Indie brands looking for support to develop their first product, launch roll-out or additional ranges of an existing line are enlisting contract manufacturers (CM) to help transform their beauty concepts into developed formulations and finished products.

Working with an experienced manufacturer and ingredient supplier can be a transformative experience for a many brands. They can enrich the product development process and provide access to knowledge and expertise on best practices, timing and delivery; insights on cutting edge formulations and ingredients; and samples for customers to try first-hand, in real-time, in the manufacturing environment.

As navigating the CM and ingredient supplier landscape is often challenging, we’ve put together this guide to give you the need to knows about contract manufacturing, and to support you in creating and sustaining a thriving beauty brand.

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Table of Contents

Our indie beauty contract manufacturing guide will give you industry insights on:

» Is contract manufacturing right for you?

» When might contract manufacturer be right for you?

» The benefits of working with a contract manufacturer

» The benefits of working with a contract manufacturer & ingredient supplier

» Choosing the right contact manufacturer

» A step by step process to getting the right contract manufacturer

» The potential challenges of a mismatched partnership

» Common contract manufacturing myths

» The top questions to ask contract manufacturers

» Common barriers to entry

Is Contract Manufacturing Right For You?

The two big questions to ask before making the decision to team up with a CM should be –

• Why am I considering this partnership?
• When is the best time to partner?

Firstly, a business should consider the following reasons –

• Do you need to scale up because you are in the very fortunate position that your brand is doing well, and you have to keep up with demand?
• Do you need support, as you may not have the knowledge or the capacity to manufacture your formulations?
• Do you have to outsource to avoid breaking the law?

In the EU, for example, there are certain countries that have regulations in addition to…

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Updated December 2022