Download the Co-Packer Vetting Framework
Before You Commit to a Co-Packer, There Are Questions You Don’t Know to Ask Yet.
A free, printable vetting framework for beverage founders, built from real co-packer engagements where the wrong questions (or no questions) cost brands a year or more.
One of the very first things you said was,
look, this can be a lot less expensive and you’ll probably get better service elsewhere.
I didn’t want to believe it because switching felt so risky. But you were right. We should have done this two years ago.
Beverage Founder
Before You Commit
The Co-Packer Search Most Beverage Founders Run Costs Them More Than They Realize
Find some options. Get some quotes. Pick the one that feels right. That’s how most founders choose a beverage manufacturer.
It tends to hold until something goes wrong. And by the time it does, the commitment is already made.
The pricing looked good but the minimum order quantity is crushing cash flow.
The co-packer said yes to everything but can’t explain why batches are inconsistent.
The contract has terms that weren’t fully understood and can’t easily be exited.
These aren’t rare disasters. They’re the predictable result of a high-stakes commitment made without a structured way to evaluate what’s being walked into.
On the first call. During the site visit. Before the contract is signed.
Why I Built This Framework
Hi, I’m Matt Carden, founder of Rapid CPG.
After training at the Culinary Institute of America, I worked through wine, kombucha, functional beverages, and coffee at Revive Drinks, Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Keurig, and Dr Pepper before founding Rapid CPG. I work with beverage founders in the $1M–$5M range, where the co-packer you choose shapes margins, cash, and your ability to scale for years.
The same sequence keeps repeating. A brand commits to a co-packer that looks credible on paper. Then production starts and the relationship can’t carry the volume, the rate, or the format the brand is actually running. The evaluation skipped phases. Surface answers were accepted. The gaps embedded themselves.
This framework is the 4-phase process I use with my own clients. It covers what to prepare before outreach, how to run a useful first conversation, what to verify before you sign, and how to validate the relationship through a pilot.
If you want a second set of eyes on what surfaces, my calendar is open.
— Matt Carden
Founder, Rapid CPG
A Working Tool You Bring to Calls, Not a PDF You Save and Forget
A 4-phase process for evaluating beverage manufacturing partners. Each phase ends with a decision point: advance, eliminate, or hold.
01
Phase 0 — Internal Readiness
Documentation, formula readiness, packaging, volume assumptions, and decision authority, set before a single co-packer is contacted.
02
Phase 1 — Scoping Calls & Quote Comparison
First conversations and structured quote exchanges with 2–3 candidates. The goal at this phase is comparison, not selection.
03
Phase 2 — Finalist Review
Contract terms, organizational fit, and site visits with 1–2 finalists. Where you evaluate seriously before committing.
04
Phase 3 — Legal, Pilot & Launch
Final contract structure with counsel, pre-pilot coordination, and a live pilot run that validates whether their systems hold under real production.
What Changes When You Evaluate with Discipline
Batch Spec Compliance
98%+
Up from roughly 70%, after a structured co-packer replacement.
A wellness shot brand spent over a year with a co-packer that lacked commercial manufacturing capability. Once the relationship was replaced and production-ready specifications were in place, batches began consistently meeting spec at the measurement gate.
The figure reflects quality consistency through measurement and co-packer selection, not a whole-operation guarantee.
Co-Packing Rate Reduction
38%
Per unit, after a structured transition.
A beverage brand had outgrown its original manufacturer but believed switching was too risky. A disciplined evaluation mapped the transition structurally, evaluating regions, matching equipment capability to product, and de-risking the move itself.
Tolling fee reduction per unit only, not ingredient, container, or packaging costs.
Download the Co-Packer Vetting Framework
Download the framework. Run it before your next co-packer conversation. Then decide what to advance, what to eliminate, and what to hold.
The seat between your specialists. We own the connections between formulation, production, co-packer, and cost, so the system holds when real volume hits.
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Most founders come in knowing something isn't connecting.
One conversation tells you exactly where, and what to do about it. No pitch. If we're not the right fit, we'll say so and point you somewhere that is.
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Independent beverage commercialization consulting.
