The increasing awareness around preventive healthcare and growing interest in health and wellness has led to an unprecendented growth in the supplements and nutraceuticals space. Consumers are looking forward to experiement with newer delivery formats that are convenient, easy to carry and tasty too. Looking at the consumer’s preferences and willingness to explore – brands are offering gummies, efferveascent tablets, powder premixes, jelly based drinks, functional beverages, fortified coffees and a lot more.
Innovation is great but needs to be backed by consistency, scalability and efficacy. Every successful supplement brand needs a trusted contract manufacturer to ensure the product is stable, effective, scalable, compliant and safe. Let us deep dive into what makes a truly great partnership between a brand and the contract manufacturer, the common pitfalls one can avoid and how Biowearth can accelerate your brand’s journey from concept to shelf in this fiercely competitive space!
Things a Brand should look for in a Contract Manufacturer
The right contract manufacturer will help you build your business and support your growth. Things you should consider before you zero down on your contract manufacturing partner –
Sourcing
Choosing the right ingredients and a reliable supplier is essential for your order timelines. A good contract manufacturer should focus on identifying right suppliers, perform quality checks on incoming raw material, maintain proper documentation and track the materials for every batch being manufactured in their premises. Traceability, consistent quality and timely supply of raw materials plays a pivotal role in the manufacturing cycle.
Product Offerings and R&D Capability
The contract manufacturing partner should have profound knowledge about the ingredients, their efficacy and functional properties. Having a wide range of ready formualtions to choose from can be an added advantage. They should have the readiness to work with new ingredients and at the same time reject innovative ideas that are not functional. They should have the capability to fully understand the product from all aspects – consumer demand, preferences, regulatory, efficacy, taste, ingredient sourcing, design and packaging.
At Biowearth, we work with our customers to develop new formulations that are functional and we are experts in vegan and sugar free gummies, powder premixes, protein blends, prebiotic formulations and have a wide variety of ready formulations in tablets, capsules, powders, beverages etc.
Packaging and Branding
Packaging is not just about looks, it is a mix of functionality, ease of use, convenient to carry, optimised for transportation, shelf life, knowing \ambient conditions like temperature and humidity, product preservation and consumer preference.
It is also important to choose right packaging material, maintain visual appeal and harmony with the brand and other products in the family. A good contract manfuacturer understands all this and will work with the brand to share the learning and highlight the contraints. At Biowearth, in addition to the factorrs metioned here, we provide print proofs of labels, outer boxes, master cartons for approval, before actual production begins.
Quality and Regulatory
A product wins when the consumers experience the efficacy. A brand needs to deliver what it promises and the product needs to do what it claims. To achieve this, thorough quality checks have to be done at each stage of the product lifecycle. For the product to reach the consumer, it goes via multiple sales channels and regulatory approvals, each of which demands relevant licenses, approvals and certifications. At Biowearth, we carefully choose our suppliers and vendors, after knowing the target market of your product – every country may have different set of rules around product, brand and seller complainces. We understand the domestic and international markets and their requirements in terms of product quality checks from accredited laboratories or the documentation needed for exports.
Scalability
A new brand or a product would like to start small and scale up gradually. Work with a contract manufacturer who is ready to support small orders and has the ability to scale up as the business grows. At Biowearth, we offer both scalability and flexibility, for you to launch products, test the market, gain consumer feedback and scale up.
A word of caution for contract manufacturers and brand owners
Here are some common and easily avoidable mistakes usually committed by brands which ultimately cost time and money and bring in disappointment and frustration –
Focusing only on low price : Cheapest might not always be the best and can lead to quality and functional failures. A good quality product at a good price can be achived with scale and volumes. Low price should not compromise on quality.
Ignoring Lab trials : Getting the taste, texture and packaging right is of utmost importance for customer experience. Always get the product trials done, proof read your packaging and experience the product before going for full scale production.
Disregarding Lead times : For any new brand or product, the first order can take longer than expected due to various factors – sourcing ingredients, getting regulatory approvals, getting packaging ready and more. Plan your launches accordingly
Neglecting Documentation: Regulatory approvals for your company, brand and product are needed across all sales channels. Make sure you have everything in place while preparing for your launch.
Misleading product claims: You should thoroughly understand your product, ingredients and their concentration, dosage, allergens and their functional impact on the consumer. The marketing claims should completely align with what the product actually delivers.
Failing to protect your IP: Openly discuss and conclude on the rightful ownership of the IP around the product, brand, and packaging; prepare and sign contracts to avoid conflicts in the future.
Mistakes in manufacturing can cost time, money, trust or reputation.
Choosing Biowearth – A Partner and not just a manufacturer for YOUR Brand
In the journey of creating a successful supplement brand, a good contract manufacturer is not a mere entity in the supply chain, but an integral part of the brand story which will impact trust, safety, efficacy and scalability for your brand. Choose a partner like Biowearth who is ready to collaborate, believe in your goals and is ready to walk the path with you. At Biowearth, we add value to this partnership in multiple ways –
- We provide complete support in preparing the right formulation
- We offer ready formulations and also willingly customise them for your needs
- We have a well defined process right from making lab samples to getting the final production ready for launch
- We are diligent in maintaining quality and regulatory compliance.
- We have profound experience in domestic and international markets
- We work with vendors having certified facilities
- We offer scalability and flexibility in MOQs
Get in touch with us today on info@biowearthglobal.com to take the next step in your brand journey.
Let us together make your Brand a reality.
