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Starting or growing a line of vitamins is harder than you might think. It involves development, testing, and sourcing the manufacturing. If you want to get started, then you need to know how to manufacture vitamins with a high-quality partner.
In this guide, our team at Bactolac Pharmaceuticals will teach you the ins and outs of assessing a vitamin manufacturing partner.
To manufacture your own vitamins or supplements, the most common method is to outsource the work through a manufacturer. Some major companies do their own in-house manufacturing, but that comes with a massive upfront cost and continued engineering and quality assurance efforts.
So where are vitamins made? A vast majority of vitamin companies will pay a manufacturer to create the vitamins from scratch, fill up the bottle, and send them back to the company.
There’s a big disclaimer that comes with this process: You need to be picky. Choosing your vitamin manufacturer isn’t as simple as throwing a dart at a wall of business cards. You need to carefully screen, vet, and assess any manufacturer before you decide to work together.
Understanding where are vitamins made is the first step, but the bigger step revolves around how to connect with the perfect partner.
Want to start screening potential manufacturers so you can find the perfect partner? This section is for you. Let’s discuss how to manufacture vitamins with a high-quality partner.
While researching a vitamin manufacturer, think of the process like a job interview. You want a candidate with great skills, tons of experience, and an attention to detail. With manufacturers, the same considerations need to be prioritized.
More specifically, you should investigate the quality and experience of each manufacturer. If they opt for low-quality products, your vitamins will suffer. If the shop doesn’t have much experience making vitamins, then they’ll make rookie mistakes that can cost you time and money.
One way to screen for quality, experience, and consistency is through any certifications and awards that the vitamin manufacturer might have. Manufacturers can go through voluntary certification courses to learn more about the vitamin manufacturing process.
Also, a shop can be recognized for exceptional work through a series of different awards. All of these accolades should be posted on their site and easy to find.
Knowing how to manufacture vitamins with a high-quality company involves looking at their capabilities. Since this is a manufacturing facility, the products that they can make are limited to the machines and personnel that they have.
Making a softgel vitamin is different than a gummy or capsule. Some shops can only make one vitamin option, so it’s critical that you learn their capabilities before agreeing to work with them.
In some rare cases, the vitamin manufacturer that you’re considering is owned by a larger conglomerate. It’s possible that the owning company has its own line of vitamins or supplements, and they could be your direct rivals.
That’s why we always suggest learning who owns the vitamin manufacturer. For smaller fabrication shops, this step will usually lead you nowhere, since it could just be a family-owned business — it’s the larger vitamin manufacturers that you want check.
Throughout the life of your company, you’re going to run into emergencies, mistakes, or changes. In any of these scenarios, you would need to get in touch with your vitamin manufacturer as soon as possible.
If a vitamin manufacturer doesn’t answer calls and they’re slow to respond to emails, how are you supposed to get in touch? If you need a simple change and can’t reach the manufacturer, you only waste time and money.
We always suggest a few phone calls in the beginning stage of researching a manufacturer. Call at different hours of the day and note how long it takes them to respond and their general tone when they answer the phone.
The best partner will be quick to respond to you, which is a sign that they prioritize your business.
Most manufacturers will offer samples before you place a full-scale order. This is one of the most important parts of screening a potential vitamin manufacturer. Always ask for vitamin samples and study every part of the sample to check for quality and workmanship.
When a company is afraid to give samples, it means that they don’t stand behind their product. They might be lying about the quality of their vitamins, and the only way to tell is through samples.
Just like any other manufacturer, you’ll have to evaluate the speed and cost of each company you’re considering. Sometimes it’s worth paying more for higher-quality vitamins, but that also means your selling price needs to go up. If you have a set price that you cannot exceed, then you’ll have to find other ways to keep the manufacturing cost down.
The same is true for the production speed. If you’re expecting to sell and ship a million vitamins a year, then you need a supplier that can keep up. If the manufacturer can’t commit to large production runs, then you’ll need to keep looking.
In today’s world, it’s rare for a company to not have a website. We suggest going through every manufacturer’s website to learn more about them, see how they present themselves, and evaluate their web presence. It doesn’t need to be a fancy website, just something that gets enough information across.
The website is a good place to check for awards and certificates, capabilities, and a tour of their facility. If you like what you see, add the manufacturer to your list and give them a call.
As you just learned, knowing how to manufacture vitamins with a high-quality partner is a great way to set your business up for success. Finding a manufacturing partner that offers high-quality services and is responsive is a must-have.
For one of the best vitamin manufacturers, consider Bactolac. We offer a wide range of manufacturing, testing, and development services. Our team is responsive, and our supplements and vitamins are always high-quality. Get a free quote today.
