You may be the brainchild behind your product idea and want your hands on every stage of product development, manufacturing, and distribution, but unfortunately, handling this huge process alone is not financially feasible for most new product developers. It is for this reason that most new product creators choose to work with a co-packing company to handle the biggest part of manufacturing, packaging, and distribution. If you are in the final stages of product development and ready to get to the next step, there are some very important things you must do before committing to a collaboration with a co-packing company. 

Get familiar with the production process that will be required with your product. 

Before you consider meeting with a co-packing company for that first consultation, you should know the ins and outs of what it will take to produce your product. Hopefully, at this point you have already created a prototype through your own processes because this will give you great insight into what a mass production process should look like. The more you know about what will be involved in creating your product at the manufacturer, the better you can instruct a co-packing representative on what you want done and how. 

Get familiar with the exact process of what you will need for your product. 

There is no one-for-all solution for product developers and business owners where co-packing services are concerned, which is why every co-packer you come across will offer multiple levels of service. before you take your product to a co-packer, make sure you know precisely what levels of service you will need with your product. Will you need help only with manufacturing? Do you also need help with distribution to warehouses? Are you looking for a co-packer who can manufacture and package your product? Trim down the details and get a clear outline of the service levels you will need. 

Get familiar with product attributes and what kind of co-packer will cater to those factors.

Maybe you have a food product that is dubbed as gluten-free, organic, or vegan-friendly. If your product has certain atributes that are a big part of their marketing draw, you will need a co-packing facility that can adhere to these attributes during the production and packaging process. For example, if you have a food product that is going to be marketed as gluten-free, you want a packaging company that has a designated place in their facility that handles solely gluten-free products so cross-contamination is not an issue.