What an SQF-Certified Co-Packer Actually Gives You
When a food or beverage brand outsources packaging to a co-packer, it is also outsourcing its food-safety risk and its retail-audit readiness. If the co-packer is certified, the brand can prove its product was handled to a recognized standard. If the co-packer is not, the brand inherits the gap, and a retailer audit can surface […]
Your Best Packer and Your Worst Packer Are the Same Person
Watch the same person hand-pack fragile components at 8 a.m. and again at 4 p.m. and you will see two different jobs. The morning crate is square, the cushioning is seated, the count is right. The afternoon one is close enough. Neither worker is careless. They are tired, the line is behind, and the last […]
What Is ISPM 15? A Plain-Language Guide for US Manufacturers and Exporters
ISPM 15 is an international regulation that requires solid wood packaging, including pallets, crates, and dunnage, to be heat-treated or fumigated and stamped with an official mark before it can be used in cross-border shipments. Its purpose is to stop wood packaging from carrying insects and plant diseases from one country to another. If your […]
The Damage You Pay For Happens After the Truck Leaves – In-Transit Damage Protection for High-Value Electrical Manufacturers
A transformer bushing leaves your dock in good shape. Three weeks later it reaches a customer in another country, they open the crate, and the porcelain is cracked. Now you are re-machining the part, paying air freight to get the replacement there fast, running the customs paperwork a second time, and processing a warranty claim. […]
The US Contract Packaging Market Is Doubling by 2035. What the Winning Co-Packers Are Doing Differently.
The US contract packaging market is in the middle of a structural expansion, not a post-pandemic spike. Independent forecasts from Mordor Intelligence and Precedence Research both project the US market roughly doubling over the next eight to ten years, driven by F&B brands and other consumer packaged goods companies outsourcing more of their packaging operations […]
US CPG Brands Now Demand Real-Time Data From Their Co-Packers. Can Yours Deliver?
The Email That Used to Be Enough Isn’t Enough Anymore Five years ago, the relationship between a CPG brand and its co-packer looked like this: the brand shipped raw materials or product, the co-packer ran the line, the finished goods went out, and sometime in the following week or month, someone on the brand’s operations […]
Maine Led the Way. Now the Whole Map Is Changing.
On May 25, 2026, Maine will enforce a ban on PFAS in nine categories of plant-fiber food contact packaging. If your paperboard trays, molded pulp containers, paper wraps, or fiber-based bowls contain intentionally added PFAS above incidental presence, they cannot legally be sold in Maine after that date. But here is the part most food […]
Why the Hidden Costs of Vendor Sprawl Have Become Impossible to Ignore in 2026
Ask a VP of Operations how many packaging vendors their company manages and the answer is usually vague. “Seven, maybe eight. Plus a couple we use for specialty stuff.” Ask the same person how much that vendor sprawl actually costs—not in unit pricing, but in total operational burden—and the answer is almost always: “I don’t […]
Amazon’s FFP and SIOC Rules Are Getting Stricter — Here’s What That Means for Your Packaging Spec
If you sell through Amazon and you have not updated your packaging specs in the last 12 months, you are probably losing money right now. As of January 15, 2026, Amazon began charging new packaging fees for small bulky and large bulky products that are not enrolled in its Ships in Product Packaging (SIPP) program—the […]
The 2027 Barcode Deadline That’s Already Here: What GS1 Sunrise Means for Your US Packaging Line
The barcode as you know it is about to change. By December 31, 2027, every major retailer in North America is expected to scan a new generation of two-dimensional (2D) barcodes at checkout. The initiative driving this shift is called GS1 Sunrise 2027, and it represents the most significant change to product identification standards in […]