Food and beverage
Selling under your brand what someone else makes
Putting your name on the pack puts you in front. To whoever asks, the maker stands behind you, not in your place.
You commission the product, choose the packaging and put your name on it. Commercially it is a margin decision; documentarily it is a change of position: **you move from selling someone else's product to presenting a product as yours**, and whoever asks will ask you.
What changes compared with distributing someone else's brand
| Situation | Who is asked first | What you need to hold |
|---|---|---|
| You sell the maker's brand | The maker | Your delivery notes and little else |
| **You sell under your brand** | **You** | **The product's whole file** |
| You import it yourselves | You | That, plus the customs paperwork |
Important
**Your name on the pack is what puts you in front, and it cannot be delegated backwards.** You can require whatever you like of the maker and pass on what is fair, but the one receiving the question is you, and the one who must be able to answer on the spot is you. A file consisting of «we'll ask the manufacturer» takes days to fill, and days is exactly what you do not have.
What to require from the maker, travelling with every run
- 1
The product sheet as actually manufactured, versioned
Plus a commitment to notify before changing anything.
- 2
Which batch they made and when, with every delivery
Without it you cannot bound anything: you will only know when it reached you.
- 3
The data supporting what your label says
Everything the pack claims, you are claiming.
- 4
And who to call at their company on a Sunday
Product problems do not wait for Monday.
Watch out
The most neglected point and the one that stings most when it lands: **you write the label and someone else makes the product**. Every claim on the pack —origin, ingredients, properties, absences— is a claim you are making about a process you do not control. Before printing, each claim needs data from the maker behind it; and when the maker changes something, that claim stops being true without anyone touching the label.
Worth knowing
Who is named as responsible for a food, what putting your own brand on it entails and which specific duties come with it depends on food and labelling law. **Your adviser settles that before launching the brand**; here we explain the change of position almost nobody prices in when deciding.
›Does my contract with the maker protect me?
It lets you pass on cost; it does not move you out of the front line.
›Do I have to hold the file myself?
At minimum be able to consult it immediately. «I'll ask» is not an answer.
›What if the maker changes something?
Your label may stop being true. Require prior written notice.
A real case
The situation
A client asks about a batch of your brand and it has to be requested from the maker.
What you do
- Requires every delivery to arrive with its manufacturing batch and date
What you get
The question is answered on the spot instead of in two days.
The situation
The maker changes an ingredient's origin and the label still says the old thing.
What you do
- Agrees prior written notice of any change affecting the label
What you get
What the pack claims stays true after the change.
The situation
A problem arises on a Sunday and there is nobody to call at the factory.
What you do
- Agrees an operational contact with a phone number, out of hours included
What you get
The response starts on Sunday rather than Monday morning.
The situation
The maker changes something and the label stays the same.
What you do
- Asks them to communicate any change before producing
What you get
The label with your name stays true.
The situation
A customer asks and the maker has to be phoned.
What you do
- Keeps their documentation in your own file
What you get
You answer without depending on them.
The situation
The maker stops working with you.
What you do
- Keeps its own copy of what was received
What you get
The history does not leave with them.
This article answers
- own brand who is responsible for the product
- i sell another maker's product under my brand
- private label distributor liability
- what documentation to require from my co-packer