How much will it cost to bring my drink idea to life?
Hello, pioneer, innovator, creator, visionary, brave explorer of liquid delights! You’re probably here because you’re looking to launch the next big thing in drinks... well, let us give you a hand.
Whether this is your first time bringing a drink idea to life, or you’ve already got an impressive portfolio behind you, the question of “how much will this cost?” is critical. It is crucial to know that either:
you have the funds to support this vision
you know how much to ask for if investment is required, or
that it will be a sensible investment (profitable).
The truth of it is, there is a plethora of variables that impact upon cost, such as professional services required, raw materials, duty, production rates and restrictions, MOQs, packaging etc.
To help give you a steer as to what to expect (as a minimum), we have drawn on our years of extensive experience in the industry to try and clear the murky water a bit for you. Our hope is that the following tables will guide you in the process of decision making by supplementing your understanding of what an initial small-scale production looks like. You’re welcome! 😉
Before you begin crunching the numbers, some caveats...
This guide is intended as that only - a guide. This means, there may be factors in your own vision that could skew the costs associated with your drink, whether it be that you want to explore embossed or etched glass bottles, type of closures, hand applied elements, drink format (pouches, tetra) etc.
The guide costs are also based on initial, small-scale production. As such, you’ll find economies of scale as your business grows.
Let’s dive in!
RECIPE DEVELOPMENT
Have a look at our recipe development page for more details on this, or better yet get on a call with us to have a chat! The price will depend on complexity, generally, but we can look at requirements and budgets to make things work.
INGREDIENTS
For this guide, we basing costs on price per litre, and to help you calculate costs for your desired vessel size, you can use this simple formula:
‘cost per litre’ x (vessel size/1000) = cost per bottlee.g. £0.50 x 0.20 (litres) = £0.10 per bottle
BRANDING & DESIGN CONCEPT
Our branding and commercial design process is tailored to provide clients with a beautiful and strategic presence that takes into account budget, audience, liquid, vessel, practicality in production and the supply chain. As a specialist in drinks branding, our service is lean and impactful.
Expect to budget from £3,000-£10,000+ for this stage (dependent on brief, number of SKUs, depth and breadth of service.
VESSEL
Your vessel plays a big part of the shelf appeal of your product. Some factors to consider are, convenience, shelf space, packing efficiencies, sustainability, production limitations, liquid compatibility, placement (premium or budget) etc.
DECORATION
Time for the icing on the cake - the decoration of the vessel. This is where price depends on complexity and quality. The saying goes that the label gets the first sale, the liquid gets the second, so this is where some strategic thinking and understanding of your market is crucial to getting the label right.
PRODUCTION
The final step in bringing your idea to life, is manufacturing. The cost of this step may be significant initially, but as you grow your business and demand increases, you will see rates reduce per unit when producing in larger volumes.
Other factors to consider when canning include labelling, supply of cans, trays and whether or not you will have PCT testing done. PCT is a process that tests the compatibility of your liquid with your cans. Not all liquids are compatible with the lining of the cans, which could result in corrosion of the cans - and in the worst cases, cause damage to the whole stock run!
One of the unknown and indirect costs would be due to wastage - you should expect anywhere between 5-20% wastage depending on the recipe and/or methodology of your production.
It’s important to note that a reputable 3rd party manufacturer should insist upon a trial production if this is the first time you are producing your drink commercially. The trial production tests the robustness of the liquid, methodology, vessel and applications in commercial production. On this day you will make taste-based adjustments to refine the Brix (sugar), pH, and (if relevant) the ABV levels, as well as an opportunity to quality check the first few bottles that come off the line. You don’t want to invest in every element of the journey only to be disappointed with the final product if you skip this step!
PACKAGING, LOGISTICS & STORAGE/FULFILMENT
Don’t forget to budget for things like packaging, logistics, storage and fulfilment (if you are considering a 3rd party fulfilment centre). You may get roughly 400L of product on a standard pallet, which may cost between £30-100 to ship (mainland UK).
Your storage requirements will depend on your product, and you should expect to pay between £20-£60 per pallet per month.
We hope this guidance has given you a starter for ten when factoring in the key costs of getting your drink off the ground. Although it may seem like there are a mountain of moving parts and things to consider, our job at the Drinks Lab is to make this journey as smooth as possible for you, and our Concept to Shelf packages provide solutions around managing these variables for you.
If you are ready to start shaking up the drinks industry, drop us a line and find out how we can help.
Sláinte!
