Dozens of lists will give you names. None gives you the one thing that rules a facility in or out — the minimum run it will accept. So brands call twenty facilities to learn what three numbers could have told them. Here's the shorter way.
Before you look at a single company, know what you're filtering for. Three numbers eliminate most of the market before a call is ever made.
The floor a facility will accept per SKU. It ranges roughly a hundredfold — from one pallet to five thousand cases. If your first run is 500 cases, every facility with a 2,000-case floor is already out. See who publishes theirs →
Some co-packers only fill a finished, approved recipe. Others develop the formula with you. If your recipe isn't final, a filling-only line can't help you yet — and you've saved the call.
From approved formula to first run is commonly 8 to 12 weeks, longer if formulation and sourcing are involved. If you need product on a shelf by a fixed date, this rules facilities in or out on its own.
A brand that knows these three can strike two-thirds of the market off the list in an afternoon — instead of six weeks of calls to the wrong facilities.
Once the three numbers have thinned the field, match on the specifics of your product.
| Filter | What to check | Why it rules facilities out |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Can (standard / sleek / 16 oz), glass, PET, aluminum bottle, pouch | A canning line can't fill your glass bottle, and vice versa. |
| Category | Energy, seltzer, kombucha, cold brew, juice, RTD cocktail, water… | Alcohol, low-acid and dairy need specific permits and processes. |
| Certifications | Organic, kosher, TTB (alcohol), FDA registration, SQF | No cert, no run — if your buyer requires it. |
| Region | Proximity to you, your ingredients, or your market | Freight on liquid is heavy; distance is real money. |
There is no shortage of places to find names:
Directories — general supplier databases list co-packers with a company name and a sentence, often self-reported and undated. Useful for names, useless for the numbers that decide.
Consultancies — hold their co-packer network behind a contact form and a fee. You get a shortlist, but not the underlying data, and not for free.
Trade shows & forums — Expo West, BevNET Live, founder Slack groups and LinkedIn. Great for relationships, slow and unsystematic for a shortlist.
We publish the operational data the lists leave out — minimum run, formats, whether formulation is included, lead time — with the source and the date we checked it. Where a figure isn't published, the cell says so; we don't guess.
So you can rule facilities in or out before you call, and reach only the ones that can actually run your product.
Run a facility? Send us your current numbers and we'll list them, with your name and the date — no charge, no listing fee.
Give us the product, the volume and the timeline. We come back with facilities that can actually run it at your size — not a list of everyone in the country.
Beverage co-packer minimum order quantities →
Beverage co-packers in Florida →