Running with a private label soda strategy certainly takes a lot of the difficulty out of launching a drinks brand – often including the reliable and consistent production needed to compete at scale.
Sourcing and then buying or leasing an industrial facility with a drinks filling line will be an expensive and time consuming process. However, there is a solution.
Automated filling lines provided by experienced co-packers offer an efficient route into the market, without needing to invest in expensive machinery or industrial premises off the bat.
A private label soda provider with this kind of technology is invaluable, allowing entrepreneurs to start taking their innovative ideas and branding to market with as few barriers as possible.
Automated Filling Lines – What Are They Exactly?
Automated filling lines do what you might think – automate the process of filling containers. And they do that very, very well.
An automated production line for drinks can fill astonishing numbers of bottles at lightning speed. The record number of bottles filled by one machine in an hour is 100,000 lightweight PET plastic water bottles.
That is more than 1600 bottles per minute. Those are the highest end machines, and not for carbonated beverages, but typically available systems can still fill 40,000 to 80,000 bottles per hour.
The exact speed is variable depending on the type of container (glass/plastic/can/bottle etc) and the liquid. Carbonated beverages are slower, and, as you might expect, are heavier or bigger containers. Nevertheless, you can probably see why this level of speed will make packaging drinks far more efficient.
Factors to Consider with Production Partners
That all sounds great. However, when picking carbonated beverage co packers to work with you want to ensure the highest standards, including the right technology for your product and the right level of production capacity for your scale. That can make all the difference when aiming for a viable launch from the start.
For brands considering carbonated or botanical drinks (a fast growing market in the US) evobotanicalsusa.com is an option worth considering.
As well as offering automated production lines in-house with all the correct equipment, they also offer a range of powders, capsules, tablets and liquid shots – meaning there is room to expand your business into new product lines if the first launch goes well.
One key thing to remember however, is you (the brand owner) are ultimately responsible for adhering to food safety regulations in your local state or market.
While co-packing companies or white label providers will adhere to standards and regulations where they are located, there may be complications when supplying across the US or to other markets.
A great provider can and will advise you on all of this beforehand, but it is still ultimately up to the business owner to ensure everything is correct before shipping across jurisdictions.
Why This System is Efficient for Your Business
However, it’s not just about raw speed. Automation is often only worth investing in when the economies of scale demand it. At lower levels of production, from a newly launched brand for example, working with a company that offers automated filling lines for you without purchasing a system yourself can be a big cost saver.
Good co-packers with automated production lines will also be experts in how they work, so they can offer support at every stage of production if you need it.
Some suppliers will be able to automate even small test runs or batches, allowing you to see the product and trial it with potential consumers before committing to a larger run.
They can also tell you if the product you are making needs any specialist equipment. For example carbonated beverage production often needs counter-pressure filling, which equalises pressures between the delivering tank and the empty container before filling.
This prevents excess foam and pressure build up, and flushes excess oxygen from the container thereby extending shelf life of the liquid.
Automated Filling and Co-Packing Keeps Standards High
Overall, these machines and processes are designed to deliver consistent, quality-controlled beverages at scale. When it comes to absolutely needing every single beverage to be identical, they are far better than hand-packaged or even small scale automation.
Some manufacturers have recently focused on sustainability and long-term energy use savings for peak efficiency – with newer lines able to reduce energy use per bottle fill by up to 40% compared to older versions.
Automated filling also means packaging and labelling is all fully standardized. This falls under Food and Drug Administration regulations, which any reputable private-label provider will be able to brief you on and help coordinate.
However, it is ultimately the brand owner’s responsibility to verify packaging complies with things like applicable nutrition facts panels.
Private-label launch can help with most of that process, and automated filling lines can ensure labelling is consistently applied – but the information should always be double checked before distribution.
Ultimately, a private-label provider can help you through a lot of the process, while their automated assembly lines can make production incredibly efficient. However, brand owners still need to do just that – take ownership. Where it goes from there, is up to you.
