NDA with you. Be smart—employ
both methods.
Other Keys for Success
• Ask for and document all relevant
paperwork. Ask to see their GMP
written procedures, ask about GMP
and food safety training, review
their licenses, HACCP and food
safety plans, and plant audits. Confirm that their kosher, organic,
Halal and other certifications are up to date and authentic. Get
everything in writing.
(continued on page 49)
Case Study: Are You a
Priority to Your Co-Packer?
A company was launched to create
aseptic juice boxes for kids and
licensed a well-known character from
the video game world, found a packer
and was off to market. To subsidize
their efforts, they also began packing
private-label (PL) product to increase
volume with the packer, which had
very high minimum production run requirements. After only three months
in the market, they were shipping over
50,000 cases a month of their brand
and the PL option. Then came the bad
news. The packer also had a contract
with a large multi-national brand, and
when the packer ran the juice boxes as
scheduled it cut into unscheduled orders from the big brand. The big brand
told the packer that they either let
the juice box production go, or they
would walk. The packer gave notice,
which was only 30 days by contract,
and the juice box company ended up
withdrawing from the market (and still
had to pay the character license royalty). The moral of this story is to
make sure to know your packer’s priorities and have a termination agreement that gives you time to find an
alternative production source.
MAY — JUNE 2010
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