Most inventory headaches aren't a warehouse problem. They're a cash timing problem. You pay the co-man, ingredients, packaging, freight, and storage before retailers and Amazon pay you back. Get the mix wrong and you stock out of A SKUs, or you trap cash in slow movers while the P&L still looks fine.
Inventory Management in CPG: Grow Without Killing Cash
Before you scale doors or Amazon, pressure-test where capital sits. Put money into the SKUs that matter, set DIO and turns targets you can live with, use safety stock without a blanket buffer, and map cash cycles across DTC, Amazon, and wholesale.
Takeaways
Segment SKUs (ABC). A SKUs get higher safety stock and tighter monitoring. C SKUs can tolerate more stockout risk or lower reorder frequency. Treating every SKU the same is how working capital balloons.
Tie inventory to cash, not feelings. Many brands get uncomfortable when inventory creeps toward about 90 to 120 days, and look for roughly 4x to 8x annual turns. Pick a target that matches your cash reality.
Map the cycle: order, production, freight, warehouse, sale, cash. Safety stock belongs where demand or channel rules are noisy (retail, Amazon restock limits, seasonality), not as a flat buffer on every item.
Channel cash cycles differ. DTC is fast. Amazon pays on a short lag with storage fees. Wholesale often means 60 to 90 day terms plus deductions. Growth amplifies the gap between cash out and cash in.
Read the full piece: Inventory Management in CPG
Inventory gate checklist
Which SKUs are truly A, and are they protected first?
What DIO or turns target would still leave you cash-comfortable into the next PO?
Where does cash leave (co-man, freight, deposits) vs when each channel actually pays?
Market pulse
Spirits / NAB platform M&A: Sazerac launched a board-supported voluntary cash takeover for Germany's Berentzen at €5.55/share (~68% premium to the unaffected 3-month VWAP before Sep 16), aiming to close in Q4 2026 after minimum acceptance. Useful buy-side template for beverage CFOs watching strategic serial buyers and European platform builds. Reuters · EQS / Berentzen
Beauty supply-side capital: Macquarie Asset Management agreed to buy Affirma's stakes in Korean ODMs Hwasung Cosmetic and NowCos (~₩300B / ~$216M reported). Manufacturing capacity and global brand clients are the other half of beauty scale-ups when inventory and private-label stacks get priced. Seoul Economic Daily
Client spotlight: Roseade
Proud of our partners at Roseade. They're a nominee in USA TODAY's 10BEST Readers' Choice Awards for Best Canned Cocktail Company, with voting open through October 12 at noon ET. Lower-ABV lemonade spritzer roots (original plus pineapple and strawberry), tart over sweet. Worth a look if you play in RTD or readers'-choice retail buzz.
Client spotlight: Gardencup
Proud of our partners at Gardencup. Their October 2 menu drop brings soup back for fall (White Chicken Chili, Butternut Squash Soup, Classic Beef Chili), two hearty fall cups, and a brand-new Bites category for snacking and dessert (Cornbread, Brownie, Pumpkin Pecan Cake). Pasta in August, bowls in September, warm cups now. Worth a look if you sell ready-to-eat or run weekly SKU refreshes into peak.
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