Author: the greater goods

Is Working With a Co-Packer the Right Move For Your Business?

Anyone who owns and runs a small food business knows that it is truly a labor of love. Whether crafting your own recipe from scratch or coming up with the perfect name and packaging, there are a multitude of steps that come before delivering that final product to stores. And when you’re constantly having to focus on the little details that come along with creating your masterpiece, it can be difficult to even have time to focus on growing your business, or how to market this product that you’ve just put in so much time and effort to. If you’re finding that this sounds like you, you might be ready to bring in the help of a co-packer. In this article, we take a look at what a co-packer is and you know that this is the right decision for your business.

What is a Co-Packer?

Bringing in the help of a co-packer can shave many valuable hours off of the time of a hardworking food business owner, allowing them to keep their focus on where it should be – running their business. While of course it is up to the owner to come up with the initial concepts and even the recipe for their products, a co-packer can take their product all of the rest of the way.

Pod Foods explains what a co-packer is and why your food business may highly benefit from one:

“A co-packer, or a contract packer, is a company that manufactures and packages a certain product for a client. For small businesses, outsourcing their manufacturing to a co-packer allows them to scale-up and meet growing demand, without having to invest in their own industrial setting. This can be a game changer for food businesses. Often, small teams are spread thin with production alone and don’t have any time to focus on the main driver for their business — sales. By offering their expertise and resources, co-packers help small businesses free up their time, letting them shift their focus to marketing and growing their brand.”

Understanding Why You Want to Work With a Co-Packer

There are many reasons outside of saving the time of manufacturing your own products why you may wish to work with a co-packer. Not only is a co-packer able to take the load off of your hands when it comes to preparing your products to be sold in store, but they are able to take care of the many legalities that comes along with selling a commercial food product.

Matt Aaron of Food Tech Connect explains why the benefits of working with a co-packer go far beyond saving you time:

“Investing in a larger production facility comes with a lot of costs like equipment, rent, labor and certifications. Depending on your clientele, you may need additional quality control certifications like HACCP, Kosher and USDA Organic. Big box retailers require a ton of certifications in order to carry your product. This means a lot more money if you are starting a new facility, and is the main reason many startups turn to co-packers as they scale. A co-packer also saves you time, allowing you to focus on growing your business versus being stuck in the kitchen and managing a production facility.”

How To Decide on a Co-Packer

Now that you’ve decided that the idea of working with a co-packer is in fact for you, it’s important to make sure that this is a feasible decision for your company. You will be required to do your research when it comes to picking a co-packer to find one that best fits your company. This will of course come down to the relationship you’d like with your co-packer, if they are able to handle your production size, and arguably the most important factor – who you can afford. 

Recipal.com gives us some helpful tips on how to decide on a co-packer:

“If you are ready for co-packing, you have to start looking for the right one. Ask food business friends, scour the internet, talk to your local university food science department, and compile a list of potential co-packers.

Then comes the hardest part, which is actually evaluating each one:

Relationship quality – are they good people? Do you get along? What do other customers say? DON’T discount this factor.

Size – can they handle your production? Is your business big enough for them to care?

Scalability – if your business quadruples in size, can they handle it? Keep in mind that as your business grows substantially, you’ll need to eventually switch co-packers.

Proximity – are they near you physically? You’ll want to visit, check in, and sometimes help, so this is important.

Cost – is it economical? What are the hidden fees? How does it change as you grow?

Compatibility – do they have the right equipment and certifications for your product?”

Here at The Greater Goods, we offer consultation services for your business, from food production to distribution. If you’re looking for advice on how to get up and running, we offer a free consultation with our expert food industry consultants and food brokers. 

Key Tips to Any Successful Food Product Launch

No matter how long you’ve been a part of the food industry, you’ll know that launching a product in today’s highly competitive market is highly competitive. That’s why it’s necessary to set yourself up for success as much as you possibly can before your product launch. There are many factors that go into a successful food product launch, including the clear establishment of your product’s market and how your customers are most likely to buy it. We’re going to take a look at our key tips to any successful food product launch, so you can ensure you have all your ducks in a row before you roll out the red carpet.

Research the Market

The most important thing you should do before so much as wishing your product into fruition is researching your target market. Knowing who you’re most likely to sell your product to is a key factor in marketing it properly and ensuring its success. Knowing your target market will affect where you sell your product, how you sell it, and even which social media channels you will promote it on.

Max Byer of Business 2 Community tells us why you need to ensure that in order to successfully launch your product, you need to ensure that it’s not the same as every other product out there:

“Research the market thoroughly and make sure you have a product that is new and unique that consumers will need or want. Also, research local and state food production and distribution laws to determine an appropriate go-to-market strategy.”

Do Plenty of Testing

Test, test, test, and then test some more. Don’t jump the gun when it comes to launching your product, and don’t consider your launch to be your “testing phase”. Do your testing before you launch your product in the form of a pre-launch. This will help you understand ahead of time what’s working, what’s not, and what needs to be changed.

Greg Keating of Hangar12 explains why you need to participate in a pre-launch before you officially launch your food product:

“The money you spend pre-launch learning about specific market segments, gathering information from consumer marketing panels, testing ideas, asking for feedback, and learning which possible variants of your product may be most appealing is small compared to the costs of production, distribution, and advertising once the product goes live. If, for example, multiple consumer panels indicate that your packaging could be problematic, listen to them and determine how you could revise it to better suit target consumers.”

Ensure You Have Retail Distribution

Just to make things clear, not everyone will be selling their food products through physical retail stores, as selling products online can be just as beneficial. Whichever the case may be for your business, it’s necessary to ensure that you have a place to sell your product before your launch.

Chris Gould of Harbinger tells us why lining up retail distribution before your launch is definitely the best idea:

“Do you have any retail distribution for your product? If not, it may be premature to invest in a big launch strategy. However, if you have an e-commerce platform that has been generating strong sales, there are definitely ways to create additional awareness and inspire new consumers to purchase your product.”

Here at The Greater Goods, we offer consultation services for your business, from food production to distribution. If you’re looking for advice on how to get up and running, we offer a free consultation with our expert food industry consultants and food brokers.