FDA Compliance Simplified is privileged to help companies of all sizes and from all over the globe achieve compliance with FDA regulations.  Many are referred to us by existing customers, some find us online, and other come to us through quality service providers that help growing brands thrive. Today, we have a guest blog post from one such growth accelerator, Amazing Brands.  I believe that companies of all sizes will benefit from the comments of Jean-Victor Mariolle, Founder & CEO of Amazing Brands.

The Trend Towards Private Labeling

Today’s trend is for retailers to bring in private label products in order to expand product offerings. The requirements for providing retailers with private label products are a bit different than for branded products.

Food and Beverage manufacturers thinking to provide private label products should keep the following checklist in mind when considering a private label deal for the USA Market. It is important to prepare for meeting the requirements of  large retailers. This is an essential step to seize opportunities that arise from sales prospecting or trade shows. It will also save you and your team precious time down the road as retailers often provide tight deadlines to get on-boarded. There is no time to figure it out as you go!

Here is our checklist to increase your chance of success:

  • Have up to date production facility audits on hand. It is always best to have an audit that falls under the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) umbrella.
  • Have a market audit ready to be shared with retailers to show how your proposition compares with other similar propositions out there. List all key attributes, price points, and current distribution scope.
  • For private label, explain your pricing value versus NBE (National Brand Equivalent) while keeping in mind your product needs to perform as well as the national brand or better.
  • Inquire about all costs of doing business such as design fees, spoils, payment terms or new item setup fees.
  • Inquire about specific claims and product certifications that would be mandatory for the retailer to consider your offer(s).
  • Understand if the retailer has a preferred distributor they work with or if the program is direct to the retailer’s warehouses.
  • Understand if there is a preferred case pack. Does the case need to be a Shelf Ready Package, Display Case or Regular case?
  • Obtain any Packaging & Ingredients guidelines as retailers move towards more sustainable packaging as well as cleaner ingredients.
  • Have your packaging die lines ready in different formats, such as ai, jpeg, etc.
  • Have your packaging reviewed by an FDA consultant.
  • Ask the retailer if they require any specific quality testing on the finished goods and if so, ask what frequency of testing is required.
  • Determine whether there is any guaranteed time span for the business relationship.
  • Learn how many months of packaging and finished goods the retailer will accept to have on hand. This is very important in case the business is discontinued.
  • Find out the estimated store count and unit volumes for the business you are targeting

This is mostly applicable to grocery whereas other channels such as Drug Channels or Convenience can have different requirements.

At Amazing Brands, we help Food & Beverage manufacturers introduce their items to key USA retailers. We work with both domestic and international suppliers. We consider ourselves as an extension of your sales team and we are able to help with many different services as listed on our website.

Jean-Victor Mariolle, Founder & CEO.