As the term co-pack implies, two parties are involved — two entities who must cooperate with one another.
“Sometimes this marriage between marketer and manufacturer works seamlessly, and other times it can be a downright catastrophe,” says Christine M. Homsey, a food scientist with Food Perspectives Inc., a consulting firm in Plymouth, Minn. Inventors and marketers of food products turn to co-packers for a variety of reasons. Limited production capacity; the expense of purchasing equipment; lack of efficiencies or competencies in a particular area; or wanting to manufacture a product that does not fit into dedicated production lines are oft-cited reasons for outsourcing production, says Homsey. “Many factors need to be considered when signing a contract with a co-packer,” she says. “For example, projected product volumes will influence how good a match a marketer and manufacturer will be. If a marketer has very low volumes or a single product to sell, many manufacturers will not want to bother. On rare occasions, co-packers turn away large volumes that would cause them to exceed their capacity or make them too dependent on one customer.”