"How much will this cost?" is almost always the first question a brand founder asks a co-packer — and almost always the hardest to answer with a single number, because contract manufacturing pricing depends on several moving parts. Here's how those parts actually work, so a quote makes sense the moment you get one.
The four cost drivers
1. Setup fee
Most co-packers charge a one-time setup fee to configure a production run — calibrating fill equipment, prepping the line, and running quality checks before the first unit is filled. Setup fees are typically highest for small pilot runs (since the fixed cost of setting up a line is spread across fewer units) and shrink or disappear entirely at higher volumes.
2. Per-unit filling labor
This is the cost of actually filling, capping, and labeling each unit, and it varies by product type. Thick or difficult-to-handle products — creams, honey, hot sauces, tinctures — generally cost more per unit to fill than free-flowing liquids or capsules, because they run slower through equipment and require more manual handling.
3. Ingredients & packaging materials
Unless your co-packer is sourcing ingredients and packaging on your behalf, bottles, caps, labels, and raw ingredients are typically billed separately from labor. Ask specifically whether a quote is labor-only or all-in — this is the single biggest source of "surprise" pricing in the industry.
4. Add-ons
Label design, custom formulation R&D, compliance documentation (hemp/CBD or TTB/alcohol), rush turnaround, and tamper-evident sealing are typically priced as optional add-ons on top of the base run. None of these are required to get started — you only pay for what you actually need.
How service level changes the price
Most brands fall into one of three categories, and each has a different cost structure:
- Fill It — you already have a finished product ready to go; the co-packer just fills, caps, and labels. This is the lowest-cost path.
- Make & Fill — you have a formula, and the co-packer sources ingredients and produces it for you. This adds a production package fee on top of filling labor.
- Launch My Brand — starting from scratch, with formulation development included. This is the most involved (and highest-cost) path, but it's the right one if you don't have a formula yet.
Why cost per unit drops as quantity increases
Almost every co-packer prices in volume tiers: a 100-unit pilot run costs more per unit than a 2,500-unit production run, because the fixed costs (setup, line changeover) are spread across more units, and larger runs are simply more efficient to produce. This is exactly why most co-packers — including Oria Lab — recommend a small pilot run first: it lets you validate the product and the market before committing to a larger, cheaper-per-unit order.
Skip the guesswork. Oria Lab's quote calculator walks through your product type, service level, quantity, and add-ons, and gives you an instant ballpark estimate — no sales call required to get a starting number.
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