Are you interested in starting a value-added dairy foods business but reluctant to invest in equipment and facilities for manufacturing, or do you lack the time, technical expertise, and labor you need to make a product? A co-packer might be the solution. Navigating a co-packing relationship can be a complex process. First, what exactly is a co-packer? A co-packer is a food processor with additional manufacturing capacity and offers services such as manufacturing, packaging, and labeling for a fee.
Why Consider Hiring a Co-Packer?
Reasons for working with a co-packer may differ according to the management and mission of the dairy farm and personal situations. A Dairy Foods survey of users of co-packing services uncovered that the top four reasons for hiring a co-packer were a lack of in-house expertise with a product(s) (34%), testing the market for a new product (34%), inability to keep up with production demands (33%), and exiting product manufacturing to focus on brand marketing (10%) (Canning, 2017). Let's explore these and other reasons for using a co-packer.