The Distributor's Best Friend

You know the distribution problem.
We help build the solution.

C&S works with Australian FMCG distributors to identify recurring problems in products, packaging, handling, merchandising and supply, then source, improve or develop practical physical solutions.

You don't need to know the solution. Start by telling us what's not working.

Tell Us the Problem See How We Work
Workers loading a shrink-wrapped pallet into a truck at a loading dock
A packaging line running bottled product in a manufacturing facility A team meeting in an office overlooking a warehouse floor

FMCG Focus

FMCG markets we're focusing on

We are concentrating our research and product-development work on fast-moving physical products where distributors manage repeat purchasing, broad product ranges and recurring operational challenges.

Food, Confectionery & Snacks

Packaged food, confectionery, snacks and specialty food products.

Areas we're investigating

Packaging • Handling • Transport • Merchandising • Pack formats

Personal Care & Skincare

Repeat-purchase skincare, body care, beauty and personal-care products.

Areas we're investigating

Packaging • Product formats • Retail presentation • Sourcing • Supply

Household & Cleaning

Frequently purchased household and cleaning products.

Areas we're investigating

Packaging • Storage • Usability • Transport • Range gaps

Health & Wellness Consumables

Everyday consumer wellness products where convenience, packaging and repeat purchase matter.

Areas we're investigating

Product formats • Packaging • Merchandising • Distribution

Retail Packaging & Merchandising

Physical solutions that help distributors and retailers present, handle and move products more efficiently.

Areas we're investigating

Shelf-ready packaging • Counter displays • Mixed packs • Promotional units

Outside these categories?

If you distribute a physical product and keep encountering the same commercial problem, we still want to hear about it.

Discuss a Distribution Problem

Problems We Want to Understand

What has your business learned to live with?

Some distribution problems become so familiar that teams stop questioning them. They create workarounds, absorb the cost and keep moving. Those are exactly the problems we want to understand.

Product & Packaging

  • Products arriving damaged
  • Packaging that wastes warehouse space
  • Carton sizes that don’t match how customers order
  • Stock that has to be repacked before it goes out
  • Pack formats retailers keep asking to change
  • The manufacturer’s carton doesn’t suit the way our customers order.

Warehouse & Handling

  • Products that are awkward to pick or move
  • Cartons that don’t stack efficiently
  • Stock taking up more space than it should
  • Repetitive repacking or relabelling
  • Staff handling the same stock more than once
  • Makeshift processes because the equipment doesn’t suit the task

Transport & Protection

  • Stock regularly damaged in transit
  • Products affected by summer heat
  • Packaging that works in production but not through distribution
  • Fragile products creating repeat claims
  • Excessive protective packaging
  • Freight packaging adding cost and volume

Retail & Merchandising

  • Products retailers find difficult to display
  • Missing shelf-ready packaging
  • Retailers asking for counter displays suppliers don’t provide
  • Products needing too much unpacking at store level
  • Pack formats that work poorly in independent retail
  • Promotions that create extra handling for everyone

Range Gaps

  • Customers repeatedly asking for something suppliers don’t offer
  • Retailers requesting a different pack size
  • Demand for a format existing manufacturers won’t produce
  • Good opportunities blocked by high MOQ
  • Requests coming from several customers, not just one account
  • Customers keep asking us for it, but none of our suppliers make it.

Margin & Supply

  • Freight turning a profitable SKU into a weak one
  • MOQ tying up too much working capital
  • Excess stock caused by supplier pack sizes
  • Supplier responsiveness slowing opportunities down
  • Small orders becoming uneconomic to service
  • The margin looks fine until freight is added.

Sound familiar?

The most useful problems are often the ones a team has stopped questioning.

  • We always repack that before it leaves the warehouse.
  • Our retailers keep asking for something our suppliers don’t offer.
  • The supplier MOQ means we have to hold too much stock.
  • There must be a better way to do this, but nobody has had time to look into it.

Don’t see your problem here? That’s the point. Tell us what your business has learned to live with.

Tell Us What's Not Working
PartnerTOAPC Corporation — Thailand
CategoryAbrasives, sandpaper and coating products
TerritoryVictoria, Australia
C&S roleDistribution partner — not the brand owner
InvolvesSupply chain, logistics and local commercial development

Distribution Experience

We don't look at distribution only from the outside.

C&S manages an Australian distribution relationship with TOAPC Corporation, supporting supply chain, logistics and local commercial development for abrasives and coating products in Victoria.

That gives C&S practical exposure to supplier relationships, freight, stock, customer requirements and the realities of moving physical products through distribution.

View Our Distribution Experience

How C&S Works

You bring the problem. We investigate the solution.

01

Listen

Understand what is happening, where it happens and who experiences the problem.

02

Quantify

Determine how often it occurs and whether it creates labour, damaged stock, lost margin, customer complaints or missed sales.

03

Investigate

Benchmark existing products, supplier solutions, competing approaches and current workarounds.

04

Develop or Source

If a suitable product already exists, identify and qualify it. If current products do not solve the problem properly, define what needs to change.

05

Test

Use samples or prototypes to determine whether the proposed solution actually solves the original problem.

06

Commercialise

Qualify manufacturing, assess landed cost and determine whether a commercially viable supply pathway exists.

Not every problem should become a product.

If the economics do not make sense, we would rather discover that before anyone commits to unnecessary inventory.

How We Reduce Commercial Risk

A good idea still has to survive commercial reality.

Problem Evidence

We look for repeated problems rather than relying on enthusiasm or assumptions.

Supplier Qualification

Manufacturers are assessed beyond unit price.

Samples & Prototypes

Proposed solutions are tested against written requirements.

Compliance Documentation

Relevant documentation is reviewed before larger commercial commitments.

Freight & Landed Cost

A cheap product is irrelevant if logistics destroy the commercial case.

Commercial Gate

Weak opportunities should be stopped before unnecessary inventory is purchased.

See How We Qualify a Solution

Founder Led

One conversation. One accountable contact.

I'm Cody Yu, founder of C&S Product Sourcing. My work sits at the intersection of physical products, manufacturing, sourcing and distribution.

I work directly with businesses to understand recurring problems, investigate possible solutions and coordinate the people required to move viable opportunities forward.

When you contact C&S, you deal directly with me.

Tell Us the Problem
Cody Yu, founder of C&S Product Sourcing, examining a product sample

Notes from the Distribution Floor

How we think about products and supply

Economics

Why freight and volumetric weight quietly kill product margins

A cheap product can still lose money once it ships. How volumetric weight and freight-to-value decide whether a product is worth importing at all.

Read the note → Method

MOQ, samples and first orders: what to expect sourcing overseas

Minimum order quantities, sample costs and first-run realities — and how to de-risk them before committing capital.

Read the note → Method

The complaints are the brief

Why we never start with a blank page. The most reliable place to find a product worth building is the recurring complaint about one that already sells.

Read the note →
All Insights

What's the problem your team has stopped trying to fix?

Maybe it wastes ten minutes every order.

Maybe stock keeps getting damaged.

Maybe customers keep requesting something your suppliers cannot provide.

Maybe everyone has accepted a workaround because nobody has found a better solution.

You don't need to know what the product should be. Tell us what is happening.

Tell Us the Problem Talk Directly with Cody

15-minute initial conversation. No obligation.

Tell Us the Problem