How it works
From your first email to pallets on a truck.
Five steps. One of them has a clock on it, and we have drawn that clock to scale below rather than describing it.
Per product. Below that we say so on the first call.
From approved formula to finished goods.
Up front. Balance on completion, before shipment.
Only if you arrive without a formula.
Lead times in this industry are usually an adjective.
Ours is a number, and here is where it starts and where it stops, set against a figure a competitor publishes for the same stage.
3–4weeks
Approved formula to finished goods.
- Week 050% deposit
- On completionBalance, before it leaves the building
14–16weeks
Initial manufacturing run, including component sourcing.
2,000units
Per product, across every category we run.
5,000units
The one other manufacturer in this metro we found publishing a minimum.
Off the ruler Steps 01 to 04 have no published duration. They move at the speed of the decisions inside them, and most of those decisions are yours. We are not going to invent a number for them.
On the ruler Step 05 is the clock above. Fifty percent up front, the balance before it leaves the building.
Step 01 of 05, volume and format
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You tell us the volume and the format
That is genuinely all we need to say yes or no. Our minimum is 2,000 units per product. If your first run is smaller, we will tell you straight away rather than three conversations later.
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We sign a non-disclosure agreement
Before you send us a formula, a sample, or a supplier name. It goes both ways and it is signed before anything technical is discussed.
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The formula, yours or ours
If you have one, we work to it and tell you honestly whether it will scale. Formulas that behave on a bench sometimes do not behave in a 2,000 unit batch, and it is better to know that now. If you do not have one, our lab develops it with you for a $500 product development fee.
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A bench sample you can actually hold
A small lab batch of the real thing. You use it, you live with it, and you tell us what to change. Nothing scales up until you have signed off on what is in your hand.
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Production, fill and ship
Three to four weeks from approved formula to finished goods. We can source your bottles, caps and closures at no extra charge, or fill into componentry you supply. Fifty percent is due up front and the balance before it leaves the building.
Established buyers can skip the deposit.
The fifty percent up front exists because most first runs are for brands we have not worked with before. If you are already selling at volume and we can see the history, talk to us about terms. We would rather structure it properly than lose a good account over cash flow.
The clock above needs Darin to confirm one boundary before this page goes live. The three to four weeks was stated at the plant visit without a start point, and this page reads it as the production clock: approved formula and componentry on site, through to finished goods. Separately, the recording carries a second three-to-four-week figure, from the $500 payment to the first lab sample. That one is deliberately not drawn here, because it has not been confirmed and the transcript line is unclear. Confirm both and steps 03 and 04 can come onto the ruler instead of sitting off it. This block deletes itself the moment the answer is known.
Tell us the volume and the format.
Two answers and we can tell you whether this is worth either of our time.
Start a project