First time running a product? Not sure what you need? Book a $300, one-hour consult — walk away with a real plan and our full co-packing guide.
Get Started →North Lakes Copacking blends, fills, and packages powder products for brands who are done being an afterthought to copackers built around someone else's minimums. You talk to the person actually running your job — not an account rep relaying updates from a shared inbox.
The person who quotes your job is the person who runs it. No account-rep layer, no waiting on a callback.
A published starting rate and a full fee list below — not a black box you negotiate blind, run by run.
Built for the runs bigger copackers wave off as too small — 1 to up to 30,000 units a day, depending on the product.
Every job moves through the same stages — start wherever your product already is.
Your formula combined to spec by weight, batch-checked before it reaches the line.
Filled and sealed into sachets, stick packs, or zipper pouches at your fill weight and count.
Multi-packs, retail bundles, and display-ready cases, priced separately from the base run.
Palletized outbound, or ongoing pick, pack & ship to your customers. See Fulfillment below.
Limited runs up to 50,000 units per flavor, for brands ready to scale past our flat-rate tier. The equipment is on order — we're booking production windows against real demand, not building on a guess. Tell us you want in, and we'll hold you a spot as machines land.
Exact quotes depend on fill weight, packaging, and volume, but here's the real structure so you can pencil out a number before you talk to us.
| Volume | Price | What's Included |
|---|---|---|
| Sachets / stick packs, 1–8,000 units | $2,750 flat | Machine setup, blending labor, and the full production run. |
| Sachets / stick packs, 8,000+ units | Custom quote | Priced on volume, fill weight, and flavor count. |
| Zipper / stand-up pouches, any volume | Custom quote | Priced on volume, fill weight, and format. |
| Blending (per pound) | $0.50–$1.50 | Depends on formulation complexity — number of ingredients, particle size, and mix time. |
| Item | Fee | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Changeover — same package size, non-allergen, no full clean-out | $149 | Flavor switch within an existing run block. |
| Changeover — full clean-out, allergen clean-out, or package size change | $549 | Anything that requires a true reset of the line. |
| Rush order | Ask us | We'll do it when line time and materials allow. Fee depends on the ask. |
| Testing (allergen / micro, per test) | $110–$179 | Passed through at our cost — we don't mark up lab work. |
| Sample / proof-of-concept run | $525 | Send 10 lbs of ingredients and a small roll of film — we tumble-blend and run it in your actual packaging format. Not a full clean-down, so it's not sellable product, but it's real proof you're in the right size before a full order rides on it. |
Standard turnaround is 30 days from a signed quote to finished product. All ingredients, film, and COAs need to be on-site at least 7 days before your scheduled run — that's what keeps the line moving on the date we gave you.
Non-refundable fee to move your booked line time — it protects the slot we held for you and turned other work away to keep open.
Of the scheduled run, billed if you cancel within 2 weeks of your run date. Once a slot's booked, it's real cost either way.
Small brands don't need a massive warehouse. They need someone who gets orders out Monday through Friday, gets them right, and picks up the phone when something looks off. That's what we do. We're not built for a brand doing 10,000 orders a month — we're built for the 10 to 50 orders a day that don't want shipping games, fees marked up just to be marked back down, or a ticket number instead of a person. Flat fees. Real transparency. A team that answers.
| Service | Fee |
|---|---|
| Inbound receiving | No charge |
| Storage (finished goods or raw materials) | $25 / pallet / month |
| Pick & pack (per order) | $2.50–$3.50 |
| Shipping — pay weekly | Carrier cost, no markup |
| Shipping — net 30 terms | Carrier cost + 18% |
| Palletized outbound (bulk retail/distributor) | Custom quote |
Pick & pack is priced per order depending on product size — get a full quote for your SKU. On shipping: pay your invoice weekly and we pass carrier rates straight through, no markup. Want net-30 terms instead? We're carrying your receivable and the risk that comes with it, so that gets an 18% shipping markup — same logic a factoring company would use, just disclosed upfront instead of buried in a rate card.
Active product liability coverage, full stop — ask us for documentation any time.
We'll sign an NDA before any details change hands. We don't discuss one client's product with another.
Run a $525 proof-of-concept first — the cheapest way to confirm your fit before a full order rides on it.
We built our own production rooms — positive-pressure, HEPA-filtered, sealed floors, dry by design — because that's what keeps a food product safe, not because an auditor told us to. We're a small shop, not a certified mega-plant, and we're not going to pretend otherwise. What you get instead: the person who built the room is the person running your batch, every time. Ask us for a walkthrough — we'd rather show you than tell you.
If a run doesn't meet spec because of an error on our part, we own it and make it right — that conversation happens honestly and directly with you, case by case. But let's be straight: a batch that fails QC isn't "reworked," it's redone. We'll tell you exactly what happened and what your options are, every time — no runaround.
Brands running 1,000–50,000 units per flavor — too small for shops with 35,000-unit minimums, too specific for a shared commercial kitchen.
Brands outgrowing home or garage production who need a real facility and dates that actually hold.
Brands who've been burned by a bigger copacker's rigid scheduling, hidden fees, or opaque pricing — we've been that customer too.
Brands testing a new SKU or flavor who want a real sample run before committing to a full production order.
Brands who want production and fulfillment from one partner instead of stitching together separate vendors.
Brands doing 10–50 orders a day who need a fulfillment partner that isn't built around someone doing 10,000 a month.
"I've been through the runaround you're dealing with right now. Bigger copackers don't lose sleep over your production date. I do."
North Lakes Copacking is based in Minnesota and run by its owner, day to day — not a regional sales rep, not a customer success platform. We built this specifically for the brand doing thousands of units a flavor: too big for a shared kitchen, too small for the copackers that want 35,000 units before they'll return your call.
We're actively building out capacity — a vertical (VFFS) line and a dedicated stick pack line are on order for limited runs up to 50,000 units per flavor — and taking on new production and fulfillment clients now.
$2,750 flat covers 1–8,000 sachets or stick packs — machine setup, blending, and the full run. Larger volumes and zipper pouches are custom quoted on volume, fill weight, and format.
That's the default, and usually the better deal for you — you keep your supplier relationships. If you'd rather we source materials, we can; just tell us on the quote form.
Once you sign a quote, your production date is booked and held for you. Materials need to be on-site at least 7 days before your run. Moving your booked slot is a 25% non-refundable fee; canceling within 2 weeks of your run date is 50% of the scheduled run. Once a slot's booked, it's real cost whether product runs through it or not.
Sachets, stick packs, and zipper pouches today, plus hand-fill of gusset bags for small batches with no machine minimum. A vertical (VFFS) line and a dedicated stick pack line are on order for limited runs up to 50,000 units per flavor — now booking.
We built our production rooms around cGMP principles — positive-pressure, HEPA-filtered, sealed floors, dry by design — but we're a small shop, not a certified mega-plant, and we won't claim a certification we don't hold. Ask us for a walkthrough any time.
Send us your product type, fill weight, units per flavor, packaging, and timeline, and we'll turn around a real quote fast. Standard production turnaround is 30 days from a signed quote to finished product.
What we tell brands on the phone, written down — so you can pencil out your own numbers before you call.
The per-unit price drops at volume. The cash you're risking before you know the product sells does not. The math nobody shows you.
Read the story → FulfillmentBest-in-class software sounds impressive. What protects your margin is a partner who discloses every fee before you sign.
Read the breakdown → PricingCo-packing is one line item. Here are all seven cost buckets between raw ingredients and a customer opening their package.
Read the full chain → StrategyHigh minimum order quantities force supplement brands to over-invest before proving their concept. Here's the math and the alternative.
Read → PricingPublished pricing, every tier, no hidden fees. $2,750 flat for up to 8,000 sachets. Blending extra. No games.
Read → PackagingThe format you choose affects cost, shelf presence, and co-packing options. Here's how to make the right call.
Read → StrategyQuestions to ask, red flags to avoid, and what to verify before you sign anything.
Read → ComplianceCOAs are required before any production run. Here's what they contain, how to get them, and what happens if you don't have one.
Read → EducationThe machine your co-packer uses matters more than most brands realize. Here's the full explainer.
Read → StrategyThe production scaling roadmap with real costs at every stage — from $2,750 proof-of-concept to custom quote.
Read → ComparisonAn honest side-by-side on minimums, pricing, flexibility, and what actually matters for emerging brands.
Read → EducationThe industry uses these terms interchangeably. They mean different things and it matters which you need.
Read → OperationsTwo critical operational partners most founders don't fully understand until they need both at the same time.
Read → Ingredient GuideFill weight, hygroscopic blends, allergen declarations, COA requirements, and sachet sizing for whey.
Read → Ingredient GuideAllulose gets a reputation in co-packing. Some warranted, much exaggerated. Here's what's actually true.
Read → Ingredient GuideLight fills, fast throughput, multi-flavor flexibility. Electrolyte economics at small batch are genuinely attractive.
Read → EducationEvery powder run loses some product. It's physics. Here's what's normal and how to order at 110%.
Read → ProcessThe complete timeline from inquiry to finished goods. Film lead time is the critical path most brands miss.
Read → LocalFDA registered in Minneapolis, MN. Serving brands nationally — but if you're in the Midwest, we're in your backyard.
Read → ComplianceFDA registration explained for supplement brands. When it's required, what it actually means, and what it doesn't guarantee.
Read → ProcessEvery document, every material, every confirmation before your run date. The definitive pre-production checklist.
Read → StrategyWhen inventory stops being an asset and becomes a liability — and how small-batch co-packing protects your cash.
Read → FulfillmentRobots and AI don't lower your cost at 50 orders a day. Here's what transparent fulfillment actually looks like.
Read → ProductionWrong sachet size, auger tooling you didn't know you needed, powder that won't flow. All findable for $525.
Read → ComplianceWhat needs testing, what doesn't, what ISO certification covers, and what it costs. Written for founders, not lawyers.
Read → PackagingBarrier properties, moisture, oxygen, seal temperatures, and the mistakes that cost brands thousands before a single pouch is filled.
Read → StrategyInventory bloat, 3PL platform fees, yield loss, sample spend, and co-packing contract traps. The margin killers that compound before you see them.
Read →Who we're talking to
Format, fill weight, formula
Units, allergens, when you need it