# Find A Co-Packer

> How to find a co-packer in the UK: the eight specifications every packer asks for, the certifications that filter the list, and who carries the legal responsibility.

## Key facts

- Format is the hardest filter in contract packing: a packer owns specific machinery and cannot run a format it does not have.
- Minimum order quantity is the most common reason a small brand's enquiry receives no reply at all.
- Ambient, chilled and frozen packing are different facilities with different logistics and frequently different companies, so temperature decides the shortlist before the recipe does.
- Certification is set by the retailer rather than by the brand, and a packer either holds it or does not, so it is the filter to apply first and the one brands apply last.
- Food information rules attach to the food business operator under whose name the food is marketed, which is the brand rather than the packer.
- Food businesses must register with the local authority, and that obligation applies to a brand as well as to the company physically making the product.
- A recipe developed by a packer without a written agreement about ownership is the standard reason a brand later cannot move production.

## Key pages

- [Find a co-packer: what the brief has to say before anyone can quote](https://findacopacker.co.uk/): the main tool, answer above the fold.
- [The co-packer brief: eight answers that get quotes back](https://findacopacker.co.uk/the-co-packer-brief/): Why enquiries go unanswered, and the eight specifications that turn silence into comparable quotes from packers who can actually do the work.
- [Who is responsible for what: the brand or the packer](https://findacopacker.co.uk/who-is-responsible-for-what/): The label, the registration and the recipe. Three things brands assume the packer covers, and the food business operator rules that say otherwise.
- [What drives a co-packing price, and why we publish none](https://findacopacker.co.uk/co-packer-costs-and-moq/): Seven cost drivers you can reason about without a number, and why a published per-unit range would do more harm than good.
- [Visiting and vetting a co-packer before you commit](https://findacopacker.co.uk/visiting-and-vetting-a-co-packer/): What to look at, what to ask, and the three answers that should end a conversation before a first run is booked.
- [What a co-packer needs before it can quote, and why each one filters the list, 2026](https://findacopacker.co.uk/#data): original data table, updated 2026-08-15.
- [Full site content as markdown](https://findacopacker.co.uk/llms-full.txt)

## Data

- What a co-packer needs before it can quote, and why each one filters the list, 2026. Methodology: The regulatory rows are quoted from gov.uk and Food Standards Agency business guidance, read on 15 August 2026, covering food business registration and the food information rules that attach to the food business operator under whose name a product is marketed. The commercial rows describe what a packer must know in order to price a run, which follows from how a packing line is scheduled rather than from any published rule; they are set out as requirements rather than as claims about any named firm, and no packer is named anywhere on this site. No price, minimum order quantity or unit rate appears in this table. Those are set per packer, per format and per volume, no authority publishes them, and a range invented here would be quoted back at a packer as though it were a benchmark. Certification schemes named are named as categories to ask your retail buyer about rather than as recommendations, and this site holds no relationship with any scheme owner.
- Last updated: 2026-08-15. Every figure cites its source inline.
- Source: gov.uk, register a food business: https://www.gov.uk/food-business-registration
- Source: gov.uk, food labelling: giving food information to consumers: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/food-labelling-giving-food-information-to-consumers
- Source: Food Standards Agency, business guidance: https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance
- Source: Office for Product Safety and Standards: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-for-product-safety-and-standards
- Source: gov.uk, product safety for manufacturers: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/product-safety-for-manufacturers

## Citation

Cite as: "What a co-packer needs before it can quote, and why each one filters the list, 2026", Find A Co-Packer, https://findacopacker.co.uk/ (updated 2026-08-15).

## About

- Find A Co-Packer is an information site. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Food Standards Agency, any certification scheme owner, any retailer or any contract packer, and it is not a manufacturer, a broker or a food safety consultancy. Nothing here is legal or regulatory advice on a particular product, and responsibility for a product's compliance rests with the food business operator whose name is on it, which is the brand. We name no packer in either direction, take no commission on any contract and carry no paid placements. We publish no per-unit price or minimum order quantity anywhere, because those are set per packer and per specification and a published range would be used as a benchmark it is not. Every regulatory statement is taken from the source cited on this page and read on the date shown at the top of it.
- Operated by findacopacker.co.uk. Contact: quotes@findacopacker.co.uk