Undercover Snacks is not a typical snack brand. The East Hanover, New Jersey company built its following by doing things differently: chocolate quinoa crisps made from cleaner ingredients, bold packaging, and a talent for landing in unexpected places. Their product is part of the United Airlines in-flight snack program. They partnered with the Wicked movie for a limited Target collaboration. They have earned coverage in Forbes and PopSugar and built a customer base that genuinely seeks them out. In a crowded snack category, they have carved out something real.

That momentum caught Costco’s attention. When the retailer selected Undercover Snacks for a Northeast region MVM program, it was a significant validation of everything the brand had built. Landing a Costco MVM is the kind of milestone most emerging food brands spend years working toward. The volume is real, the exposure is meaningful, and for a brand with national ambitions, it is a direct path toward permanent nationwide distribution.

The challenge was one of speed and scale, not capability. Undercover Snacks had the product, the brand, and the retailer relationship. What they needed was a logistics infrastructure built for that volume, and they needed it fast. The required inventory far exceeded what their two New Jersey facilities could absorb. Their manufacturing line needed to keep running. Finished goods needed somewhere to go.

This is the story of how Port Jersey Logistics Network stepped in to execute that Costco fulfillment program, and what it took to move from zero to 3,200 pallets in a matter of weeks.

 

The Challenge: Scaling Costco Fulfillment Beyond In-House Capacity

Undercover Snacks operates two facilities in New Jersey: one dedicated to manufacturing and one serving as a fulfillment center. Both were running strong when the Costco MVM opportunity arrived. The manufacturing line could produce the volume Costco required, but only if finished goods kept moving off-site quickly. A brand growing this fast needed a logistics infrastructure that could match the pace, and they needed it immediately.

The product itself added specific requirements. Chocolate quinoa crisps need temperature-controlled storage to prevent the chocolate from melting during staging and transit. Standard public warehousing was not an option. The facility needed to hold a consistent 55 to 65 degrees throughout the entire program.

Costco compliance made the search more demanding still. The retailer has precise requirements for pallet configuration, labeling, and delivery scheduling. A single non-compliant pallet can be rejected at the dock. For a growing snack brand running its first MVM program, a compliance failure was not a recoverable situation.

 

 

“We needed a partner who could move as fast as we did. Port Jersey Logistics Network was ready from day one, and that made all the difference.” 
— Operations Manager, Undercover Snacks

 

 

The Solution: How Port Jersey Logistics Network Executed Costco Fulfillment at Scale

Port Jersey Logistics Network operates out of New Jersey, placing their facility roughly 30 to 35 minutes from Undercover Snacks’ East Hanover base. That proximity mattered from day one. The Undercover Snacks team visited the warehouse during the program, watched pallets being staged, and flagged issues before trucks left the dock. For a brand running its first nationwide club store program, that hands-on visibility provided important accountability at every step.

The PJL team ran all product through the air-conditioned section of their facility, maintaining the 55 to 65 degree environment the chocolate crisps required throughout staging and outbound handling. Speed of scale defined the engagement from the start. Port Jersey Logistics Network took the program from zero inventory to approximately 1,500 pallets quickly, eventually peaking at 3,200 pallets in-house. Over roughly four and a half months, the team turned through nearly 10,000 pallets for the Costco fulfillment program.

Retailer-specific expertise shaped how the operation ran day to day. Port Jersey Logistics Network maintains an inventory of Costco-approved CHEP pallets. When product arrived on non-compliant wood, the team transferred it before it went outbound. Costco picks up directly from the PJL facility, which simplified scheduling and removed the coordination risk of vendor-managed routing on a tight pickup calendar. Port Jersey Logistics Network, a member of the AWI Network, brought that retailer knowledge to a brand navigating this scale for the first time.

 

How Port Jersey Logistics Network Supported the Program:

• Temperature-Controlled Storage: Product held consistently at 55 to 65 degrees throughout staging and outbound handling, maintaining chocolate quality from receipt through Costco pickup
• QA and QC Inspection: Each pallet reviewed for ripped bags, improper wrapping, and mislabeling before outbound shipment
• Pallet Compliance: Non-compliant pallets transferred to Costco-approved CHEP wood before leaving the facility, eliminating rejection risk at the retailer’s dock
• Costco Customer Pickup Program: Costco carriers pick up directly from the PJL facility, simplifying scheduling and removing vendor-managed routing complexity
• Speed of Scale: Zero to 1,500 pallets quickly, peaking at 3,200 pallets in-house and turning nearly 10,000 pallets over approximately four and a half months

 

“The Port Jersey Logistics Network team understood exactly what was at stake with our Costco launch. They moved fast, stayed compliant, and handled far more volume than any of us expected without missing a beat.”
— Operations Manager, Undercover Snacks

 

The Results: Earning the Repeat Program

• Peak Inventory: 3,200 pallets in-house at program peak
• Total Throughput: Nearly 10,000 pallets turned over approximately four and a half months

The Undercover Snacks team sent Port Jersey Logistics Network a direct note following the program, calling the team “world-class in every respect” and crediting their responsiveness during a period of intensive QC rework that generated substantially more warehouse activity than originally projected. The operations team attributes the outcome to a partner who treated compliance as a shared priority, not a vendor obligation.

 

Why It Matters: Costco Fulfillment Demands Retailer-Specific Expertise

Earning a Costco MVM is not the finish line. It is the beginning of a compliance process that most growing food brands are not fully equipped to manage on their own. Most warehouses can store product. Far fewer understand the difference between CHEP pallets and non-compliant wood, or recognize that a single flagged pallet at the front of a truck can get the entire load turned away at the dock.

For growing food brands, the lesson is specific: when you land your first nationwide club store program, your 3PL needs prior experience with that retailer’s requirements. Not general fulfillment experience. Retailer-specific experience. The details that matter to Costco are different from those that matter to any other retail channel, and a partner who has run Costco fulfillment programs before will catch problems before they become chargebacks or vendor flags.

This case also illustrates what a strong operational match looks like beyond compliance: geographic proximity that enables hands-on oversight, temperature-controlled infrastructure suited to the product, and the capacity to scale rapidly without disrupting the manufacturer’s production schedule. When those elements come together through proper partner selection, a 3PL becomes the foundation a growing brand needs to earn the repeat program and, eventually, the path to national distribution.

 

Contact AWI for Expert Guidance

If this case study raised questions about how to find a 3PL with the retailer-specific expertise your next Costco fulfillment program requires, reach out to Associated Warehouses to start the conversation. Whether you are preparing for your first nationwide club store program, evaluating 3PL partners for a temperature-sensitive product, or building a logistics network that can scale with your retail ambitions, we connect manufacturers with vetted partners who have done this before. The service is free for manufacturers.