Rawscals · Supplier sourcing

Which warehouse we should use

Four cold chain 3PLs have quoted. Two gave complete rate cards, one is missing its postage, one is verbal only. This is where they land at 200 orders a month, all in.

Prepared 14 August 2026 For James Basis 200 orders a month, 2 packs of 5 lb per order Revenue assumed about $20,000 a month
Anything in blue italics is our own calculation. Everything else is a figure the supplier put in writing.

The short version

Craveable using both of its warehouses is the cheapest complete option, at about $9,864 a month. Cold Chain is $10,640. The gap is roughly $776 a month, about $9,300 a year.

Craveable is not the cheapest rate card. Cold Chain beats it on almost every unit price. It loses anyway, because it only has an Illinois warehouse, and from Illinois it costs $37.79 to reach California and $63.63 to reach Washington. Those are our two best markets. A cheaper rate card in the wrong place loses to a dearer one in the right place.

The catch: the cheapest option needs two warehouse locations, which you ruled out to keep our stock low. My recommendation is to start with Sacramento only and add Chicago once real orders show where customers actually are.

All in cost per month

Packing, dry ice, postage, storage, handling, inbound freight and monthly fees. These are gross costs, before anything the customer pays toward shipping. Every figure here is ours, worked out from their unit rates. No supplier has quoted a monthly total.

Craveable, both warehousesSacramento and Chicago
$9,86449% of revenue
Cold Chain 3PLWheeling, Illinois
$10,64053% of revenue
Craveable, Sacramento onlyon a national order mix
$11,00055% of revenue
Hall Street 3PLBrooklyn only
$11,155$9,405 to $12,905
RLS LogisticsSalt Lake City
Cannot be totalled
What the customer pays back. Nothing above nets off the shipping we charge the customer. At $15 flat, 200 orders returns $3,000 a month, so Craveable comes down to about $6,864 net and Cold Chain to $7,640. The gap between them does not move, because the same $3,000 comes off both. $15 is an assumption, not a decision. See question 2 below.
Why RLS has no total. Their $1,145 a month is our own figure from the unit rates Janine gave on a call, and it covers order processing, picking, handling and storage only. It leaves out the box, the dry ice and the postage, which on the other quotes come to roughly $38 of every $43 an order. The number looks far cheaper than it is.

The rate cards side by side

Per pallet, per order and per month, as each supplier states them.
  CraveableSacramento + Chicago Cold Chain 3PLWheeling, Illinois Hall StreetBrooklyn, New York RLS LogisticsSalt Lake City + New Jersey
Where they stand Front runner Do not sign yet Passed, location Blocked, minimum
What we have in writing Full rate card and proposal, 7 Aug Full rate card and a 49 state postage table, 6 Aug Full rate card, 3 Augpostage not included Nothing. Verbal on a call only
Packing per order $24.77 2 day $18.47 2 day $4.75 plus materials $4.90 plus $0.21 an item
Dry ice per pound $1.02 $0.59 $0.90from $4.50 per 5 lb block Not quoted
Frozen storage per pallet $75 a month $60 a month $85 a month, rising to $127.50 after 6 months About $36 a monthfrom $8.36 a week
Handling in or out $25 a pallet $19 a pallet $25 plus $35 lumper $22.50 a pallet
Fixed monthly fees $199 per warehouse, so $398 for two $250 $750four separate lines added up None
Setup, one time $395 $300 $1,500 None
Minimum 50 orders a monthwe do 200 None stated $2,000 a month 250 orders a weekwe do about 50
Postage supplied? A range only: $14 to $18 west, $16 to $22 east Yes, a full 49 state table No No
Contract term 12 months Not stated Not stated Not stated
Liability if a load is lost Insurance included, no limit stated Not stated $0.50 a pound, so $550 on a pallet we value at about $4,000 Not stated
Distance to our factory Minutes. Inbound about $15said on a call, never in writing Sacramento to Illinois, $705 a shipment Coast to coast Sacramento to Utah, not yet quoted
All in, per month $9,864 $10,640 $9,405 to $12,905 Cannot be totalled

What is still missing from each

Craveable

  • Which box. Darren quoted "the same large box". Our model uses the medium. The difference is $750 a month and it decides this comparison.
  • Postage as a table, not a $16 to $22 range. The two ends are $1,200 a month apart.
  • The Chicago warehouse address, so inbound freight can be quoted properly.
  • Exit terms on the 12 month agreement, and whether any rate rises during it.

Cold Chain 3PL

  • They sent a contract to sign. It is built on the old product spec, a 1 lb pouch and a factory in Indiana, neither of which is right.
  • The company name on their file may be wrong.
  • Contract length, exit terms and liability are all unknown.
  • Their geography is the real problem, not their pricing.

Hall Street

  • Brooklyn only. From there most orders would have to fly, which we cannot afford.
  • No postage on the quote at all.
  • Liability is $0.50 a pound, the lowest of anyone.
  • Best documented rate card we have received, in the wrong city.

RLS Logistics

  • Their minimum is 250 orders a week. We are at about 50.
  • Janine took a spend based minimum to her team. That answer was due last week and has not come.
  • No postage, no dry ice and no packaging pricing.
  • Cheapest unit rates anyone has offered, so worth keeping alive.

What I need from you

Are you open to a second warehouse later?

Not now. My plan is Sacramento only to start, which keeps our stock in one place as you wanted. But the cheapest setup adds Chicago once we can see where customers are, and I would rather negotiate the agreement now with that in mind than reopen it in six months.

What do we charge the customer for shipping?

This is the bigger number, and picking a warehouse does not solve it. Packing plus postage comes to about $42.72 an order. We Feed Raw charges $15 flat and Maev charges $14.99, so at $15 we would absorb roughly $5,500 a month. That is the same $3,000 of customer shipping already netted off above, set against the packing and postage it has to cover. Either the shipping price goes up or the order value does.

Nothing gets signed until the box size is confirmed.

One box size larger costs $750 a month and would put Craveable and Cold Chain level. Two packaging vendors are working on it this week. Craveable's own quote says their box sizing is an estimate, so this is their caveat as much as ours.