Any drink or food business must adhere to strict food safety regulations. From ideation to distribution, there are so many logistical factors that a beverage brand must juggle, whether it’s selecting the proper ingredients and raw material, managing supply chains, or running production processes.
For new and emerging beverage brands, there are a lot of competing concerns to manage. But by partnering with an experienced co-packer like Wildpack, you can save money and scale your business the right way.
But what does a co-packer bring to the table, and how much does a co-packer cost? Here’s what you can expect when you join forces with a leading beverage packing and production company.
#1 Access Top of the Line Equipment (At Moderate Prices)
Few small and midsized brands have the capital necessary to lease or own a canning facility, let alone everything else you need inside the building. Beyond the price of rent or a mortgage, you also have to factor in the necessary technologies involved throughout the canning process, such as:
- Automatic machineries like mixers and fillers
- Filtration systems
- Refrigeration systems
- Conveyor belts, rollers, and more
- Automated programs
To run a beverage-making facility, you also need to pay to hire, onboard, and train people with the expertise to operate the machinery. And you can’t forget the costs of maintenance and upkeep.
Along these same lines, expensive equipment and technology are necessary for standard beverage making. But what about if you want to create something new? As Bev Industry Magazine notes, innovation isn’t cheap:
“Companies have had to make significant capital investments in order to innovate… today, contract manufacturing provides access to capacity and the latest technology without the need for upfront investment and allows them to be more agile and obtain faster speed to market for new products.”
So, how much does a co-packer cost? Quite a lot less.
When you partner with a contract packager like Wildpack, you gain immediate access to a state-of-the-art canning facility and top-of-the-line equipment for various processes, including labeling, sleeving, mixing, coding, batching, packaging, and palleting. You can also gain access to our in-house R&D and ingredient sourcing team, which can significantly reduce development costs and the time it takes to bring a new product to market. And if you considered doing a pilot run, hiring a co-packer will make the process go a lot smoother.
#2 Partner With Certified Beverage Canners and Producers
Even if you have the facilities and equipment necessary to create a beverage line, you won’t be able to produce or sell until you receive proper authorization. Several beverage-making certificates are either required or strongly recommended by the USFDA, including:
- International Organization of Standardization (ISO) 22000
- Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP)
- Good Contract Manufacturing Practices
- Food Safety System Certification (FSSC) 22000
- Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI)
Acquiring each certification can take a significant amount of time, effort, and money. You must undergo audits, pass inspections, and maintain compliance.
At Wildpack Beverage, each of our facilities is fully certified in accordance with the rules and regulations of federal, state, and local authorities.
#3 Enhance Your Ability to Scale
If you handle production on your own, your ability to scale can be limited due to a cap on resources and capital investments. Outsourcing to a co packing company enables you to delegate time-consuming tasks and costly processes. It also makes it possible to ramp up production at a moment’s notice. This gives you greater flexibility to meet demand fluctuations or respond to market shocks.
By partnering with Wildpack, you gain access to facilities and equipment designed to accommodate flexible run sizes and batches. Instead of spending resources on additional equipment and manpower, you can instead divert the savings toward marketing and business operations.
#4 Enjoy A Streamlined Distribution Timeline
Making the finished product is only half the battle. After that, there’s still warehousing and distribution to worry about. That involves managing a variety of tasks, including:
- Storage – You need bonds and permits to store wine, beer, and spirits in a warehouse, and to import alcohol from outside of the country.
- Chain of custody – Whether it’s about sourcing raw materials and ingredients, shipping the product to sellers, or distributing directly to customers, a beverage maker needs visibility over every input to ensure quality, consistency, and safety.
- Inventory management – It’s important to have an ERP that is capable of tracking inventory in real-time.
- Logistics – Finally, how will your product get to where it needs to go? A beverage maker will need to consider freight loads and modes of transportation.
A co-packer like Wildpack has the experience and capabilities to handle the entire distribution process, including arranging freight to your facility. Storage and distribution are hard to organize and expensive to procure in small quantities, so small and midsized businesses can benefit greatly from an outsourced partner that already has a streamlined system in place.
Wildpack—The Ideal Co-Packer
To remain competitive, a company must continuously optimize its business processes. In the beverage industry, outsourcing various tasks to specialists empowers you to better use your finite resources.
By partnering with the right co-packer, you’ll be able to trust in the experts that produce your product, so you can focus on marketing, selling, and refining it. This union creates a synergy that benefits everyone, making it possible to save money and scale simultaneously.
Have you been searching for a co-packer that aligns with your long-term goals? Wildpack can handle all of your canning needs in one place.
Want to see how we do canning better? Contact us today.
Sources:
Bev Industry. Customized beverage needs heighten demand for co-packers. https://www.bevindustry.com/articles/91670-customized-beverage-needs-heighten-demand-for-co-packers
