Choosing and working with a manufacturer
From the first enquiry to the first batch: samples, contracts, minimum orders, lead times, payment terms and audits.
Decide the product and route first, then check proof of making for other brands, certificates, minimum order, lead time, a sample and the contract.
No single figure: manufacturers publish weeks for a ready product, months for a new formula. Accelerated stability tests often run 1, 2, 3 or more months.
Yes. Ask which kind: a catalogue product, a development sample or a pilot batch. A sample shows what was made once, not that the batch will match it.
The specification, quality checks, price, payment, delivery term, confidentiality, formula ownership, liability, law and disputes. No EU model was found.
Not for a first enquiry that reveals nothing secret; yes before you send a formula or drawings. The EU IP Helpdesk adds that an NDA is a contract, not a lock.
Ask which scheme audit covers the site (BRCGS, IFS, FSSC 22000, cosmetics GMP, SMETA), check it in the register, then audit what it leaves out.
Incoterms 2020 gives 11 delivery rules; EU law caps agreed business payment periods at 60 days unless expressly agreed, with interest and EUR 40 if late.
Private label is about whose brand is on the pack; an OEM makes to the customer's specification; an ODM designs the product and usually keeps the design.
A co-packer is a contract manufacturer that performs packaging operations; a private label manufacturer makes the product itself for your brand.
Choose the route, protect the name, learn your product's rules, choose and check a manufacturer, test samples, sign, place a first order, then sell.
The formula route, packaging, batch size, tests, certificates, labour cost, and delivery and payment terms. Compare quotations for one brief.
For Amazon Brand Registry, yes: a pending or registered mark. A national mark for one class costs EUR 90 in Latvia, EUR 145 in Estonia and EUR 250 in Finland.
The three services side by side, how manufacturers use the words, and who owns the formula.
- What is the difference between the three?
- Do manufacturers use these words the same way?
- Can I start with a ready-made product and develop my own later?
- Who owns the formula?
- What should my first enquiry say?
Register, proof that it makes for other brands, where the product is made, certificates and what to ask before paying.
- Where do I check the company register?
- Does the company make products for other brands?
- Where will my product be made?
- How do I read a certificate claim?
- What should be the same in every quotation?
- What should I ask before paying?
How often manufacturers publish a minimum order, by country, and how to compare quantities in different units.
- How often do manufacturers publish their terms?
- Which countries publish minimum orders most often?
- Is there a typical minimum order in Northern Europe?
- How do I get a minimum order for my product?
How these answers are made
Outside facts come from the source named under each answer: EU law on EUR-Lex, national authorities, Eurostat and the countries’ trade agencies, each with the date it was checked. Numbers about manufacturers are counted from the directory itself, the same way the ranked lists count them, and change when the data does. The guides are general information, not legal advice. Missing a question? Ask us.