Help Finding a US-based Beverage manufacturer

[speedfreak]

Hey Folks,

I have an idea for a new beverage and I'd like to begin investigating costs involved to produce it. In my search thus far I have only been able to find overseas manufacturers. Does anyone know where I could look for a company that can produce, package, and ship custom beverages? My idea will work as a Vitamin Water-type beverage or energy drink so I am keen to find companies that can produce a similar product.

I did check out thomasnet but had trouble finding something there.

Thanks in advance for any direction,

Aaron

[skorpi0wn]

Did you try this?

http://www.thomasnet.com/products/beverages-5106000-1.html

[mandasol]

Check local bottling companies. Even popular soft drinks like Coke and Pepsi is made from reconstituded syrups in local bottling companies, then bottled and distributed locally by those companies through license agreements (though they may have exclusive agreements to bottle only certain brands). There are a lot of 2nd tier brands like RC Cola, Cheerwine, Sundrop, etc that are bottled by local bottling companies that don't have exclusive contracts that also bottle all different types of flavored drinks as well. Starting locally will probably also be easier, and allows you to tweak the recipe with help from an experienced beverage bottling company.

[speedfreak]

Did you try this?

http://www.thomasnet.com/products/beverages-5106000-1.htmlYep, I mentioned i tried them :)

Check local bottling companies. Even popular soft drinks like Coke and Pepsi is made from reconstituded syrups in local bottling companies, then bottled and distributed locally by those companies through license agreements (though they may have exclusive agreements to bottle only certain brands). There are a lot of 2nd tier brands like RC Cola, Cheerwine, Sundrop, etc that are bottled by local bottling companies that don't have exclusive contracts that also bottle all different types of flavored drinks as well. Starting locally will probably also be easier, and allows you to tweak the recipe with help from an experienced beverage bottling company.Good idea. I know there a few places locally. I'll check into it.

[mandasol]

I mentioned the local bottling company option, from experience. My family used to have a chain of convenience stores and so I've dealt with a lot of them.

The best operation, even though they have had a lot of growing pains, was Red Bull. Red Bull manufactured and distributed everything on their own. They had local reps deliver and made sure products were stocked. They had the best point of purchase displays. Most of the time companies cheap out and supply decorated beverage coolers that the stores had to fill with ice for their products. Red Bull came out with a little refrigerator that looked like a big Red Bull can, and only supplied it if the stores agreed to give them the best spot in the store (next to the register). It was so much easier for the stores to maintain (don't have to constantly fill with ice, and clean out), and the product wasn't dripping water everywhere, customers also preferred it.

At the begining the reps delivered out of their own cars, and came by at random times, and some reps overlapped territories. They would even write out the invoices by hand. Eventually, they got more organized, but they where really setting the standard by taking chances and making mistakes the other companies didn't. In our stores at least Red Bull sold at least 10 to 1 against all the other brands of energy drinks combined. Now you'll see Red Bull has their own delivery trucks, they have more sophisticated invoicing and sales equipment, and they still dominate their category.

So it goes to show, sometimes marketing and distribution can play a bigger role in the success of the product. If the local bottlers can't help, try to innovate and create your own solutions. Though if you do that you really need to think about how you want your company to operate in the long run and incorporate solutions into your plan or you could easily fall in the trap of working 80 hour weeks instead of 4.