Financial and strategic advisory for branded product companies. Per-SKU unit economics, pricing and channel strategy, demand planning, co-manufacturing economics and transaction support for brands selling through wholesale, distribution and direct-to-consumer.
Brands often grow revenue for two years without knowing which products carry the margin. The price list was set against a competitor’s menu rather than a cost build, and packaging, co-packing and compliance all sit inside one undifferentiated COGS line, so the channel that looks strongest on gross revenue can be the weakest once fees, discounts and shrinkage come out of it. When a lender or an acquirer asks for margin by product, the answer has to be built from scratch.
This practice builds that answer and keeps it current. We work the economics of branded product from the unit up: cost of goods assembled component by component, packaging priced per unit rather than estimated, co-manufacturing and distribution fees charged against the products that incur them, and margin reported by product and by channel. The same structure then drives the forecast, the capital plan and the diligence file.
Our work spans flower, prerolls, vapes, edibles and hemp-derived products in regulated cannabis, and extends to consumer and industrial product companies outside it, including distribution businesses where the question is margin mix across categories rather than a single brand. Engagements have covered new line launches, multi-state expansion sequencing, the choice between building manufacturing and going asset-light through a co-packer, reporting packages for boards and lenders, and execution on both sides of a transaction.
If you are pricing a line, planning an expansion or preparing for a sale and want the numbers underneath it tested, the conversation costs nothing and we will tell you plainly whether we are the right team for it.
Cost of goods built component by component: input material, packaging itemised to the tube, jar, label and bag, co-packing labour, compliance and lab testing, and the distribution fee per unit, so gross margin is known at the product level before a price list goes out.
MSRP, wholesale and distributor pricing set off the cost build rather than the competitor’s menu, with promotional discounting, samples and shrinkage carried where they fall, so each channel can be compared on what it earns after fees.
Forecasts built from the account base up: door universe, penetration, units per door per month, rep productivity and churn, with growth decay rather than a flat percentage. Ordering, inventory and input requirements follow from it.
The make-or-buy decision priced both ways. Owned manufacturing with capacity, utilisation ramp and yield, against an asset-light co-packer with toll fees, trade spend and slotting, measured on the same basis.
Gross margin by product, category and channel, tracked across periods so the trend is visible. Margin mix contribution rather than a blended number that hides a loss-making line.
Three-statement models with working capital on inventory, receivable and payable days, scenario and sensitivity grids on the drivers that move the answer, and integrity checks so the model survives someone else’s review.
The monthly and quarterly package a board or a lender can read: results by state and channel, sell-through velocity by product, the pricing waterfall from list to net to margin, and covenant and liquidity tracking.
Sell-side and buy-side execution for brands and distributors: positioning, diligence readiness, counter-party identification, and the margin and concentration analysis an acquirer will ask for.
What the business can finance and on what terms, sized against the plan — raise sizing, use of proceeds, dilution, and structures that fit a product company’s working capital cycle. We advise on structure; we do not lend or place capital.
A selection of engagement highlights, not an exhaustive list. Client names, project names and property addresses have been removed and regions generalised, consistent with our confidentiality agreements. Unit counts and dollar figures are order-of-magnitude, drawn from underlying models on file.
Devan founded Triple Beam Advisors and leads every practice the firm runs. Over his career he has underwritten and advised on transactions with an aggregate value exceeding $1 billion, spanning debt and equity across real estate, operating companies and specialised sectors, and has worked in US cannabis finance since 2018. Prior to founding the firm he was a Senior Analyst with the Fiore Group, covering private equity and venture capital investments across real estate, entertainment, energy, technology and retail. He is based in Los Angeles.
The first conversation is exploratory and confidential. We will tell you how we would approach it, and whether it needs us at all.