PetZone was Brazil's third-largest pet product importer by volume — but their bentonite litter operation was one of their worst-performing categories. High per-unit shipping cost, a 6% bag damage rate, and containers leaving China at 82% utilization were destroying margin on a product they were shifting 3 containers per month.
Rafael Costa, PetZone's Purchasing Manager, brought us the numbers from their existing bentonite litter supply chain in February 2023. On paper, the product was profitable. In practice, three structural inefficiencies were compounding to erode most of the margin.
PetZone was importing bentonite in branded 10kg retail bags — and then removing those bags from pallets at their São Paulo warehouse to repack into their own private label packaging for distribution. They were paying for retail-grade printing and packaging on a product they were immediately repackaging. Per-tonne packaging cost: USD 52. Per-tonne packaging waste: 100%.
PetZone's freight forwarder was loading 25 tonnes of product per 40HQ container using a standard retail-bag palletizing configuration. The 40HQ can carry 26.5 tonnes and 67.7m³ — they were leaving 1.5 tonnes and 6m³ of usable capacity in every container. At 3 containers per month, that was 4.5 tonnes of paid-for capacity they weren't using — every month.
The previous supplier's 10kg bags were a standard PE woven format with no corner protection or pallet stabilization. In transit from Qingdao to Santos (28 days) via Suez, approximately 6% of bags per container arrived with seal failures, punctures, or compression damage. PetZone was absorbing this as a cost of goods — averaging USD 1,800 in damaged product per container.
We proposed eliminating the root cause of each problem independently, then calculating the combined effect. Rafael's finance team modelled all three scenarios before approving the switch.
We proposed switching from 10kg retail bags to 1000kg FIBC ton bags with PE inner liner. This eliminated all retail packaging material, printing, and the wasted repackaging labour at PetZone's warehouse. FIBC bags are loaded directly to their filling line for private label packaging. Cost saving: USD 52/tonne packaging + USD 8/tonne labour = USD 60/tonne. Simultaneously, removing the retail bag format allowed each pallet to be stacked 15% higher — increasing the maximum container load from 25T to 30T.
We produced a formal Container Load Plan for PetZone's 40HQ bentonite shipments. FIBC ton bags on flat-bed pallet bases (eliminating pallet timber thickness), maximum safe stacking height calculated for bentonite's 950 kg/m³ density, and centre-of-gravity compliance confirmed for Santos port customs inspection. Result: 30 tonnes per 40HQ container vs 25 tonnes previously — a 20% increase in product loaded per container at the same freight rate. Utilization increased from 82% to 97%.
FIBC bags are inherently more robust than retail bags, but we added two additional measures: PE stretch wrap with anti-slip coating on every pallet layer, and polymer edge protectors on all four pallet corners. We also moved PetZone from FOB to CIF shipping, arranging marine cargo insurance through our volume agreement at 0.08% of cargo value — covering PetZone from factory gate to Santos port. The damage rate dropped from 6% to 0.2% in the first shipment and has not exceeded 0.3% since.
Rafael shared existing cost breakdown per container. We modelled all three optimization scenarios and presented a combined P&L showing per-tonne cost reduction from USD 155 to USD 89 — a USD 66/tonne saving. PetZone finance team approved switch in 5 days.
We shipped two FIBC ton bag samples (500kg each) via LCL to Santos for PetZone to test on their filling line. Discharge spout diameter and flow rate confirmed compatible with their existing equipment. Inner liner moisture test after transit: 9.3% — within spec.
Formal CLP produced and reviewed by PetZone's freight forwarder. Santos port pre-clearance documentation prepared. CIF freight and insurance rates confirmed — total freight + insurance: USD 2,315 per 40HQ (vs USD 2,200 FOB previously — a USD 115 increase that was more than offset by the 5T extra product per container).
30-tonne production run in FIBC format. Pre-shipment QC: COA issued, moisture 9.6%, weight certified per FIBC bag. Container loaded per CLP. Pre-load inspection confirmed 30.2T loaded (COA weight) and 97.1% volume utilization.
Container arrived Santos. Customs cleared in 6 hours (CLP documentation accepted first pass). Zero damaged bags. PetZone filling line processed the 30 FIBC bags in 4 hours. Rafael confirmed: "We put 5 more tonnes through our line from the same freight cost. That's the whole business case right there."
PetZone ran the optimized supply chain for 12 months before Rafael agreed to share the financial results with us for this case study. Here are the figures.
"We had been importing cat litter for seven years and never once thought to question whether retail bags were the right format for a repackaging operation. PreCat's team asked us one question: 'why are you paying for packaging you immediately throw away?' That one question was worth USD 197,000 to us in the first year."
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