How to Vet a Co-Packer Before You Sign Anything

The single most expensive decision an early supplement brand makes is choosing a co-packer. Not because manufacturing is inherently costly, but because a mismatch surfaces months later — in a failed test, a blown lead time, or an MOQ you can't move. By then you've paid for tooling, sunk deposits, and lost a season.

Start with the boring paperwork. Ask for current GMP certification, third-party audit reports, and their process for out-of-spec batches. A partner who hesitates on documentation is telling you exactly how they'll behave when something goes wrong. You want the manufacturer who volunteers the paperwork before you ask.

Then pressure-test capacity against your real plan. A facility that runs comfortably at your launch volume may choke at 3x. Ask what a typical run looks like, where you sit in their production queue, and how they handle a rush. Their honest answer about your smallness matters more than their marketing about their bigness.

Finally, negotiate the exit before the entry. Understand tooling ownership, formula ownership, and how a transfer would work if you outgrow them. The best co-packer relationships are the ones where leaving would be clean — because that's the relationship built on performance, not lock-in.