Published: 16 July 2026

Energising a global drinks brand: How fulfilmentcrowd supports Carabao’s UK DTC growth

Supported in:

Support for promotions, product bundling and batch-controlled inventory
Strong fulfilment performance with consistent order and item volume growth
Consistent SLA performance for well-known global brand

11%

increase in items ordered (first 12 months vs. last 12 months)

15%

increase in total items per order

99.7%

SLA throughout whole of 2025

99.8%

SLA over 12 months (July ‘24 – July ‘25)

Introduction

Born in Thailand and now available in over 40 countries worldwide, Carabao is a globally recognised energy drinks brand.

In the UK, it’s one of the fastest-growing names in the industry, thanks to its colourful cans, bold energy drink flavours, isotonic sports range, standout promotional campaigns, and sports sponsorships.

Carabao partnered with us over three years ago to manage its DTC operations in the UK. Today, we handle everything from daily order fulfilment to promotional campaigns, with alcohol fulfilment support on the horizon as the brand prepares to launch its new product range.

DTC fulfilment

End-to-end fulfilment supporting Carabao's growing direct-to-consumer operation in the UK

Promotional fulfilment

Automated handling of high-volume campaigns, giveaways and promotional orders

Dynamic product bundling

Flexible assembly of mixed packs and variety bundles with real-time stock updates

Batch-controlled inventory

Full product traceability, FIFO stock rotation and recall readiness for consumable goods

Shopify integration

Real-time sync of orders, inventory and promotional data between Shopify and our fulfilment platform

Alcohol fulfilment

Licensed storage and distribution with age-verified delivery and compliance for Carabao's expanding drinks portfolio

Driving brand engagement via promotional campaigns and smart fulfilment

Carabao regularly runs spend-based promotions, often aligned with major football campaigns and club partnerships. Previous campaigns have included:

Free football shirts with qualifying purchases
VIP stadium or club experiences
Carabao Cup tickets, with the brand being the longest-running title sponsor of the EFL Cup, having sponsored the competition since 2017

Promotions are often high-volume and time-sensitive, but our fulfilment technology makes it simple to play our part.

Data handling: Carabao uses the Shopify app EG Auto Add to Cart Free Gift on the front-end to capture promotional data at checkout, which feeds directly into our fulfilment platform
Smart order processing: Our system recognises this promotional item (such as a raffle entry) as non-inventory lines, allowing us to store and manage this data without disrupting the order fulfilment process
Campaign and reporting support: We capture and securely pass promotional data back to Carabao, enabling external verification partners to manage prize draws and helping to power wider customer engagement campaigns

It’s not complicated – but only because of our systems. We’ve developed a way of recognising and processing promotional lines without causing fulfilment errors. That’s why the partnership works.

Kim Mills, Account Manager, fulfilmentcrowd

Bundling made simple: Flexible product assembly at speed

Carabao’s DTC model thrives on offering its customers variety packs and mixed bundles, giving buyers the chance to try different flavours in a single order.

On its eCommerce site, popular bundles include the Triple Pack, which offers the chance to select three flavours of choice in a 36-can pack. Whether the purchaser decides on 36 cans of Carabao’s Original flavour, or a mixed pack of Green Apple, Mixed Berry, and Mango Burst, our bundling support makes everything straightforward.

Dynamic SKU management: Each bundle has a unique SKU that’s linked to its component parts

Efficient picking: Our pick-and-pack teams work from optimised pick paths and live stock data to assemble mixed cases accurately and at speed

Real-time stock sync: Our Shopify integration ensures stock levels are always up to date, preventing oversells

For Carabao, this means no compromise between product variety and efficiency, which is vital in a market where customer experience and speed of delivery make all the difference.

Batch control for full visibility and compliance

When you work with consumable products, traceability and stock rotation are essential.

Carabao’s inventory is stored under ambient conditions at our UK fulfilment centres, with batch control in operation for every SKU.

Real-time visibility of all active batches, including expiry dates
FIFO (First In, First Out) logic, ensuring that older stock is always picked and shipped first
Product recall support, should it ever be required

This compliance-first setup not only protects consumers, but builds trust with a globally recognised brand operating in a highly competitive space.

Ready for the next chapter: Providing compliance-driven alcohol fulfilment support

Carabao is set to challenge the alcohol market by launching a lager and two vodka variants, with fulfilment to be facilitated through our fully licensed Matrix Point centre in Chorley.

The brand’s venture into alcohol has already seen great success: its lager and Sawasdee vodka winning a Great Taste Award, and its Khaohom vodka earning a Spirits Business Gold Award.

Carabao will distribute its lager and vodka through our site – which is certified for alcohol storage and distribution – enabling us to:

Receive, store, and distribute alcohol goods

Ensure secure, age-restricted deliveries via trusted couriers

Integrate alcohol SKUs into Carabao’s existing Shopify platform

By choosing fulfilmentcrowd for its alcohol fulfilment, Carabao has put its trust in a partner to distribute its latest product range to the same high standards as their energy drink operations.

The results

11% increase in items ordered in first 12 months versus last 12 months
15% increase in items per order
99.7% SLA in 2025
99.8% SLA over 12 months (July ‘24 – July ‘25)

fulfilmentcrowd has been a key player in supporting our direct-to-consumer growth in the UK. Their technology not only provides support for our promotional campaigns, but enables us to offer greater flexibility to our customers. As we expand into alcohol, we’re confident that fulfilmentcrowd’s compliance expertise and flexible infrastructure will help us scale this new sector with the same success.

John Luck, Chief Marketing Officer, Carabao