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Contract Manufacturing

Contract Manufacturing is the process of taking some ideas and created a bespoke range of products from scracth. This differs from private label where pre agreed/pre formualted products are created under your brand.

Often small companies do not fully understand the work involved in creating a new product range and getting this to market. Wendy fully udnerstands this having gone through this process in 2008, launching a full range of skincare to an export market in Hong Kong.  From Nature Ltd offers a niche service to help small businesses develop and create products in small volumes to test the market. Our cpacity is maximum of 10 kg batch sizes or multiples of, and then we are happy for your to take your product manufacturing to a larger manufacturer.  

Things to consider about contract manufacturing- what sort of product types, packaging, market, branding, price point,  certifications, countries to be sold in.

From Nature Ltd offers tow forms of contract manufacturing- the first is where we take over the manufacturing of your products for you (formualtion already developed); and the second is where we are starting from scratch for you.

Why are test batches important?

When developing skincare products many small scale producers start out by making tiny batches of a few hundred grams, adding drops of this and that to get to the formula. While this is fne for home use products once you wish to sell it is vitally important your products are consistent from batch to batch. Most larger scale contract manufacturers product is batches of 100kg a time so it is very easy to get consistency. Most of the batches I make for clients are 5-10kg size which is generally ok for consistency, howeer even then there can be some minor variations between batches. I always recommend a 'test batch' is made if working off someone elses formula.  This really is the smallest practical size to get a feel of how the product feels, how ingredients behave etc. Upscaling is not just about increasing the volume of ingredients. In addition things like different mixers (high speed homogeniser vs. standard stick blender, temperature of different oils or ingredients, the order they are added to a formula all matter.Having a test batch made and added to your retail containers is the best way to do a final evaluation. Stability, visual appeal, ease of use are also tested. For example the size of the pump is important, what the product looks like in the container. One international  customer ordered 200 jars as a test batch and these were shipped around the world as the product needed to be acceptable in both hot and cold climates. One of the most variable ingredients when upscaling is the aroma. Many people measure their essential oils in drops in the home sized micro batches. However in larger batches oils will be added usually by weight, maybe by volumes. A drop is a highly variable measure and it is not practical to be counting out hundreds of drops.   This is why test batches are important.