When choosing a contract company, you have to look at a few considerations, especially when choosing contract food packaging vendors. That way, you get a company that cares about what you do, and offers you the best business possible.
Their Food Safety Considerations
This should be the first thing that you consider.
You should choose a contract packaging company that is approved by the FDA, so they have the protocols which are at the right standards.
You should also ask them if they’re SQF certified, along with other kinds of certifications they have in food safety.
You should take these answers down and compare them to choose the best company that suits your needs.
Company Capabilities
Not every packaging company is equal, with each one exceeding in one kind of packaging or the other. Some companies are good at one kind of packaging, but then are bad at another.
You want to choose one that fits the specific needs your company has.
Some packaging companies do offer manufacturing food, others storage, others both and neither. If you have specific company needs, you should also write these down and choose them when looking at a food packaging company.
You should also figure out any special requirements that you might have, and if there are needs, you choose a company that fits those needs.
Location
You should choose the company that’s closest to you. The further you are from them, the bigger the logistics are, especially shipping and other factors. You should choose one closest to you that you can get the most services out of.
Their Costs
These companies do vary in price. While there might be different considerations, the biggest one, is the cost of each unit, or per package as they call it.
Understanding the costs of this allows you to figure out the right costs for outsourcing or utilizing contract services.
In general though, you should try to keep it around $.05-.15 with each unit if you have a lot of items to fill and they’re small. However, for bigger items, this could total to well over $100 for every single packaging. You should figure out the best ballpark total, especially when dealing with a whole lot of food packaging.
The Branding and Designs
Finally, you want to figure out if their branding, graphics, and designs are either done directly at the company, or if you’re going to have to put in some legwork.
This also applies to the materials and kinds of packaging they offer, along with packaging machinery they use, and any other assistance they offer such as consultation on designs and assistance.
Have an idea of these five factors before you start putting out feelers for different companies.
If you don’t do this beforehand, it’ll be a shot in the dark on what exactly you get, and it could impact product quality.
To choose a good one, you want to take all of the information there, and from there, go through the logistics of this. Look at the reality of this, and which ones best fit the budget and offer the most services. If you get more out of it and a little less cost, but the downside is that they’re way further away than others, you might want to second guess yourself.
Doing this all before you pull the trigger and make a decision is of utmost importance. That’s because if you don’t do this now, you’re going to regret it down the line, especially when it comes to company packaging too.