Co packer guide: moving a food or sauce out of your kitchen

What a co packer does

Penn State Extension describes a co-packer, or co-manufacturer, as an established food company that processes and packages your product according to your specifications. You bring the product: the recipe, the brand, the label and the buyers. The co-packer brings a licensed plant, staff, equipment and the paperwork that comes with running a food facility.

Copacking services range widely. Some co-packers only fill and seal what you supply. Others source ingredients, develop or scale your recipe, print or apply labels, store finished cases and ship to distributors. A small co-packer may also rent kitchen time, so the line between a shared kitchen and a co-packer is not always sharp.

The trade-off is cost and choice. Penn State Extension notes that costs are higher and there are a limited number of co-packers. What you get back is time: you stop cooking and filling jars and spend that time selling.

When to move from your kitchen to a co-packer

Many food makers start under a state cottage food law or in a rented commercial kitchen. A co-packer becomes worth a look when one of these is true:

• You want to sell wholesale, across state lines or online, and your state's cottage food rules do not allow it. Cottage food rules differ from state to state.
• Production days are eating the time you need for sales, and orders are steady enough to plan a run weeks ahead.
• A retailer or distributor asks for a supplier with a registered facility, a food safety certification or product liability insurance.
• Your product is a sauce, pickle or salsa that needs a validated process and equipment you do not have, such as a hot-fill line.
• You can pay for a full minimum run up front and store or sell the cases before they go out of date.

If your volume is still small, a shared commissary kitchen is often the step in between: you still make the food, but in a licensed space.

Who holds the FDA registration, the recipe and the label

Federal food facility registration follows the building where the work happens. Under 21 CFR 1.227, a facility is a place that manufactures/processes, packs, or holds food for consumption in the United States, and The private residence of an individual is not a facility. When a co-packer makes your food, its plant is the facility. A brand owner who never makes, packs or holds the food is usually not a facility, though your state may still license you as a food distributor or wholesaler.

The recipe is a different matter. Federal law does not decide who owns a formula; your contract does. The table shows the usual split. Check each line against your own agreement.

Minimum runs and what co-packing costs

Every co-packer sets a minimum order quantity, because each run means cleaning, setting up and changing over a line. The minimums vary by plant and product. On the Mass.gov co-packer list, one dry and baked goods co-packer states MOQ 5,000 units, while an industrial frozen batter co-packer lists min. dry 7000 lbs/month. Ask each plant for its own minimum in writing.

Pricing is usually per unit, and it can include separate charges for setup, recipe scale-up, ingredients, packaging, labels, storage and pallets. Ask for a written quote that breaks these out, and ask what changes when you double the run.

Example: a sauce maker who sells 40 jars a week at markets would need months to sell a run of several thousand jars. Before the first run, check the shelf life, where the cases will be stored and who has already agreed to buy them.

Using a co-packer for sauces, salsas and pickles

Many shelf-stable sauces, salsas and pickles are acidified foods under federal rules: low-acid foods to which acid(s) or acid food(s) are added, brought to a finished equilibrium pH of 4.6 or below. The plant that makes them must register on Form FDA 2541 not later than 10 days after first so engaging and file its scheduled process not later than 60 days after registration, and before packing any new product. The process has to be set by a qualified person who has expert knowledge acquired through appropriate training and experience, often called a process authority.

In practice, a co-packer for sauces will either use a process it already has on file for a similar product or ask you to get your recipe reviewed by a process authority before the first run. Some plants help with this step: one listing on the Mass.gov co-packer list offers filing FDA forms for acidified products to process authority for scheduled process. The same list marks plants with the code FFSP = File Forms for Scheduled Process. Ask the co-packer which process authority it works with and who pays for the review and any lab tests.

What to settle in a co-packer agreement

A co-packer agreement is the contract that sets out who does what, who pays and who is responsible when something goes wrong. Have a lawyer read it before you sign. These are the terms to settle in writing:

1. Formula ownership. State that you own the recipe, any version the co-packer adapts for its line, and the right to take it to another plant.
2. Confidentiality. A non-disclosure clause that covers the recipe, suppliers and customer list, signed before you send the formula.
3. Minimums and lead times. The minimum run, how far ahead you must order, and what happens to a run you cancel.
4. Pricing. Per-unit price, setup fees, and how price changes for ingredients and packaging are passed on.
5. Specifications and quality. The written product spec, how batches are tested and held, and what happens to a batch that fails.
6. Liability and insurance. Who carries product liability insurance, at what limits, and whether each side names the other as an additional insured.
7. Recalls. Who decides to recall, who pays, and who contacts buyers. Under FDA rules, A firm may decide of its own volition and under any circumstances to remove or correct a distributed product, and a firm that believes its product is violative is requested to notify immediately the appropriate Food and Drug Administration district office.
8. Ownership of ingredients, packaging and finished goods, and how long the co-packer stores them.
9. Term and exit. How either side can end the agreement and what happens to leftover labels, packaging and stock.

Where to find co packing companies and food co-packers

Start with lists kept by state agencies and university extension programs. They are free and usually note what each plant makes, such as sauces, baked goods, beverages or frozen food.

Mass.gov keeps a Co-Packer Businesses page that lists shared-use kitchens and co-packers with their product types and, for some, their minimums. Penn State Extension keeps a list of co-packers in Pennsylvania and beyond, last updated December 16, 2025. Penn State states that it does do not endorse any particular company, so check each plant yourself.

Search for your own state's agriculture department or food science extension program as well; many keep similar lists. Rules for food businesses vary by state and city. This page is general information, not legal advice.

• Ask for the plant's FDA registration status and its last inspection or audit result.
• Ask which products like yours it already makes, and for a sample run or pilot batch.
• Ask for references from small brands, and visit the plant before the first run.

Where Nation fits

Questions about co-packers