co-packer Talking to copackers

[HellfireFarm]

Not sauce bottlers - but I've finally got a list of possible copackers for some of my products. I'm finding that most if not all want a history, including sales volume, and will only talk to you if you meet a certain level already. Problem is, they want a much larger volume that I would be able to do without a copacker. How do you satisfy requirements like that?

 

[salsalady]

Is there a faciliity you could rent for a couple days to do a massive production run of your own? What products are you are talking to the copackers for?

 

[salsalady]

By facility, i zm talking about a community kitchen, community center, fraternal organization, church, fire hall....

But a lot depends on the product and licensing requirements. You know all this, just sayiing for the readers...

 

[HellfireFarm]

I have that shed conversion for production so that's not a problem, but I don't know how big I can scale in there. It's mostly a matter of capacity for one person to keep up with. I don't know HOW much I can do on my own. The spice blends are a lot more scalable and easy to produce so I was thinking of focusing on them, and reserve the candies for only a few specific shops. Might have to figure out something for storage.

The problem is that I don't want to get over my head trying to meet an order I can't fill without a copacker, and then not be able to get a copacker because I haven't sold enough over the past year...

 

[salsalady]

so... how many units was your largest production run of spices to date?
Should be simple enough to do some math, figure out what your production can be. If you have to limit order size... (Gasp! NOOOOOOoooo!) just tell the customer you can supply 60% of their order by XXX date and the rest by YYY date. Talk to them and let them know that as order size increases, you will be scaling up production for a faster turn around, while keeping the runs to just the size needed to insure a FRESH, Quality, made to order product.


If we are talking about the spice blends, what ingredients are you growing your own and what are you sourcing thru spice suppliers or other growers? What can you get from other quality spice and herb suppliers?

For my salsa, the spice blend contains about 12 ingredients. I used to measure out about 6 batches worth at a time into #5 spice jugs. It got to the point where I was having to monitor inventory of 12+ ingredients, take the time to mix up the bulk batches, and then I was getting so fed up with having ONE MORE THING to keep track of...

Eventually, I contracted with Firehouse Flavors (originally Firehouse Pantry) to custom make the batches and seal in foil pack bags. One Bag, One Batch.
I also did the same with the Texas Creek Chipotle Dip Mix. Mix one small foil packet with 2cups sour cream/mayo for a creamy spicy dip mix. This one was packaged by a company in Seattle.

The idea and recipes are all mine, I just have others do spice packaging. I think for the salsa blend, the full batch recipe makes ~50 salsa batches. For the smaller spice dip mix, I think the full batch yielded ~350 (?) packets. It was pretty cost effective given the stress and aggravation of having to monitor all the ingredients and the (aw Crap! I forgot to pick up something, and it is 10 miles to the nearest grocery store for me...)

Let me know if you want more info.
SL

 

[HellfireFarm]

I haven't done anything very big at all. Largest single batch of spice blends has been only 2lb (4-oz. jars, so that's 4 per pound.) I've done a few runs like that but that's the largest single run. Current equipment could do 5lb easy, not sure about 10. TIME wise, blending 2 5 or 10 would be about the same. Filling would obviously be longer but it's pretty quick.

The general store I'll be selling at can work with me quantity wise. Anything bigger and I have no idea what to expect. Got to be NC has opportunities to get set up with "regular" grocery stores (many of them have local product displays) which is where I want to end up, but it seems like that will take some major scaling.

Where I'm having the problem is figuring out how to make that jump. A lot of these places want you to be already established before they'll work with you - more established, it appears, than a lone operator can do.

One that i might be able to work with requires a minimum of 300lb for an order. Problem is, I don't have any idea what that translates to as far as number of stores I could service. So the really big issue is just those unknowns.