CO-PACKING is the process whereby a company chooses to incorporate the services of a certified, insured, established manufacturing facility (co-packer) to create their products. A quality co-packer works with the client to re-create their product’s flavor, look and mouth-feel from its original inception, with one difference: Where a small startup company may produce cases of products, a co-packer is equipped to produce truckloads. Ashland Sausage is certified by the USDA to co-pacßk both meat and poultry.

ADVANTAGES OF USING A CO-PACKER. Simply stated, having a co-packer manufacture your products allows you to focus on other important aspects of your business: Marketing, promotion and distribution. It also helps you avoid expensive startup costs for a facility, including equipment, insurance, bulk materials, labor – not to mention the often complicated and expensive process of being certified by federal and state Departments of Agriculture (USDA).

BEFORE WE BEGIN. To help ensure you're serious about your co-packing needs, we require two things: Credit application and Confidentiality Agreement. We cannot begin a dialogue with our clients until/unless these documents are filled out, signed & returned. Why? These documents help ensure not only that you are serious about beginning the process, it also protects your recipe AND us from any liability issues.

WHAT’S NEXT? After we receive your confidentiality and credit applications, we schedule a meeting in our Carol Stream, IL facility for a tour, meet & greet, discuss and identify your needs and goals, etc.

DEVELOPMENT/ R & D FEES. We ask a non-refundable deposit of $150.00 per item to develop your product, which will be applied to the first order/run of your product. We accept checks and all major credit cards.

LABELS. We will NOT schedule a production without your labels in our possession. Why? As it is unlawful to release products from our facilities without labels, we will not configure our line or schedule a run without your labels on site – NO EXCEPTIONS. Please visit our Links page if you need help with label or package design, printing, food photographers, acquiring a UPC code, etc.

APPROVAL. Contingent upon your signed approval of the final product and receipt of your printed labels, we schedule a production date for your first run. Unless otherwise agreed upon, you must also be prepared to take the product within two (2) days of the production run. This time frame is especially sensitive with perishable, refrigerated products.

PRODUCT PRICING. We provide a quote based on final approval of your product. As with most other industries, volume is also a factor; the more volume you produce, the more favorable your quote.

MINIMUM RUN. In order to schedule your run, we have to structure our production line to accommodate your brand. This means a minimum volume of products must be created; contact us to discuss the projected volume of your run.