KANSAS CITY — Finding the right contract manufacturer means asking the right questions, such as does the contract manufacturer have the capacity to handle the company’s required volume, and can the company meet minimum load requirements for the contract manufacturer?

“You want to enter the conversation with the right attitude and the right preparations,” said Vince Tseng, co-chief executive officer for PartnerSlate, San Francisco, which advises smaller companies and helps them find contract manufacturers. “Are you ready for a contract manufacturer? Do you already have the scale? Do you already have the distribution in mind?”

Many times, companies are not yet ready.

“Either they’re not ready or perhaps they had success at farmers market and think they’re ready to be distributed nationally at Whole Foods,” Tseng said.

Companies also should ask whether the contract manufacturer has experience working with the company’s product. A cookie company would want a contract manufacturer who knew how to bake cookies.

“As a baseline, does this provider have the capability to execute the project?” said Alain Vallet-Sandre, chief commercial officer for Legacy Bakehouse, Waukesha, Wis. “Next, do they have the capacity to fulfill the project? Do they have demonstrable experience running similar products?”

Find out whether the contract manufacturer has the right certifications — organic, GFSI, etc. — to handle the branded product. Gluten-free certifications can be especially tricky.

“There’s a wide spectrum of what it means to be gluten-free,” Tseng said. “It’s important to go into conversations with contract manufacturers understanding where they fit on the spectrum. They can be certified gluten-free, but that typically only applies to the product that they’re making, not the facility. The facility can actually be completely free of gluten where wheat and gluten have never entered the facility.”

Contract manufacturers also may have gluten-free operating rooms where gluten is never allowed into the rooms.

In gluten-free runs, “they have cleaned the equipment prior to running it to ensure no contaminants from the previous run, but that has the greatest likelihood of contamination,” he said.

Richard Riccardi, who advises early-stage companies and formerly owned and operated Food Source, a custom food processor of frozen entrees, gave some warning signs on contract manufacturers. A company must own product specifications. If a product needs to be modified to work with the contract manufacturer’s equipment, the company with the branded product must have those altered product specifications.

“If they don’t want to give it to you up front, then you don’t work with them,” Riccardi said.

Companies should ask to inspect a contract manufacturer’s plant.

“No reliable copacker will prevent you from coming to see the plant,” he said.

The best contract manufacturer partnerships are built on trust through transparency, said Lauren McNamara, senior vice president, business management at SunOpta, Minneapolis.

“And this starts with setting clear mutual expectations from the beginning,” she said. “A company should inquire about every aspect of partnership: certifications, capacity, minimum runs/minimum order quantities, turnkey or toll, food safety and quality procedures, payment terms, order and forecast cadence, storage availability, technical capabilities, packaging configurations, services included/available for extra fees (reporting, testing, R&D, warehousing, materials management, procurement, etc.). The goal is a seamless partnership among contract manufacturers and their customers.”

Working with contract manufacturers is less difficult than a couple years ago, when COVID-19 was more prevalent and supply chain issues frustrated the food and beverage industry.

“Today, we have much more supply diversity,” McNamara said. “Companies are not relying on one supplier or plant for manufacturing, ingredients, transportation, etc. Often, they are looking to pull ingredients and raw materials from multiple suppliers in different geographies around the world to counteract any environmental or geopolitical disruptions to service and ensure continuity of supply. With more suppliers in the mix, it’s more essential than ever to partner with contract manufacturers who act as solutions providers, not just suppliers.”

Before COVID-19, industry focused on efficiency and quality, Vallet-Sandre said.

“The lack of emphasis on system flexibility (during COVID) created a brittle supply chain dependent upon just-in-time execution, always-available materials and ingredients, and a dependable, scalable workforce,” Vallet-Sandre said. “Post-COVID, there has been a rethinking of contracts, sourcing commitments, oversight and supply chain flexibility. The necessary cost increases brought about by COVID have also ended. Under the new normal, a more flexible, yet highly efficient value chain is a customer requirement.”

Innovation has increased, too, said Wolfgang Buehler, founder and CEO of Grainwell Puffed Grains., Dyersville, Iowa.