Pholicious

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PhoLicious Scales to Support Rapid Growth Without Overcommitting Fixed Labor

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PhoLicious is a food manufacturer and distributor founded by Anh and Joseph Trousdale. The company was built around a simple idea: make authentic Vietnamese pho accessible without sacrificing quality.

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Traditional pho takes more than ten hours to prepare. For most consumers, that makes it impractical. After trying products in local markets that claimed to be authentic but fell short, Anh turned to her family’s recipes to create a version that could deliver both convenience and authenticity at scale.

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PhoLicious launched on Amazon in May 2021. Demand followed quickly, opening the door to larger opportunities. After winning QVC’s The Big Find, PhoLicious gained national exposure. Shortly after, the company was accepted into Walmart Open Call and secured interest from both Walmart and Sam’s Club.

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At that point, the challenge changed. Demand was no longer uncertain. The question became whether the business could execute at the level required by major retailers.

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A Growth Opportunity That Introduced Risk

Retail orders created immediate pressure on production. PhoLicious was asked to deliver more than 100 pallets within a short timeframe, all while operating out of a small facility with a limited team.

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At the time, the business was still run by its founders with minimal support. Meeting demand required scaling quickly, but doing so came with real risk.

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Hiring full-time employees would help fulfill the order, but it would also commit the business to ongoing payroll. For a company operating one order at a time, that decision could create financial strain if demand slowed.

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“We needed help. Yeah. So we started trying to hire people. And the balance too, like, okay, we need four more people. But then we gotta balance, do we have enough money to pay four people the whole time.”

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This was the inflection point. Taking on large orders required capacity, but building that capacity the wrong way could put the business at risk.

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Moving Away From Fixed Hiring

After being introduced to Veryable, PhoLicious took a different approach. Instead of hiring ahead of demand, they began using on-demand labor to match production needs as orders came in.

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Veryable also worked with the team on-site to improve layout and workflow. That operational support helped PhoLicious increase throughput without simply adding more people.

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“The staff that came out actually help us utilize labor better. So we actually ended up using less operators.”

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This shift allowed PhoLicious to think about labor as a variable input rather than a fixed commitment. Capacity could expand when needed and contract when demand slowed.

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Building an On-Demand Labor Pool

As production increased, PhoLicious developed a flexible labor pool of Operators who understood the process and could return as needed. That repeatability reduced onboarding time and improved reliability on the floor.

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Instead of maintaining excess labor to cover peak demand, PhoLicious could bring in the right number of people based on daily needs.

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“If I only need five people, I only bring in five people. I don't have to have people sweeping the floors just to give them a paycheck."

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This gave PhoLicious tighter control over labor spend as demand changed.

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Balancing Cost and Quality

Labor decisions directly impacted product quality. Understaffing meant rushing production. Overstaffing increased cost without improving output.

For a brand selling into major retailers, mistakes were not just operational issues. They carried long-term consequences.

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“Now you're making mistakes, missing stuff in the bowls. It goes out to the customers. Sam's Club, Walmart, HEB starts getting all these complaints. And guess what? Then we lose the contract.”

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By aligning labor to actual workload, PhoLicious avoided both extremes and maintained consistency in production.

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Scaling Without Fixed Cost Exposure

Today, PhoLicious operates with a labor model that allows it to take on new orders without committing to fixed payroll ahead of demand. As retail opportunities emerge, the business can increase capacity as needed while maintaining control over cost.

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“If we have a large order comes in, we can use Veryable to help us with that. So we don't have to worry so much about keeping everybody on a payroll until we get, you know, the next order.”

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Instead of hiring ahead of uncertain demand, PhoLicious adjusts labor daily based on actual production needs.

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What Changed

PhoLicious moved from reactive hiring decisions to a more flexible, demand-driven approach to labor:

• Labor aligns with actual orders, not forecasts
• Fixed cost exposure is reduced
• Quality is maintained during demand spikes
• Capacity can scale without long-term commitment

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