Making it for somebody else

Making soap under someone else's brand, which for a maker with cure space is a way to fill it.

The other side of copacking

Same relationship, opposite seat: you are the manufacturer and someone else owns the brand.

Which means the terms on the copacking contract page are the terms you will be asked to accept, and it is worth reading them from that side.

Who actually buys it

Hotels, spas and holiday lets, who want small bars with their name on and reorder predictably.

Gift shops, museums and wineries, who want a bar tied to their place.

Wedding and event buyers, who want a one-off run and are the least profitable of the three.

And small brands who sell but do not make, which is the largest and most demanding category.

What it does to your operation

It fills cure racks with committed stock rather than speculative stock, which is genuinely valuable.

It forces a written process, because you now have a customer-agreed specification.

It adds a packaging line, since their packaging is not yours.

And it adds deadline risk that your own retail does not have: a wedding date does not move, and the cure does not shorten, so a failed batch six weeks out has no recovery.

Which is the reason to quote long lead times and to hold safety stock rather than to be optimistic.

Pricing and terms

Above wholesale, not at it, because you are carrying their specification, their packaging and their deadline.

A minimum order that makes a batch worth setting up for, and a deposit against materials.

Who owns the formula: if it is yours, say they may not take it to another maker.

Who is responsible for their label being correct, which matters because the label determines the category and your name may appear on it as the manufacturer.

And a written specification with weights and tolerances, so "not quite right" has a definition.

References