Founder stopped travelling to source
Freeing time to focus on brand growth.
Case study•Beauty & Personal Care
FELIPE & SONS
From 2 to 15 grooming products. Without hiring a procurement team.
How Felipe & Sons transformed founder-led sourcing trips into a scalable operation, growing its retail portfolio 7.5× in just three years.
15Products launched
20–30%Lower procurement cost
3Years of partnership
0Internal procurement hires
01·The problem
Sourcing meant either travel or markup—neither scaled.
Felipe & Sons is a premium Barberdashery, a Philippines-based brand merging traditional barbering with men's lifestyle retail.
Products serve two channels:
- professional use by their barbers in-chair
- retail sales through shops and retail partners
As retail demand grew, so did the sourcing challenge: how could they build premium cosmetics without becoming a full manufacturer themselves?
The portfolio
As Felipe & Sons expanded, the sourcing model that once worked began holding the business back. Founder-led trips, intermediary markups, limited formulation flexibility, and the prospect of an in-house procurement team became four obstacles to scaling.
“In the past, sourcing new products often meant traveling abroad and investing significant time and resources.
02·Solution
Four sourcing constraints. Four things that changed.
Every pain point Paulo described mapped to a specific shift in how Felipe & Sons operates today. Sourcy became a functional extension of their procurement and R&D teams.
Paulo had to travel across Asia to meet suppliers, review samples, and negotiate in person for every new product.
Sourcy became the team that goes. Paulo hasn't needed to travel abroad to source products in years.
Buying through local distributors added 20–30% intermediary markups to every unit.
Direct manufacturer sourcing removed unnecessary markups and improved margins.
Local suppliers offered generic formulations with limited customization.
Sourcy coordinated custom formulations, including three rounds of sampling to perfect scent, texture, and performance.
Scaling meant building an expensive procurement and R&D team from scratch.
Sourcy operates as an extension of Felipe & Sons' procurement and product-development teams.
“More than just a supplier, Sourcy has become an extension of our procurement and R&D teams, allowing us to expand our retail offering from just two products to fifteen over the last three years.
03 · Results
A 7.5× portfolio, without a procurement team.
Grew 7.5× over three years
Versus local supplier markups
Production and delivery included
Sourcy operates as a team extension
Alternative suppliers available
What this meant
Faster product development
Product-development cycles became significantly shorter.
Custom formulations
Created products competitors could not easily copy.
Lower sourcing costs
Direct manufacturer access removed unnecessary markups.
Supplier diversification
Vetted options reduced single-supplier dependency.
“For any business looking for a dependable partner that genuinely contributes to innovation and scale, I can wholeheartedly recommend Sourcy.
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