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 narrow the market faster than any list of names.
The floor a facility will accept per SKU. Published figures run from a dozen cases to the 5,000-case norm for a can line, and some facilities count in pallets, gallons or barrels instead, which cannot be compared without converting. 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.
Where a facility publishes a lead time, it runs from 2 to 12 weeks, and longer if formulation and sourcing are involved. Most publish none, so get it in writing. 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 narrow the list in an afternoon, instead of 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.