Why minimums are hard to compare
Plants quote minimums in units, cases, gallons, pounds, run hours and production days12. Larger co-packers will only produce greater amounts of a product, while smaller co-packers offer smaller production runs3.
Convert everything to units before you compare. 40 gallons is 5,120 fluid ounces: about 320 sixteen-ounce bottles, or 426 twelve-ounce bottles, before fill loss. 25 cases of 12 is 300 units. 1,800 gallons per SKU is about 14,400 sixteen-ounce bottles.
Published examples by category
A co-manufacturing platform published these examples from plants on its platform1. They are examples, not averages.
| Product | Example minimum |
|---|---|
| Sauce | 40 gallons |
| Dressings | One 10-hour production day |
| Fruit juice | 1,000 gallons per run |
| Coffee or plant-based drinks | 7,500 gallons per SKU |
| Jarred nut butter | 10,000 units per SKU (another example: 2,500 units) |
| Pouched nut butter | 25,000 units per SKU |
| Cookies or bars in overwrap | 10,000 units per SKU |
| Bars | 100,000 bars per SKU, with 3 to 4 runs a year |
| Biscuits | 20,000 pounds per SKU |
| Granola | 60,000 to 75,000 pounds (another example: 2,500 pounds) |
| Tortilla chips | 12,000 pounds |
| Gluten-free snacks | 10,000 to 25,000 units per SKU |
| Dry seasonings | 50,000 pounds |
| Coffee | 1,000 pounds |
| Bakery items | 1,000 pounds |
| Ice cream | 4,500 cases of pints |
A consultancy's 2026 table adds ranges for shelf-stable sauce or condiment small batches (500 to 3,000 jars), bottled still drinks (1,000 to 3,000 cases), craft or sleeved canned drinks (2,500 to 10,000 cans), industrially printed cans (about 180,000 cans) and stick-pack powders (5,000 to 100,000 or more units)4. Cornell's co-packer list shows minimums from 25 cases and 100 to 150 gallons up to 40,000 cases of product a year per SKU2.
Minimums published by plants in this directory
67 of the 245 plants in this directory publish a minimum. Here is each one as we recorded it from the plant's own published information, grouped by what they make. Follow a plant name to its listing.
Sauce, condiment and dressing co-packers
| Plant | Published minimum |
|---|---|
| Absolutely World Class | Minimum batch size is 150 gallons of finished product, about 1,100 bottles of 16 oz |
| Bartush Foods (Bartush-Schnitzius Food Company) | Minimum batch is typically 500 gallons for a cooked product, about 650 cases of 6/16 oz |
| Best Brand Bottlers | Hot sauce minimum 250 gallons; items in bottles larger than 5 oz have a 500 gallon minimum packed in 8, 12, 16 or 24 oz bottles; foodservice minimums on request |
| Beth's Farm Kitchen | Private label minimum is 5 cases (60 units) per SKU; co-packing minimums vary by product, process, packaging and project type |
| Bronx River Bottling | Minimum run of 600 gallons per flavor |
| Brooks' Bottling Co. | 1,800 gallons per SKU (4 kettles), about 1,200 cases of 16 oz or 1,600 cases of 12 oz packed 12 |
| Chesapeake Bay Foods (Jeppi Nut & Candy) | $2,000 minimum fee per job; tolling fees based on labor and overhead; site advertises low MOQs |
| Craft Cannery | No minimum. Mid-size and small batch production with no minimums |
| Creative Foodworks | Minimum run of 1,000 gallons, with orders placed at least quarterly |
| Croix Valley Foods | 100 gallons per SKU for liquids or 150 lbs per SKU for dry products |
| El Pinto Foods Co-Packing | Homepage says co-packing starts at 10,000 units per year; the services page invites inquiries for needs that exceed 100,000 units annually |
| ELIS Manufacturing & Packaging Solutions | Filling and packing only (brand supplies product): 3,000 units for bottles or jars, 20,000 for sachets or stick packs. Full sourcing, blending and packing: 50,000 units |
| Endorphin Farms | Minimum of 2 kettles per product, about 2,000 lbs or 200 gallons |
| Food For Thought | Minimum order quantity is 1,200 units per product |
| Garden Complements | Minimum batch of 300 gallons per product, with a commitment to produce that amount at least three times a year |
| Genuine Local | Minimum order is one batch: about 36 gallons for food (288 12 oz or 660 5 oz bottles) or 65 to 70 gallons for beverages (564 16 oz or 744 12 oz bottles) |
| Kensington Food Company | Hot sauce co-packing in 24 or 48 gallon batches with low minimums; private label line has no minimum order (as little as one case) |
| Mad Will's Food Company | Co-packing minimum is one batch per recipe, typically around 100 cases (about 70 to 200 cases of 12 depending on container size); private label minimum is 5 cases of retail glass or 3 cases of foodservice per order |
| Maryland Packaging | Minimum is one production shift; a smaller order is possible but is billed as a full shift |
| National Food & Beverage, Inc. | 1,000 gallon batch minimum (two 500 gallon batches) |
| Oregon Hill Farms | Dry goods minimum 100 lbs; honey packed by the drum with a 1 drum minimum |
| PepperNutz | Custom recipe co-packing brews in 100 gallon kettles (about 2,500 5 oz bottles), sometimes less depending on the recipe; private label program minimum is 60 bottles (5 cases of 12) per flavor per order |
| Sandridge Crafted Foods | No minimum. White label deli program advertised with no minimums (containers with back label only) |
| Sonoma Farm Co-Packing | Most plants require 100 gallons or more per product; the most it requires is 40 gallons |
| Success Seasonings | Co-pack start-up order of $3,000 (recipe development, nutritional analysis, labels, and 300 retail jars or up to 300 lb bulk); ongoing co-pack orders minimum $1,000; private label 72 units per flavor |
| The Organic Food Incubator | Partner and private label program minimum of 600 units (45 cases of 12) |
| Virginia Food Works | 4-hour minimum to book co-packing services |
| Western Massachusetts Food Processing Center | Co-pack production runs yield between 500 and 2,000 units depending on unit size; farm value-added products each carry a minimum weight of the key farm ingredient |
Beverage manufacturers and co-packers
| Plant | Published minimum |
|---|---|
| Big Beverages Contract Manufacturing | Batch sizes run from 5,000 to 20,000 gallons |
| Craftsmith Beverage | Pilot runs as small as about 500 gallons; production runs of 930 to 15,000 gallons; MOQs quoted per product and package and described as brand-friendly |
| Eagle Park Brewing Company | Small-run pilots start at 700 cans minimum; standard production runs are 12,000 to 40,000 cans |
| East Coast Crush & Co-Pack | Minimum batch size is 2,500 gallons; packaging minimums vary by project; bulk wine or juice minimum is one 275 or 330 gallon tote; grape crush minimum is 6 tons |
| MetaBrand Corp | Can co-pack as little as 2 to 3 pallets for small batch and pilot runs; productions range from 100 cases to 10,000 cases or more |
| ProtoPackers (Your Way Manufacturing, LLC) | Advertises no minimum, from 1 bottle up to 10,000; co-packing programs start at $799 for 1 to 500 gallon batches, hero sample and trial runs start at $479, and white label runs start at 1 case of 24 cans or bottles |
| RTD Co-Pack | 1,700 case equivalents or 4,000 gallons per SKU |
| Sleeping Giant Brewing Company | 2,500 bbl a year minimum |
| TexBev Co-Packing & Manufacturing | Runs from 1,000 gallon trials up to 100,000 gallon runs |
| Universal Pure | 20,000 bottle per run minimum |
| Wildpack Beverage | Minimum run size is 4,000 gallons per SKU and 6,000 gallons for single-SKU runs |
Bakery co-packers and manufacturers
| Plant | Published minimum |
|---|---|
| ChipMonk Baking | Production runs range from 1,000 to 10,000+ units |
| Jimmy's Gourmet Bakery | One pallet for stock items and flavors; custom formulas require two production batches, about 5,000 pounds of dough |
| Venus Wafers | Generally 300 to 600 cases minimum per SKU; printed boxes and printed film carry 12,500 per SKU minimums |
| YouBar | Minimum order quantities start at 10,000 bars; the FAQ says MOQs vary by product type, equipment and annual forecast |
Snack manufacturers and co-packers
| Plant | Published minimum |
|---|---|
| AceCoPack | Minimums vary by package size and popcorn type, between 4,000 and 250,000; custom seasoning blends 50 to 500 lb per blend |
| California Spice Basket, Inc. | Custom blends from 50 lb up to pallets |
| Element Bars | Minimum production run is 25,000 bars; paid production trials start at 1,000 bars at a fixed $5,000 |
| L'Orenta Nuts | Typical minimum starts at one pallet for standard packaging formats; smaller initial runs possible for new brand launches and market tests |
| Lehi Valley Trading Company | $1,000 minimum per order; volume minimums apply to custom printed film packaging |
| The Silver Screen Snack Company | MOQ discussion typically begins with one full truckload (53 ft dry van) |
| Wolfgang Confectioners | Inquiry form lists MOQs by process: chocolate panning and hot panning 20,000 lb and up, nut clusters 70,000 lb and up, enrobing, molding and drop depositing 100,000 lb and up |
Candy and chocolate manufacturers
| Plant | Published minimum |
|---|---|
| Kimmie Candy | 3 lb test runs at $1,000 per item for one run or $2,500 for three runs, with sample cost credited to the second order; about 6 weeks after receiving all ingredients and specs |
| Sprinkk | No MOQs; can produce down to one piece, with manufacturing time charged on lower quantities |
Frozen food co-packers
| Plant | Published minimum |
|---|---|
| Sugar Lab of Colorado | 960 pints per flavor for packaged co-packing or private label; 100 three-gallon buckets per custom bulk flavor |
Jerky co-packers and manufacturers
| Plant | Published minimum |
|---|---|
| Lorentz Meats | Further processing sample runs should be about 200 lb; regular run minimums depend on the product. Slaughter for individuals has a ten-animal minimum (as of 2026), and a new branded beef program needs 1,000 or more head a year |
| Turasky Meats | Minimum run sizes are typically 400 lbs per flavor |
Dry mix and seasoning co-packers
| Plant | Published minimum |
|---|---|
| Corim Industries | 50 lb order minimum for private label coffee; inquiry form asks for a project budget of at least $2,500 |
| Cpack Manufacturing | Powder supplements from 1,500 units; stick packs 100,000 units per run; capsules 150,000 capsules per run; gummy and liquid minimums vary by project |
| International Spice | No minimum. Private label spice orders have no minimum |
| La Criolla, Inc. | Retail jars typically 250 to 300 lb per SKU; bulk foodservice minimums are flexible |
| The Spice Guy | Custom co-packed blends 504 units per SKU or flavor; private label of existing blends 100 units per item; custom blending from 5 lb |
Supplement contract manufacturers
| Plant | Published minimum |
|---|---|
| Advanced Powder Dynamics | DA-5 pilot dryer minimum of 5 to 8 gallons of liquid feed (42 to 68 lb wet) per 8 hours of R&D work, or 6 to 12 gallons for low-volume production; DA-50 minimum 20 to 30 gallons for R&D |
| Makers Nutrition | Private label stock formulas from as low as 500 units; private label gummies from as low as 1,000; custom formula minimums vary by format |
Other products
| Plant | Published minimum |
|---|---|
| Luna Gourmet Coffee & Tea | CoffeeAM program minimums as low as one bag, custom label in 8 oz, 1 lb or 5 lb sizes |
| Mt. Whitney Coffee Roasters | Private label program requires a minimum order of 72 lb |
| Once Again Nut Butter | One pallet per item per purchase order, with velocity of 6 pallets per item in year one and 12 pallets per item per year from year two |
| Sugartown Smoked Specialties | No minimum. No fixed minimums; production levels are agreed with each brand |
| The Tea Spot | Pyramid sachet programs start at 12,000 units per SKU; bulk loose leaf 250 lb minimum per blend |
Sources
General information, not legal, regulatory or financial advice. Published figures are examples from the cited sources, not quotes. Confirm requirements for your product with a process authority, regulator or adviser.