Private label beverages
Find a reliable, low MOQ beverage co-packer.
Functional drinks are where supplements meet the cooler door. A can is familiar, social and easy to try, and it reaches shoppers who would never walk down a vitamin aisle. Relaxation, focus, hydration, gut health and alcohol alternatives are all being built as beverages first.
- Free to send a brief
- Reply in 2 business days
- Runs from 5,000 units
Best for
When beverages are the right call
- Alcohol alternatives and social tonics
- Energy, focus and hydration products sold cold
- Brands that want trial in convenience, grocery and bars
- Line extensions for powder and shot brands
What you give up
The honest trade offs
Beverages ship water, so freight and storage cost per serving are the highest of any format. Cans have their own minimums and lead times. Shelf stability, carbonation and taste all need development, and many retailers want a distributor in place before they take a cold product.
We would rather tell you this now than after a deposit. Choosing the wrong format is the single most expensive early mistake a brand can make.
Low MOQ is not enough
What a reliable beverage manufacturer looks like.
A low minimum only matters if the product comes back right. These are the things we check before a beverage manufacturer ever sees your brief.
Has a scheduled process or a process authority review for your product type.
Runs your package, whether slim cans, standard cans, glass or PET, with labels, sleeves or printed cans.
Keeps oil soluble actives in a stable emulsion so the dose is in every can, not floating at the top.
Offers pilot runs before you commit to a full production run.
Certifications
Certifications for your beverages.
Ask for the ones your retailers and customers expect. We match beverages projects only to manufacturers that hold the certifications your product needs.
- FDA registeredRegistered facilities
- cGMPCurrent Good Manufacturing Practice
- NSF certifiedFacility certification
- NSF Certified for SportBanned substance tested
- KosherWorld Kosher Services
- HalalCertified halal lines
- OrganicCertified organic production
- Non-GMOVerified ingredients
- VeganPlant based formulas
- Gluten freeCertified gluten free
- Third party testedCOA on every batch
- Made in the USADomestic manufacturing
Where it sells
Channels where beverages perform.
Format and channel should be decided together. A product that wins on Amazon can stall in mass retail, and the reverse.
Convenience and grocery
The cooler door is where functional drinks win or lose.
Bars and restaurants
Alcohol free tonics and relaxation drinks have a real place on menus now.
DTC and subscription
Variety packs and subscriptions help offset freight.
Licensed cannabis
Where THC drinks are sold under state rules, separate from the hemp market.
Categories
What brands make as beverages.
Existing formulas are available across most of these, ready for your label. Custom development is available on every one.
- Relaxation and social tonics
- Energy and focus
- Hydration and electrolytes
- Prebiotic and gut health sodas
- Protein and recovery drinks
- Hemp and cannabinoid drinks
- Kava and botanical drinks
- Sparkling waters and seltzers
Ingredients
Ingredients we run in beverages.
A working list, not an exhaustive one. If it is not here, ask. Sourcing an ingredient a manufacturer does not stock is part of the job. Marked ingredients are trending into 2027.
- Electrolytes
- Caffeine
- Paraxanthine
- L-theanine
- Taurine
- B vitamins
- Lion's mane
- Ashwagandha
- Rhodiola
- Kava
- Kanna
- Blue lotus flower
- Prebiotic fiber
- Apple cider vinegar
- Ginger
- Turmeric
- Collagen
- Protein
- Magnesium
- Water compatible cannabinoid emulsions
- CBD
- CBG
- Delta 9 THC where licensed
- Stevia, monk fruit and allulose
Questions
Beverages, answered.
What is the minimum order for private label beverages?
Often 5,000 to 20,000 cans on small batch lines using labeled or sleeved cans. Printed cans carry much larger minimums from the can maker. Starting from an existing formula keeps minimums lowest. We will tell you honestly where a manufacturer's real minimum sits, which is often different from the number on its website.
How long does beverage manufacturing take?
8 to 14 weeks, longer when a new formula needs shelf stability work. The biggest variable is usually packaging and label approval rather than production itself, so we start that work in parallel.
How do I find a reliable beverage manufacturer?
Ask for the real minimum per SKU, a sample before a deposit, and a certificate of analysis from a recent batch, and check the points on this page. Or send us a brief, because that qualification is the work we do every day.
Can I start on a stock formula and move to custom later?
Yes, and for most brands that is the right order. Launch on a proven formula with your label, learn what sells, then invest in a custom formulation once the volume justifies it.
Do I get specifications and certificates of analysis?
Yes. Beverages are produced in FDA registered food facilities, with a scheduled process where the product type requires one and finished product testing on every run.
Will I know who makes my product?
Yes. You meet the manufacturer once the project is real, at the brief, sample or purchase order stage, and from that point you can vet them yourself: certifications, audit history and a visit if you want one.
Does it cost anything to send a brief?
No. Sending a brief and getting a quote through us costs you nothing.
Start a project
Ready to make beverages?
Tell us the product, the volume and the date it needs to be on a shelf. We will come back with a beverage manufacturer that fits, a real minimum and a lead time. Sending a brief costs nothing.