Who you buy from
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In a business where packaging costs more than formula, supplier choice is most of your cost base.
Four kinds of supplier
Cosmetic ingredient distributors for wax, butter and oil, with specifications and certificates.
Packaging suppliers for tubes, caps, pots and bands. Usually a different world entirely, with larger minimums and longer lead times.
Label printers, where the minimum order is the constraint rather than the price.
Flavor and color houses, which is the most specialized of the four and where asking for lip approval matters most.
What to judge them on
Documentation first: specification, certificate of analysis, lot number, production date, INCI name.
Consistency second. A supplier whose shea grains differently every lot costs you batches.
Minimum order third, because a good price at a quantity you cannot use is not a good price.
And lead time, which is the one that causes actual damage. A stockout on tubes stops production entirely, and you cannot substitute a tube without changing the fill weight on a printed label.
Second-sourcing
Have a second supplier identified for every critical item before you need one, particularly the tube and the label.
And test the alternative before the emergency: a second-source tube with a slightly different internal volume changes the declared net weight, which you would rather discover on a quiet Tuesday.
The relationship worth having
The one where they will tell you a material has changed. Suppliers substitute, reformulate and change origin, and most will not mention it unless you have made it clear you want to know.
Ask once, explicitly, that you be told about any change of source or specification. It costs nothing and it is the difference between a diagnosed batch problem and an undiagnosed one.