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CPGs: Build Relationships for Contract Packaging Success

Robby Martin of Bush Brothers shares those factors that go into building great relationships between Consumer Packaged Goods companies and contract packagers/contract manufacturers.

Robbie Martin

Consumers are changing their habits. They are making their selections on Consumer Packaged Goods products based on an ever-changing set of criteria. From digital shopping to home delivery, consumers continue to form a new world of shopping (and shipping). Even consumers still visiting traditional grocery and retail stores are making their choices on new and different criteria such as sustainability and other socially conscious values.

As CPGs continue to be under fire to respond to consumers’ changing demands, they are pressed to develop new products, or at least new packaging for their products, more quickly than ever before. The subject of Contract Packaging magazine, and indeed the membership of organizations like CPA –The Association for Contract Packagers and Manufacturers, is a growing subject of focus in many organizations. But, the reasons for CPGs to partner with contract packagers and manufacturers can be varied. The reasons a CPG company might choose a co-man might include:

1.    The CPG’s infrastructure doesn’t support small-scale development and production.

2.     The right co-man provides for a nimble development process with product and/or package, helping the CPG to move more quickly.

3.     The CPG may be trying to keep something “off the radar,” and the co-man may enhance the management of secrecy and confidentiality.

4.     The CPG is partnering with a co-packer to keep risk out of their mainstream production systems.

No matter the reason a CPG pursues a relationship with a co-man, there are many aspects to what creates success in these partnerships. I often hear that one of the most consistent factors discussed by industry friends is the relationship they maintain with their partners. I believe relationships have enabled my project teams to identify those partnerships that extended our team and our capabilities the most. So, let’s look at what makes a great relationship.

I believe great relationships have many factors, some of which may be uncontrollable. For instance, personality fit (or misfit) may occur simply by chance. However, there are other factors—controllable factors, I believe—that can have a profound effect on a successful CPG/co-man relationship, including:

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