Below are 15 questions organized by category, with guidance on what to listen for and when to be concerned. At the end, there is a side-by-side comparison table you can use once you have spoken with two or three candidates.
- Have you produced a product like mine before?
- What equipment do you run, and what are its limits?
- What is your minimum order quantity?
- Can you handle secondary packaging - labeling, coding, case packing?
- Are you GFSI-certified (SQF, BRCGS, or equivalent)?
- How do you manage allergen cross-contamination?
- Can I tour your facility before we begin?
- What does your batch traceability process look like?
- What does your pricing include, and what costs extra?
- What are your standard lead times, and how do you handle rush orders?
- What are your payment terms for new clients?
- Are your filling lines compatible with my containers?
- Do you work with FDA-compliant, food-grade materials?
- How do you handle sudden volume increases?
- Who will be my point of contact day to day?
Before You Make the First Call
Co-packers receive more inquiries than they can respond to carefully. Arriving prepared makes you a more credible prospect and gets you a more accurate quote. Before you reach out, have four things ready: your product specifications (fill weight, container format, full allergen profile); a 12-month volume forecast with a rough year-two projection; your compliance requirements (organic, Non-GMO, gluten-free, or others that must flow through to your manufacturer); and your non-negotiables - specific container types, hard launch dates, sustainability commitments. Settling these before the conversation starts, rather than during it, surfaces incompatibilities early and saves everyone time.
Production Capability: Can They Actually Run Your Product? (Questions 1–4)
A co-packer who has never run something similar to your product will learn on your time and your materials. Ask what specific product types and formats they handle regularly. If they can name comparable products without hesitation and start asking follow-up questions about your formula's viscosity or shelf life before they answer - that signals real experience. If they respond with "we can handle most things" without asking a single clarifying question, treat that as a first warning sign.
On equipment: ask for the filling line type (volumetric, auger, or pump), the fill weight range, and fill accuracy tolerance. On minimum order quantity: get a specific number and confirm whether it differs for a first run versus repeat orders. A facility requiring 100,000 units when you are projecting 5,000 is simply the wrong partner at this stage, regardless of how impressive the facility looks on a tour. On secondary packaging: find out exactly which services they handle in-house - labeling, inkjet coding, case packing, palletizing - and which get outsourced. Every additional hand-off adds cost, lead time, and a new point of failure.
Food Safety and Certifications: Your Retail Readiness Test (Questions 5–8)
This is where co-packer relationships most often go wrong for brands with retail ambitions. Major US grocery retailers increasingly require suppliers to use co-packers that hold a GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative)-benchmarked certification. The two most common in the United States are SQF (Safe Quality Food), administered by the SQF Institute, and BRCGS. Ask for the certification level - SQF Level 2 covers food safety fundamentals; Level 3 also covers food quality management systems - and request the score from the most recent audit. A current certificate means an audit within the last 12 months. A co-packer who cannot produce documentation promptly is telling you something about how they prioritize compliance. Review their certification documentation alongside their quality control systems before your first site visit.
On allergen management: ask specifically for their segregation procedures and validated clean-down protocols between runs. If your product carries any free-from claim, "we're careful" is not a sufficient answer. Ask to see the allergen control plan in writing and ask when it was last reviewed.
On facility tours: if a co-packer hesitates or declines, that tells you what you need to know. There is no legitimate reason to refuse a site visit from a prospective client. During the visit, pay attention to how product areas are organized, whether segregation zones are clearly marked, and how production staff interact with product - these observations tell you more than a sales conversation will.
On traceability: under FDA's Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), traceability requirements have expanded for many high-risk food categories. Ask how batch records are stored, how lot codes are applied and linked to input components, and what a recall exercise would look like in practice - who contacts who, and in what order.
Pricing and What the Quote Leaves Out (Questions 9–11)
The per-unit price in the first conversation is rarely the number on the final invoice. Before comparing quotes, ask each co-packer for a full cost breakdown. The charges most commonly absent from the headline rate are listed below.
| Fee Type | What It Covers |
|---|---|
| Setup / changeover fee | Charged each time a new production run begins |
| Cleaning fee | Required between runs when allergen-containing products are involved |
| Waste allowance | Material lost during machine calibration - many co-packers allow 2–5% of raw inputs |
| Storage / holding fee | For raw materials or finished goods held at the facility |
| Intake / receiving fee | Charged when your suppliers deliver components to their dock |
| Minimum run charge | A flat fee applied when your order volume falls below their standard minimum |
On lead times: ask for a specific number of working days in writing, not a range. On payment terms: a deposit structure - commonly 50% upfront and 50% on completion - is standard for new clients. Understanding this upfront helps with cash flow planning before you have committed. If you are also sourcing your own containers, our wholesale packaging cost guide explains how container pricing at different volumes interacts with co-packer production fees.
Packaging Compatibility: The Questions Most Co-Packer Guides Skip (Questions 12–13)
Filling equipment has specific tolerances for container dimensions, opening diameter, wall thickness, and lid mechanism. Discovering an incompatibility during your first production run is expensive and avoidable. Before you commit to any container, ask your co-packer to review the actual specs - not just say yes in general terms.
The factors that tend to matter most: opening diameter (does it fit the fill head?), material type (rigid PP, PET, MFPP, and plant-based materials all behave differently on a filling line), and whether your lid - snap, screw, or induction seal - is compatible with their sealing equipment. If you plan to use plastic food containers with compartments or dome lids, confirm those dimensions specifically against their equipment. Standard take-out containers are well-supported on most lines, but non-standard formats require explicit written confirmation. Use our checklist for evaluating disposable containers to organize your specs before that conversation.
On FDA compliance: confirming that your containers are made from food-grade, compliant materials is the brand owner's responsibility - not something to assume your co-packer is managing on your behalf. US regulations on food-contact packaging set specific requirements for any material in direct contact with food. Request compliance documentation from your container supplier before finalizing the co-packer agreement. If you are considering biodegradable or compostable containers, verify machine compatibility separately - these materials often have different heat thresholds and structural characteristics than conventional plastics, and not all filling lines are calibrated for them.
Scalability and Your Day-to-Day Contact (Questions 14–15)
On capacity: ask what advance notice they need if your monthly volume doubles, and whether they have handled that kind of ramp-up with another client. "We can scale with you" without specifics is not useful information. On communication: get the name of your assigned contact and ask about their typical response time for non-urgent questions. If reaching the same person twice during the sales process is already difficult, that pattern will not improve after you have signed. Ask how they communicate production delays - through what channel, and with how much lead time.
The Question Almost Nobody Asks
After working through the standard list, add this one before closing the call: If we end this relationship, who owns the formula?
Most first-time co-packer clients never raise it. Your product formula - including any adjustments made during development with the co-packer's input - is real IP. A well-drafted agreement should specify that the formula belongs to you, that the co-packer cannot use it for other clients, and that all copies are returned or destroyed at contract termination. This is separate from an NDA, which covers disclosure but not ownership. For brands working with OEM or private label arrangements, IP ownership across the full product and packaging needs to be defined before production begins, not after a dispute arises.
What to Cover Before You Sign
A written agreement should address these areas at minimum:
- Scope of services - exactly what the co-packer produces and delivers, with nothing left to assumption
- Complete fee structure - all charges including setup, waste allowance, storage, and minimum run fees
- Lead times and delivery commitments - written, with clear recourse if dates are missed
- Batch rejection protocol - what constitutes a failed batch, who bears the cost, and what the rework or replacement process looks like
- Formula and IP ownership - explicitly stated, including what happens at contract termination
- Confidentiality agreement - effective from the first detailed conversation, not after the contract is signed
- Termination clause - your exit rights and how finished goods, raw materials, and IP are handled
For agreements involving meaningful production volumes, an attorney with food industry experience is worth the cost. If you are using private label packaging, confirm who owns the label design and controls future reorders. If you need custom container options with your own branding, specify in the contract who sources those components and who owns the tooling or design files.
Comparing Two Co-Packers: A Simple Scorecard
Once you have had initial conversations with two or three candidates, score each one against the same criteria on a 1–5 scale. This makes the comparison concrete rather than impressionistic.
| Criteria | Co-Packer A (1–5) | Co-Packer B (1–5) |
|---|---|---|
| Direct experience with your product type | ||
| Current GFSI certification with recent audit score | ||
| Total landed cost (all fees included, not just unit rate) | ||
| Container compatibility confirmed in writing | ||
| Lead time reliability (confirmed by references) | ||
| Communication responsiveness during sales process | ||
| Realistic capacity headroom for your projected growth |
FAQ
Q: What food safety certification should a US co-packer have?
A: For brands targeting major US retail channels, look for a current GFSI-benchmarked certification - most commonly SQF or BRCGS. SQF Level 2 covers food safety; Level 3 also covers food quality management. If you are targeting a specific retailer, confirm their requirements directly before filtering co-packers, as standards and minimum audit scores vary by buyer. Always ask for the audit score alongside the certificate itself.
Q: What is a realistic minimum order quantity for a small food brand?
A: MOQs vary significantly by product type and facility size. For most early-stage brands, a co-packer willing to run 1,000–5,000 units per production run is a reasonable starting target. The Contract Packaging Association maintains directories of vetted US co-packers organized by product category and region, which is a useful starting point for building your shortlist.
Q: Can I bring my own containers to the co-packer?
A: Yes, and many brands prefer this for better control over specs, cost, and brand consistency. Before placing a bulk container order, confirm equipment compatibility with your co-packer and obtain FDA compliance documentation from your container supplier. For guidance on what to look for when vetting food-contact packaging, our quality control standards for takeout containers page covers the key evaluation criteria.
Q: What happens if a production batch fails quality standards?
A: Without a contract clause addressing this specifically, disputes over failed batches are slow and expensive to resolve. Your agreement should define what constitutes a failed batch, who bears the cost of rejected or reworked material, and the timeline for resolution. Agreeing on these terms before the first run protects both parties if something goes wrong - and in food production, something eventually does.
Q: One More Step Before You Commit
A: No checklist removes all risk from a co-packer relationship. What these questions do is surface the gaps, misalignments, and warning signs before they turn into production problems. Run through the scorecard above with your top two candidates - the gaps between them will be clearer than you expect. If you need help sourcing food-grade containers that meet your co-packer's equipment requirements and US compliance standards, reach out to our team and we will help you work through the specs before your first run.