Co-packing: When Producing with a Partner Is Smarter Than Buying Machines

Invest €200,000 in a production line or pay €1.15 per can (HTVA, excl. excise duties) ? Pour 95% des créateurs of Beverages, la réponse is évidente — but beaucoup hésitent encore, par méconnaissance du co-packing.

Qu'est-ce that le co-packing ?

Co-packing (or contract packing) means entrusting the production and packaging of your beverage to a partner production center. You keep ownership of your recipe and brand— le partenaire gère l'outil industriel.

Concretely, you arrive with a brief (or a recipe) and leave with pallets of labeled cans, ready to sell. Everything else — brewing, canning, quality control, compliance — ispris en charge.

À who ça s'adresse ?

Co-packing is relevant when you don't have your own production infrastructure. This is the case for the vast majority of brand creators: individual entrepreneurs, restaurateurs who veulent their propre beer, marques eventielles, companys who lancent une boisson corporate.

Même des marques établies who vendent 50 000 canettes par an font appel au co-packing. Le seuil de rentabilité d'une ligne de production propre se situe generally au-delà de 500 000 units par an.

Comment préparer son brief

A good co-packing brief contains: the desired beverage type, the target taste profile, the estimated volume, the can format, the desired delivery date and the indicative budget. The more your brief is précis, more le devis sera juste et rapide.

Classic pitfalls

1. Don't skip testing before ordering in volume. Toujours valider with un brew/batch test (100-500L) before moving to 1000L+. The cost of testing is negligible compared to the cost of a batch of 4,000 cans you don't like.

2. Sous-estimer les excise duties. Elles ne are pas incluses in le prix de production et peuvent représenter 10 à 30% du coût final selon le type of Beverage.

3. Oublier la logistique. 1000L de lemonade en 25cl cans = 4000 canettes = 167 cartons = ~2 palettes. Prévoyez le stockage et le transport.