Co-packing: what it is, when to outsource and what to look for

What falls under co-packing?

The term co-packing covers a wide range of activities: it is an umbrella term for packaging and assembly work that you outsource to a specialised party. Depending on your product and supply chain, this can include:

• Packing products into retail packaging or e-commerce boxes
• Building sets and bundles: gift sets, promotional packs, kits
• Display building for supermarkets or DIY retailers
• Repacking for a new market or retailer specification
• Relabeling: applying correct labels for EU import or retail requirements
• Rework: correcting production deviations or incorrectly packed goods
• Shrink-wrapping, stickering and multipack assembly
• Inserting instruction booklets or adding accessories to a pack

In practice, co-packing often runs alongside other logistics services: storage, fulfillment and transport. Many companies choose to consolidate these with a single partner, which reduces transport movements and shortens lead times.

When does co-packing make sense?

Co-packing is not the right choice for every situation. It delivers the most value when one or more of the following applies to your business:

You have seasonal peaks. Hiring your own staff for busy periods is costly and inflexible. A co-packer scales with you, both up and down, without you needing to hire or let go of staff yourself.

Your packaging process is labour-intensive. Manual operations like packing, labeling or assembly are expensive to organise in-house. A specialist has the people, workstations and work instructions to do this more efficiently.

You are entering a new market. Every country has its own labeling requirements, language requirements and retailer specifications. A co-packer who does this daily prevents costly mistakes and delayed deliveries.

You want to protect your core activities. Packaging and labeling are necessary, but rarely your core competency. Outsourcing this frees up capacity for what truly differentiates your business.

Co-packing or your own packaging line?

Whether to outsource co-packing or invest in your own packaging line depends on three factors: volume, variety and continuity.

• Volume: Your own line only becomes cost-effective at high, stable volumes. Below that threshold, outsourcing is structurally cheaper.
• Variety: If your product mix changes regularly, the flexibility of a co-packer is a significant advantage. Your own line is difficult to adapt to varying assignments.
• Continuity: Your own machines require maintenance, staff and space. A co-packer takes all these operational burdens off your hands.

For most small and medium-sized businesses, and even many larger ones, co-packing is structurally more cost-effective than running an in-house packaging operation. Especially when you factor in the hidden costs: machine management, quality assurance, internal coordination and downtime due to illness.

Co-packing for food and organic products

For food and organic products, additional requirements apply to the packaging process. Think of hygiene regulations, traceability and certifications that demonstrate your product has been handled correctly.

Service Pack is ISO 9001 certified and also holds Skal certification. This means we are authorised to carry out co-packing assignments for organic products. In practice this includes:

• Applying multilingual market labels to beverages, sauces or other food products
• Repacking organic products for a new market or retailer
• Assembling food gift sets or seasonal packaging
• Kitting food products with non-food accessories (e.g. a bottle and accessory in one box)

Skal certification is a hard requirement for organic products: without a certified co-packer, your product loses its organic status. Always verify this before engaging a co-packer for food assignments.

What to look for when choosing a co-packer

Not every co-packer is suited for every assignment. Pay attention to the following when making your choice:

• Certifications: ISO 9001 is a minimum requirement for quality assurance. For food or organic products, Skal certification is mandatory. Always ask for current certificates.
• Flexibility: Can the co-packer scale quickly? What is the minimum run size? How do they handle urgent assignments?
• Location: How close is the co-packer to your suppliers or distribution centres? Transport is a hidden cost that adds up quickly with frequent assignments.
• Transparency: Do you get real-time visibility into stock levels and progress? Good co-packers work with clear reporting and a dedicated point of contact.
• Track record: Ask for concrete cases. How many comparable projects have they completed? Ask for references in your sector.
• Combined services: A co-packer that also offers warehousing, fulfillment and container unloading saves you transport movements and reduces the risk of errors in handovers.

Service Pack BV handles co-packing from 45,000 m² of logistics space in Etten-Leur, 30 minutes from Rotterdam and Antwerp. We are ISO 9001 and Skal certified and work for e-commerce companies, manufacturers, importers and retail brands. No minimum contract duration, no lengthy implementation projects.

Frequently asked questions about co-packing