Sure, you take a look at growing supplement demand and try to dabble in the industry yourself, but along the way, your realization hits that while starting is not difficult, it’s the scaling that poses the real challenge.
Most new players who enter this market face a common problem: packaging. Setting up your own packaging line is one hell of an expensive affair and needs millions of dollars as an upfront investment. You need to splurge on workers, machinery, compliance, and lots of other exhausting and expensive tasks.
While already established brands can do this easily, for new entrepreneurs, it gets quite challenging. Don’t worry, though, because there are now high-quality yet affordable contract packaging services available in the market.
TrustWorks is one such firm that’s leading the charge, having multiple large-scale brands as its clients. This article will cover how using contract packaging can help brands to grow fast and save money at the same time.
No Upfront Huge Investment Barrier
One in-depth browse at the packaging industry and you’ll realize how expensive this equipment is. Even a basic bottle-filling machine costs around $50,000 to $100,000, and if you are looking at fully automated systems that can handle different kinds of products, the costs may go as high as 3 million.
Plus, you’ll also need capping machines, quality control tools, and precise labeling equipment. A clean, compliant, and FDA guideline-adhering facility is also necessary for sustained operations. Most budding brands don’t have this kind of cash commitment lying around, and investors are also hesitant at the early stages.
That’s why contract packaging makes more sense. Here you only pay the packaging company for your specific batch size; for example, if you make 3000 bottles, you pay for that only. You can also scale up if and when demand goes up.
These packaging companies have economies of scale on their side, which is why they can offer you services at an affordable price, as their machines run 24/7 for hundreds of clients. This allows you to better focus on marketing, sales team development, logistics, and forming relations with sales outlets.
Flexible & Scalable
Supplement sales fluctuate a lot depending on the season. For example, during winter, demand for vitamin D, zinc, and elderberry supplements shoots up a lot, whereas in summer, people increase their electrolyte and probiotic intake.
Now, depending on the season and occasion, your packaging will also need to evolve. In the festive season, you may go with an extra quantity for the same size and more attractive packaging.
A reputable packaging partner will be able to accommodate all such requests quickly. Whereas if you do it on your own, there might be delays and other production hurdles. Since contract packagers handle multiple brands, they can quickly add or subtract production time for you based on your seasonal requirements.
A product may suddenly take off after a successful influencer collab, and the contact packaging company will be able to scale up production within weeks instead of months. Also, you get to test new products, label designs, color schemes, and messaging by putting orders for small batches within the same ongoing contracts. If it sells well, scale up; if it doesn’t, pull the plug.
Compliance Hurdle
Contract packaging companies have to follow strict compliance with the respective regulatory authority. For example, in the case of the supplement industry, FDA and GMP certifications are a must.
This translates to keeping detailed records, testing products at every stage, not making false bold claims on the label, and making sure everything is made in a clean environment. Doing this on your own from scratch is quite difficult, and messing up can lead to fines, product recalls, and massive legal battles.
Contract packers have knowledge about all the ins and outs of the industry; they are fully prepared to overcome such challenges without any hassle from authorities. They have standard procedures in place, they go through regular inspections, and they know how to label your product properly, which prevents you from making problematic health claims.
Every lot is tracked so that if there are any issues, affected bottles can be easily stopped and recalled. Plus, they have all the necessary certifications, like NSF, Organic Ingredient, OSHA, ISO, GMP and FDA.
What to check before signing a contract with a Contract Packager?
On paper, every contract packager will paint a rosy picture. So before you sign the deal, check some important things. Ask them their minimum order quantity, as some of them only work with large clients. Some don’t even consider you if the minimum order quantity is below 50k units.
Next, ask them for a factory tour, meet the workers who’ll be working on production lines, check cleaning facilities and environment, see if the equipment is the latest and well-maintained, and ask them to demonstrate their testing protocol at every stage. The location of the contract packaging partner is also very important, especially if you want to target multiple states.
Plus, the distance of the packaging facility from targeted stores or e-commerce warehouses also determines shipping and logistics expenses. Ask about their lead time and how far in advance you’ll need to book batches for timely delivery.
If possible, get in touch with some of their clients and ask them for their experience regarding the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of the co-packaging partner. Also, clear all costs upfront and get the contracts verified by good lawyers.
Summing It Up
A good quality contract packaging service provider can help your brands to scale efficiently. Not only will this save costs in the long run, but it will also result in better and higher-quality products at the right price.
You can better focus your resources on other parts of the business while a co-packaging partner handles the production and labeling parts. Most co-packaging companies offer end-to-end solutions these days; they handle everything from scratch to the final product on the shelf.
TrustWorks is one such reliable supplement co-packaging company in the USA, so consider their services if you want to scale up fast.