Plants are built for straight case packs at line speed. Every variety pack, club pack, or display shipper is a short run with a changeover cost, and it competes with core production for the same labor and line time.
Club and grocery compliance regimes that differ
Costco scores pallet standards and GS1-128 labels; Kroger scores EDI accuracy and on-time delivery; Walmart scores OTIF. One product line shipping to all three runs three routing guides, three label specs, and three chargeback structures.
D2C and retail inventory split across vendors
When the co-packer holds bulk, the retail 3PL holds cases, and the parcel 3PL holds D2C stock, the brand carries safety stock three times and cannot rebalance when one channel outruns forecast.
Freight fragmentation
Parcel, LTL, and retailer routing guides handled by different parties means nobody owns cartonization, mode selection, or the appointment that decides whether the PO counts as on time.
Repack priced as an afterthought
Generalist 3PLs quote repack and bundling as an hourly value-added service on top of storage. The rate is unpredictable and the incentive is to bill time. Productiv prices every pack per unit.
The services underneath a food and beverage program
Repack and co-packing depth, retail compliance, D2C fulfillment, and display programs under one roof. Each link below is the full service page.
Contract Packaging & Co-Packing
Secondary packaging, variety packs, club packs, shrink and display packs, priced per unit and staffed to your production calendar.
Repack & Relabel
Bulk-to-retail conversion, multipack builds, compliance relabeling, inspection, and rework with lot and batch control.
Kitting & Assembly
Samplers, gift boxes, meal and snack kits, and subscription assortments assembled to a single SKU at 30M+ kits a year.
POP Displays & Pallet Displays
PDQ trays, shippers, and pallet or half-pallet displays built to planogram and delivered against the reset date.
B2B & Retail Distribution
Grocery, club, and distributor POs shipped to routing guides with GS1-128 labels and EDI 856 ASNs.
DTC E-commerce Fulfillment
Branded parcel orders shipped from the same inventory that fills your retail POs, with protective packaging matched to the product.
From first call to first shipment
Three steps. The timelines are the ones we actually hit, not the ones on a slide.
- 01
Tell us what you sell and where
A 30-minute conversation about your channels, retailers, kit programs, and volumes. We tell you honestly whether we're the right fit, and if we are, you have a program structure and quote within a few business days.
- 02
We map the program before the first unit moves
Retailer requirements reviewed, EDI connections wired, packaging and line design set, and a First Article routed to you for approval through ProQuality before full production begins.
- 03
Go live in weeks, not quarters
DTC programs go live in about a week. A new retailer EDI connection takes 2 to 4 weeks; a full retail B2B launch including the retailer's test cycles runs 6 to 12 weeks. Brands reach 99%+ SLA performance within 30 days.
Retail compliance guides for food and beverage brands
Selling into Kroger, Costco, Sam's Club, Walmart, or Target means meeting each retailer's routing guide, pallet spec, and scorecard. These guides cover what each one measures and how to ship without deductions.
OTIF Compliance Guide
How OTIF is measured across major retailers, what triggers penalties, and how to hold compliance at scale.
Routing Guide Compliance
How to read and follow retailer routing guides: carrier selection, appointments, and documentation.
Kroger Vendor Compliance
Kroger's EDI requirements, GS1 label specs, on-time delivery standards, and chargeback structure.
Costco Vendor Compliance
Costco's pallet standards, GS1-128 requirements, routing guide rules, and chargeback structure.
Walmart OTIF & Routing Guide
Walmart's OTIF threshold, penalty structure, prepaid vs. collect rules, and routing guide requirements.
GS1 Labeling for Retail
GS1-128 case label requirements, placement specs, and the labeling failures that trigger chargebacks.
Food and beverage programs we have run
Client names are withheld where the brand has asked. Every figure below is a completed or live program.
Federal disaster relief · meal program
2.7 million meals packed in two weeks
A surge program stood up on days of notice: line design, W2 staffing, and food-safe pack-out at volume, then stood down when the mission ended.
Disaster relief · grocery boxes
150,000 grocery boxes in 33 days
Multi-SKU grocery boxes assembled and shipped on a fixed relief calendar. A separate emergency program packed 100,000 meal boxes across five SKUs with procurement and sourcing included.
Global beverage brand · repack
Bulk to 4-packs and 6-packs at scale
Multipack conversion from bulk single-SKU product, inbound inspection of international shipments, and overflow storage in Dallas, so the brand's plants stay on straight case packs.
“Productiv's customer service is the best I have ever seen, and their leadership in our project made everyone's role easier.”
Steve Ballard
CEO, Ballard Brands
The difference isn't the warehouse. It's the team running your program.
A long-tenured Account Coordinator sits in our warehouse next to your product, backed by a named Director so coverage never lapses, with a dedicated account inbox where every message is seen, owned, and resolved.
- Chargeback promise: our error, our credit — with root cause fixed.
- EDI managed end-to-end by our IT team via SPS Commerce; new retailers live in weeks.
- Production planned against your launch dates, ship windows, and cancel dates.
Communication cadence
- Every day
- Orders, production, and exceptions managed in real time.
- Every week
- Operations call on SLAs, open items, and improvement actions, plus the EDI connection review.
- Every quarter
- Business review with our executive team, focused on your growth goals.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a food and beverage 3PL and a co-packer?
A co-packer manufactures or fills product; a food and beverage 3PL stores, repacks, and ships finished product to retail, distributor, and D2C channels. Productiv sits in the secondary-packaging seam between the two: we take finished, shelf-stable product from the plant and convert it into variety packs, club packs, display packs, and D2C bundles, then ship those formats to grocery, club, and consumers from one inventory. Brands use us so the plant stays on straight case packs and the retail formats still ship on time.
What does NSF-certified repack and bundling mean for a food brand?
NSF certification means the repack and bundling operation has been independently audited against food-safety standards for the handling of finished food and beverage product. For a brand, it means variety packs, multipacks, and display packs can be built outside the plant without breaking the chain of food-safe handling that the retailer and the brand's quality team expect. Productiv runs NSF-certified repack and bundling alongside retail-compliant B2B and D2C fulfillment.
Can you build variety packs and club packs from bulk product?
Yes. Productiv converts bulk single-SKU product into 4-packs, 6-packs, variety packs, and club multipacks, including inbound inspection, over-labeling to the retailer's item setup, and pallet or half-pallet display builds. Every pack is priced per unit, lot and batch identity is carried through to the finished pack, and the work is staffed to your production calendar so Q4 display crunches do not compete with core production at the plant.
How do you handle lot tracking and product documentation for food products?
Lot and batch identity is tracked at the component level as product is consumed into packs, so every finished variety pack or kit traces back to the inbound lots it contains. Productiv runs regulated kitting programs with lot control across 75 regulated components and regulatory documentation produced per job, and the same discipline applies to food and beverage repack. Accuracy targets on regulated and compliance programs are 100%.
Do you ship to Kroger, Costco, Sam's Club, and Walmart?
Productiv holds pre-wired EDI connections to 100+ retailers and runs retail compliance for brands selling into Kroger, Costco, Sam's Club, Walmart, Target, and Amazon. Each retailer's routing guide, pallet spec, GS1-128 label requirement, and ASN rules are built into the pack-out, and a new retailer connection typically goes live in 2 to 4 weeks, versus the industry norm of 2 to 4 months.
Can one partner run our D2C orders and our grocery and club programs?
Yes. That is the reason food and beverage brands come to Productiv. D2C bundles, samplers, and subscription assortments ship as branded parcels from the same inventory that fills grocery, club, and distributor POs, so the brand carries safety stock once and rebalances when a channel outruns forecast. Our operations are built for shelf-stable and ambient product; if your product needs temperature control, ask and we will be straight about fit.
Other industries we serve
Prestige retail · Mass · D2C
Beauty & Personal Care Fulfillment
Holiday sets, GWP, and loyalty kits built at retailer scale, plus D2C and retail fulfillment from the same inventory pool.
Subscription · Big-box · D2C
Outdoor & Recreation Fulfillment
Subscription boxes, seasonal launches, and big-box sporting goods compliance from one operator.
D2C · Wholesale · Vendor Central
Book & Media Fulfillment
Book-level accuracy, curated bundles, and Amazon Vendor Central compliance for publishers and booksellers.
If your Q4 variety-pack or display calendar is already tight, we should talk now.
Tell us your formats, your retailers, and your production calendar. We'll be straight about fit, and if it works we'll map a program and a go-live timeline within a few business days.
Talk to an Operations ExpertResponse within 24 hours. No gatekeepers.