To find a co-packer, start by writing down exactly what you need made: the product, the process, the packaging, how many units a run and how often, and any certifications your buyers ask for. Then look where co-packers are listed and talked about: directories, your state's agriculture department or a university food science program, trade groups, your ingredient and packaging suppliers, and other brands making something like yours. Shortlist three to five that make your kind of product, ask each the same questions, visit the ones that fit, and pay for a test run before you sign anything. In the example below, a taro chip brand contacts six co-packers, two can fry and bag chips at its volume, and the one it chooses quotes $2.40 a bag on a 5,000-bag minimum. Below is what to know first, where to look, the questions, the test run, the contract, and how to run the relationship.
The short version
- Know your product, process, packaging, run size, frequency and certifications before you call.
- Look in directories, state and university food programs, trade groups, and ask your suppliers.
- Shortlist co-packers that already make your kind of product.
- Ask everyone the same questions: minimums, price, who buys ingredients, lead times, records.
- Visit, and pay for a test run before you sign.
- Put formula ownership, minimums, quality specs and recall duties in the contract.
- TaroStack tracks your stock at the co-packer, lot by lot, from packaging out to product back. More below.
Step 1: know what you need
| Write down | Why a co-packer asks |
|---|---|
| The product and process | Frying, baking, hot-fill bottling, freezing: each needs different equipment |
| The packaging | Pouches, jars, bottles; who supplies them; the filling and sealing equipment it needs |
| Units a run, and how often | Their minimum run, and whether you'd fill a line for a day or an hour |
| Certifications your buyers want | Organic, gluten-free, a food safety audit some retailers ask for |
| Allergens in your recipe | Whether their line can run it, and what else runs on that line |
| Your recipe, written by weight | So they can quote and scale it |
What co-packing is, the three kinds, and what it costs against your own kitchen are in what is a co-packer.
Step 2: where to look
| Where | What you'll find |
|---|---|
| Co-packer directories | Listings by product type and region; check every listing directly |
| Your state's agriculture department or a university food science program | Some keep lists of local co-packers and help small brands start |
| Trade groups and food business incubators | Members who co-pack, and other brands' recommendations |
| Your ingredient and packaging suppliers | They know who buys what, and who runs your kind of line |
| Brands that make something like yours | The back of the label sometimes says who made it; founders often share |
| Shared commercial kitchens | Some offer co-packing, or know who does |
Step 3: the questions
| Question | What you're learning |
|---|---|
| What's your minimum run, and how often can I book one? | Whether your volume fits, and how far ahead you must plan |
| What's the price per unit, and what's included? | Ingredients, packaging, labor, testing, freight, storage |
| Do you buy the ingredients, or do I supply some? | Your cash, and your control over specs |
| What lead time from order to finished product? | How much stock you need to hold between runs |
| What certifications and audits do you have? | Whether your buyers will accept them |
| How do you handle allergens and changeovers? | The risk of cross-contact with other customers' products |
| What records do I get for each run? | Lot codes, ingredient lots, process readings, quantities |
| Who handles a recall, and how fast can you trace a lot? | Whether you can answer a store, or a regulator, in hours |
| Can I visit, and do you do test runs? | Whether they'll show you how they work |
Ask every co-packer the same questions and put the answers in one table, so the quotes compare like for like.
Step 4: compare, visit, test
Windward Roots, the made-up taro business I use in these examples, needs its taro chips fried and bagged at about 5,000 bags a run:
| Co-packer | Fries chips? | Minimum | Cost per bag, all in | Records per run | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Yes | 5,000 | $2.40 | Lot codes and ingredient lots | Visit, then a test run |
| B | Yes | 20,000 | $2.15 | Lot codes | Minimum too high for now |
| C | No, bakes only | Not a fit | |||
| D, E, F | No reply, or no frying line |
The cheaper bag isn't the better deal if the minimum is four times your volume. Windward Roots visits A, pays $750 for a test run, and checks the chips, the seal and the run record before signing. How much stock a 5,000-bag minimum means against the chips' shelf life is in minimum order quantity.
Step 5: the contract
| Clause | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Formula and confidentiality | The recipe stays yours; they don't make it for anyone else |
| Minimums, pricing and price changes | What a run costs and how prices can change |
| Specifications and acceptance | What a good run looks like, and what happens if it isn't |
| Who supplies what | Your packaging at their site, their ingredients, and who owns what |
| Records and lot codes | What you get with every run, and how fast |
| Recalls and insurance | Who does what, who pays, and the insurance each side carries |
| Storage, shipping and payment | Where finished goods wait, who ships, and when you pay |
Have a lawyer read it. This is general information, not legal advice.
Step 6: running the relationship
Your stock now lives in more than one place: packaging you've sent to the co-packer, finished product in your warehouse, and cartons in between. Count what's at the co-packer before each run, so a run isn't held up by a missing carton of pouches, and get each run's record, with its lot codes, the day it's made. How to record what a run used and made is in what is a batch record.
Where this stops working
The co-packer's quote is easy to compare; the running costs aren't. Pouches sit at their site and nobody counts them, the run report arrives as a PDF with their lot codes, and the day a grocer asks which run a carton came from, the answer is in an inbox. And the co-packer's fee is only part of the cost per bag: your own packaging and the freight back belong in it too, which is how a $1.85 fee becomes $2.40 a bag.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack treats the co-packer as one more place your stock lives, lot by lot.
The co-packer is a site. A contract manufacturer's premises is a kind of site, alongside your kitchen and warehouse. Pouches, labels and cartons go there as a transfer, with stock in transit until it lands and a transfer note to print, so you always know how many pouches are at their place.
A run is recorded with its lots. A run is recorded as a batch at their site, taking your packaging from the stock you sent and putting the finished product into a lot with its own code and date, or, if the co-packer buys everything, received as a purchase with their lot code and best-by date, freight spread across the delivery. Planning works out when the next run has to be booked, from your orders and sales history and the product's shelf life.
And a recall has an answer. One report shows which supplier lots went into which run, which customers got which cartons, and what's still in your warehouse or at the co-packer's, with contact details. The co-packer's fee is on the purchase order rather than in each bag's stock cost, so put it in your price sheet beside the cost TaroStack gives you.
| The job | Inbox and spreadsheet | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Pouches at the co-packer | Ask them | Their site, counted |
| Which run a carton came from | Search the PDFs | The lot, from receiving or the batch |
| When to book the next run | A guess | Planning from orders and shelf life |
| A recall | A day of searching | One report, supplier to customer |
Lots, receiving and recalls are on every plan, from $49 a month; more than one site, including a co-packer's, transfers and planning are on Standard at $99. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.