Gainsay Consulting: big-company buying power, startup speed
We strengthen every link from ingredient to shelf
Where procurement protects your margin and your listings.
MCIPS (Chartered) · MBA · BRC Lead Assessor · London · Dubai · Hong Kong
Your supply chain · five links we strengthen
Ingredients
- Should-costing
- Better sourcing
Packaging
- Smarter specs
- EPR compliance
Co-packer
- Capacity audits
- Dual sourcing
Logistics
- Service levels
- Lower freight cost
Retail shelf
- Listing-ready supply
- ESG evidence
Our proposal to you
We propose to give your brand big-company buying power at startup speed: more gross margin, a supply chain that survives your next listing, and the sustainability evidence your customers now demand.
You built a product people love. The next stage is where many food brands stumble. Volume steps up, a national listing lands, investors ask about margin, and the founder is still doing the buying between everything else. Gainsay Consulting steps in at exactly that point.
- What we do
- Procurement and supply chain innovation for food and drink startups, from a two-week Health Check to a fractional Head of Procurement.
- What you gain
- Better margins, fewer supply shocks, faster product development through your suppliers, and retailer-ready ESG data.
- How we work
- Fixed prices, clear scope, and a first engagement designed to pay for itself.
- Your first step
- A 30-minute call and a Supply Chain Health Check.
The challenge you are facing
Most growing food brands hit the same wall: success arrives faster than the supply chain behind it. If any of these sound familiar, this proposal is for you.
Your margin is shrinking
Ingredient, packaging and energy costs keep rising, and you have little leverage with suppliers.
Investors are asking harder questions
They want to see a gross margin that holds up and a credible plan to improve it.
A big listing feels as risky as it is exciting
Retail service levels, promotional surges and fines expose any weak co-packer, packaging supplier or single-source ingredient.
Customers want sustainability proof
Retailers and foodservice buyers now ask for carbon data, packaging compliance and ethical sourcing evidence.
You are still the buyer
You need senior procurement judgement, but not a full-time hire yet.
How we help you
We treat procurement as a growth function, not a cost centre. Peter Drucker said a business has two core functions, marketing and innovation. Procurement is the partner that makes both possible, and that is how we work with you.
Margin you can show investors
More gross margin without changing your recipe
- Should-costing
- Supplier renegotiation
- Packaging specification changes
Supply that survives success
Your big listing does not become the thing that breaks you
- Co-packer capacity audits
- Dual sourcing
- Service-level planning
Innovation through suppliers
Faster new products and better ingredients
- Supplier-led product development
- Ingredient alternatives
- Quicker sampling
Sustainability buyers ask for
Pass retailer ESG questionnaires first time
- Scope 3 baseline
- Packaging compliance
- Ethical sourcing audits
Senior judgement at startup pace
A Head of Procurement for a few days a month
- Hands-on delivery
- Fixed prices
We will challenge the comfortable assumptions — "we are too small to negotiate" or "our co-packer handles sourcing". Small brands have more leverage than they think when they buy with rigour.
“A business has two core functions: marketing and innovation. Procurement is the partner that makes both possible.”
Packages and investment
Choose the package that fits where you are today, then step up only when it pays. Every price is fixed, so you can budget and approve quickly.
Supply Chain Health Check
2 weeks
Review of your spend and suppliers, a risk map, and your top 5 savings and risk actions
£2,500 – £4,000
Margin Sprint
6 to 8 weeks
Should-cost models and renegotiation of your top 3 to 5 inputs (ingredients, packaging, co-packer fees)
£8,000 – £15,000
Retail-Ready Supply Chain
4 to 6 weeks
Co-packer audit, dual-sourcing plan, and a capacity and service-level plan for your new listing
£6,000 – £12,000
Founder-friendly terms
Pay from savings
The Margin Sprint can be priced on a gain-share basis, so our fee tracks the results we deliver.
Health Check credit
The full Health Check fee is credited against any follow-on project you sign within 30 days.
Portfolio rate
A reduced Health Check price for companies backed by our partner investors and accelerators.
How we work together
Every engagement follows the same four steps, so you always know what happens next.
Discovery call
Free, 30 minutes. We learn about your brand, your suppliers and your next growth milestone.
Health Check
Two weeks. We review your spend, suppliers and risks, and hand you a prioritised action plan.
Delivery
We run the project you choose, side by side with your team, negotiating and fixing rather than just advising.
Ongoing partnership
Optional. As your fractional Head of Procurement, we keep margin, supply and sustainability on track as you grow.
Your first 90 days
Results inside 90 days, in three phases — by day 90 you have a supply chain you can explain to your board, investors and retail buyers.
Phase one
Health Check underway — spend, suppliers and risks mapped
Phase two
Action plan agreed — checkpoint one
Phase three
Improvements signed off — checkpoint two
Wired differently. Connecting the dots.
Why Gainsay Consulting
You get senior, hands-on experience from global foodservice and specialist food importing, applied with the pace and pragmatism a startup needs.
- Corporate-grade buying
- Experience managing a large, multi-category food and direct-buying portfolio and sustainable supply chain for a global foodservice brand.
- Specialist food know-how
- A long career at a specialist food importer, sourcing premium and specialty products internationally.
- Recognised credentials
- MCIPS (Chartered), MBA, MCIM, Certified Agile & Sustainability Practitioner, BRC Lead Assessor, Lean Six Sigma and Disciplined Agile Scrum Master.
- International reach
- Offices in London, Dubai and Hong Kong, with sourcing and negotiation in English, Mandarin, Arabic, French and German.