THE RELATIONSHIP
FROM TWO MOMS' KITCHEN TO THE LARGEST FERMENTED BEVERAGE MANUFACTURER IN NORTH AMERICA
FedUp Foods has been in business since 2008, when it started as a boutique kombucha brand founded by two moms making kombucha in their home kitchens. Since then, the company has grown into a functional beverage manufacturer and the largest fermented beverage manufacturer in North America.
Today, FedUp Foods partners with retailers to build and scale private label functional beverage portfolios, working with the top grocery chains in the country to develop products like kombucha, prebiotic soda, energy drinks, and cold brew coffee, while expanding into new categories such as hydrating electrolytes and protein soda. The mission is simple: make delicious, better-for-you beverages more accessible through private label.
“Ultimately, our mission is to make delicious, better-for-you beverages more accessible through private label.” Holly Feathers, Associate Marketing Manager, FedUp Foods
That growth has been fueled by timing and alignment with where the market is headed. Consumer demand for functional beverages, drinks that support energy or gut health, has surged, and private label has evolved from a value-driven trade-down option into a category increasingly associated with innovation and trust. FedUp Foods sits at the intersection of both trends, backed by long-standing supplier relationships built on sustainable sourcing, organic ingredients, and strict quality and safety standards.
THE CHALLENGE
RAPID GROWTH WITH NO ROOM FOR RIGID PLANS
As FedUp Foods scaled production and expanded into new markets, its logistics operation needed to keep pace. The company was growing quickly enough that the operations in place today would need to support roughly double the capacity within a year or two, with distribution already expanding to include Charlotte, North Carolina, and future plans to move into the Midwest.
Before partnering with Covenant, the FedUp Foods team was making plans that changed every day, without the structure needed to keep up with a growing organization. New facilities, shifting production locations, and freight volumes that changed week to week meant the company needed a logistics partner that could scale and adapt right alongside it.
“We always were making plans that changed every day. We never had structure in the decisions that we were making. Being able to come to y’all and say, hey, we need something that is flexible, something that will grow with us — the team is really great.” Jonathan Milkovich, Logistics and Distribution Supervisor, FedUp Foods
THE SOLUTION
A HANDS-ON PARTNER BUILT AROUND FLEXIBILITY
Covenant serves as FedUp Foods’ logistics partner, embedding directly into day-to-day operations rather than simply moving freight from point A to point B.
“One of the first things was just the hands-on approach. Y’all were out here with us in Marshall… people were onsite, people were talking with us, working with us, saying, okay, this is what y’all are currently doing, this is what y’all could be doing, and this is what we could do for y’all.” Jonathan Milkovich, Logistics and Distribution Supervisor, FedUp Foods
THE RESULTS
A LOGISTICS PARTNER THAT THINKS LIKE AN OWNER
Since bringing Covenant on as its logistics partner, FedUp Foods has been able to hand off day-to-day freight complexity and focus its internal team on growth.
• Compliance Handled, Not Worried About: Safety and regulatory compliance is managed by Covenant, so the FedUp Foods team no longer has to think through weight or product determinations on a day-to-day basis.
• Local Optimization Cuts Costs: Covenant’s local partner network turns short hauls, like a 20-mile loop, that used to get expensive fast into efficient, cost-saving routes.
• Compounding Time Savings at Scale: Small daily efficiency gains add up across an operation running 320 days a year into meaningful time and cost savings.
• Fresh Eyes on Daily Operations: Having Covenant’s team onsite brought an outside perspective, helping surface fixes and options that were hard to see from inside day-to-day operations.
• A Growth Partner for What’s Next: Ongoing conversations with the Covenant team about adding trucks to the fleet and standing up new lanes have, in FedUp Foods’ words, resulted in cost savings across the board.
“I get to have a lot of conversations with the Covenant team about, hey, I’ve got this crazy idea this week… Really and truly, everything that we’ve done with y’all so far has been a cost savings at the end of the day.” Jonathan Milkovich, Logistics and Distribution Supervisor, FedUp Foods
WHY COVENANT
FLEXIBILITY, RESPONSIVENESS, AND A HANDS-ON CULTURE
What sets Covenant apart for FedUp Foods is the combination of responsiveness and genuine partnership. It's a team that anticipates needs before they're even fully articulated, is willing to sit onsite and learn a customer's operation from the ground up, and adapts as that customer's facilities, volumes, and markets evolve.
As FedUp Foods continues to grow, adding capacity, entering new markets, and expanding its fleet footprint, Covenant is positioned as the logistics partner that grows alongside it.
“The biggest thing is just understand the market. Everyone in logistics knows that there are 20,000 people out there trying to do the same job, and the perfect partner does stand out. I do truly think that we made a great decision going with Covenant, and the experience that we’ve had so far has been a great one.” Jonathan Milkovich, Logistics and Distribution Supervisor, FedUp Foods
