Operator Spotlight: Keith Frymark @ Seed Health

January 24, 2025
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How did you get into operations and supply chain management?

I credit my one of my friends, who encouraged me to explore operations. While we were living together in China, I got an opportunity to work for a Chinese food and beverage company, dealing with imports from Europe, clearing customs, and managing cold chain logistics for ice cream and frozen foods. Watching how goods moved from point A to point B was fascinating.

When I came back to the U.S., I leveraged that experience to dive into consumer goods. We handled Belgian beer, chocolate, and ice cream, selling to five-star hotels, buffets, and retail stores. It was traditional retail — there were no subscription DTC platforms — but it gave me a great foundation in consumer packaged goods and opened the doors to where I am today.

What do most people get wrong about operations at consumer brands?

I think most brands think about operations too late. Friends start a company, someone becomes the COO, and they’re just told to run operations without really understanding it. There’s this classic fallacy of, “we’ll just be inefficient until we can afford to be efficient.” And that leads to costly mistakes—things like air freighting when you could be ocean freighting, not optimizing lead times, or overspending on packaging and manufacturing.

Then, after four or five years, they bring in someone like me to clean it up. My experience has ranged from being ops hire #1 to coming into brands that have been around for years and fixing what’s broken. My perspective having seen both scenarios and everything between is, why not set up efficient systems from the start?

What’s the hardest thing about scaling at Seed?

Two things come to mind. First, making the complex simple. We manage raw materials, packaging, co-manufacturing, and co-packaging for a few SKUs, but it’s a lot to keep track of. I always reference Google Maps — it gives you multiple routes to the same destination. I do the same thing with supply chains: map out how everything comes together and look for shortcuts, like sourcing domestically or cutting out a supplier to save on duties. The hardest part is slowing down enough to think through these changes while moving quickly day-to-day.

Second, transitioning from DTC to omni-channel has been a challenge. It’s a completely different world — retail has strict timelines, like Target resets in March. That means you need to work backwards and have products in their distribution centers six weeks before. Hiring people who understand these nuances is key.

How do you see operations evolving with AI?

I think AI will have a huge impact, especially with platforms like Mandrel that focus on data aggregation and automation. Right now, everything is so fragmented—PDFs in one place, emails in another, and WhatsApp messages elsewhere. AI can pull all of that together, organize it, and present it in a way that saves time and reduces errors.

With AI, you won’t need huge teams anymore. Someone can set up the logistics, and AI can handle things like document management and reporting. It’s about running leaner teams while still being accurate and efficient. That’s where I see AI taking operations.

Are there other trends you’re keeping tabs on?

Definitely. I get so many emails about new technology platforms, and I think the companies that know how to identify and leverage the best tools will have an edge. Within the tech stack itself, there are gems in these platforms — tools that can replace manual work with automation.

At the same time, there’s a broader trend toward running lean teams. Operations doesn’t need to be massive. You can have someone manage logistics while platforms handle everything from document management to reporting. The key is being strategic about what technology you adopt and making it work for you.

What advice would you give to someone starting in operations?

The thing that has made me successful is that I’ve worked in almost every part of supply chain operations — sourcing, procurement, demand planning, ERP implementations, factory audits, you name it. Too many people specialize in just one thing, like domestic logistics, and even within that FTL, and they don’t know anything about warehousing and fulfillment or learn about the bigger picture beyond that. If you can broaden your knowledge — learn about procurement, international logistics, demand planning, fulfillment — you’ll be better at hiring, managing, and coaching your teams. The more you understand the end-to-end supply chain, the more effective you’ll be.

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