co-packer Looking for copacker willing to make a small initial batch

[apinyaco]

Hi everyone, I'm new here so wanted to introduce myself and ask for some advice. I'm starting a Thai chili hot sauce business and decided it's going to better to use a copacker instead of bottle it ourselves but most copackers I've talked to require a minimum that's our of our range. Can anyone recommend a copacker that would be willing to produce a relatively small (somewhere from 5-50 gallons) batch as a trial run with the possibility that if we're successful we would return for a larger run?

Note that the copacker MUST be able to do an aseptic cold-fill of plastic bottles for our requirements. We are located in northern Virginia and somewhere local would be helpful so we can visit the premises, but would be willing to work with someone long distance.

Thanks in advance.
Adam

 

[-Pablo-]

Some co-packers & bottles really wouldn't appreciate that.

They're running businesses - likely their own product line + however many companies they package for. Do you think they have time to entertain 500 calls a day from hobby hot sauce folks who want to run 1000 bottles of a non commercial product?

I am only speaking from my own experience, but the 3 I've worked with had minimum batch sizes that would be prohibitive to 99% of hobbiests.

There's also the fact that in CA if they produce an acidic shelf stable product, they need the state to test it. Which means correct legal labeling, company registration, etc. basically until you as a business have your ducks in a row they don't want to waste their time.

And it's all about scale. The 1st batch I did wasn't even a full day's work for the production staff - yet they needed to clean the entire line, bring in the ingredients, bottles, staff, fire up the boilers, etc, etc. The production chef had to take time to scale out my recipes, then calculate nutrition - from there I had to have my graphic artist change my labels to add nutrition panel, etc.

As such I would only be comfortable sharing my co-packer's name/contact info with someone who was very very serious about starting a business and who'd done 95% of their pre-work out of respect to my co-packer.

Ugh, co-packers are there to make money, not be assholes to potential customers. If they can't lay out their terms and conditions in a clear/concise manner to communicate to potential customers, they have no business being a co-packer.

 

[Lucky Dog Hot Sauce]

it's not about "being an asshole to a potential customer". They have a "contact us" form on their site. I'm a customer of theirs though, not an agent, and I am not comfortable referring strangers on the internet to them en masse.

I'm not sure where you get that copackers are "assholes" from my post. I totally get it - I spent months convincing my copacker to work with me because they didn't know if I was a flake. And then it took months to get the labels right (dozens of interactions back & forth), scale out recipes, discuss ingredient selection/sourcing, etc, etc, etc right and all that time/effort with the copacker "betting on the come" that I wasn't a flake. hours and hours of work invested by them before we ever made anything.

If I were a copacker I'd get it too. They're not hurting for my business - and I'm small potatoes. They've been outstanding for me so far and I'm very appreciative to be working with them.