For your first food or drink brand
Food or drink idea? Make a plan for your first run.
Get clear on your recipe stage, packaging, and first production amount. Explore manufacturers with public evidence behind their capabilities, then prepare your first conversation.
Explore the directory
What do you want to make?
Already know your product type? Choose a category to browse manufacturers and their public capabilities.
Drinks, sauces, and more
Swipe or scroll to explore a product category.
- SodaExplore
- Energy drinksExplore
- Sports and hydrationExplore
- Wellness drinks & shotsExplore
- Cold-pressed juiceExplore
- JuiceExplore
- Tea and coffee drinksExplore
- WaterExplore
- Hot sauceExplore
- SauceExplore
- SalsaExplore
- Dressings and marinadesExplore
- Dips and hummusExplore
- Refrigerated prepared foodsExplore
- Not sure yet?Take the quiz
Browse every product type
Including snacks, bakery, dry goods, dairy, frozen foods, and prepared meals.
Beverages
Still, sparkling, hot-filled, and refrigerated drinks
Sauces, dips, and condiments
Sauces, salsa, dressings, marinades, dips, and spreads
Snacks and bakery
Savory snacks, baked goods, and confectionery
Dry goods and supplements
Dry blends, spices, supplements, coffee, tea, and pods
Dairy and frozen
Dairy and foods explicitly made or sold frozen
Prepared foods and meals
Refrigerated foods, shelf-stable meals, soups, entrées, and fermented foods
- Not sure yet?Answer a few quick questions and see possible matches.
Find your next step
Where are you starting?
Just an idea
Figure out who it is for and what to test first.
Read the guideTesting a recipe
Understand development, packaging, and the help you need.
Read the guideReady to find a manufacturer
Prepare a useful brief and compare possible fits.
Read the guideWorking through the numbers? Try the first-run cost worksheet.
From idea to first conversation
Make the next decision, one step at a time.
Start with what you know. Learn the manufacturing terms when they help you make a decision, and keep the details you have not figured out visible.
- 1
Start with your idea
Describe the food or drink you want to make. You do not need a finished recipe to start your plan.
- 2
Shape your product plan
Use short guides and examples to work through recipe readiness, packaging, and how much to make first. “I’m not sure” keeps a decision open.
- 3
Explore possible manufacturers
Compare public evidence, minimums, and unknowns. A possible fit still needs the manufacturer’s confirmation.
- 4
Prepare your introduction
Choose who to approach, review your draft and shared product brief, and decide when to contact them.
A plain-language idea is enough to begin. You control what gets shared and who gets contacted.
Learn by goal
Know what to ask before you call
Plan your first production run
Get clear on specs, trials, packaging, storage, and the questions to ask before production day.
Hot sauceManufacture your first hot sauce product
Compare private label and custom paths, then learn the acidified-food basics.
Energy drinksLaunch an energy drink
Understand formula paths, carbonation, packaging, and what makes a filling line fit.
Cold-pressed juiceManufacture cold-pressed juice
Separate extraction from food safety, then plan process, packaging, and cold storage.