Demi Estee: customize a essence liquid, what pitfalls should be avoided when looking for a processing partner
When customizing essence liquid, the following potential risks need to be carefully avoided in cooperation with the co processing plant to ensure product quality, compliance and smooth cooperation. The following are key considerations and solutions:
1、 Qualification and Compliance Trap
Incomplete factory qualifications
Verify the factory's "Cosmetics Production License" and filing information (which can be accessed through the official website of the National Medical Products Administration).
Request to provide certification documents such as ISO 22716 (Cosmetics GMP) and ISO 9001.
Confirm whether the factory has the production qualification of essence related dosage forms (such as liquid and gel).
Risk: Factories that have not obtained a cosmetics production license, GMP certification, or ISO quality management system certification may result in products not being registered or being investigated after being launched.
Avoidance: Enterprise WeChat screenshot _20250326165052.png
Composition and regulatory non-compliance
Require the factory to provide COA (Ingredient Safety Report) and MSDS (Chemical Safety Data Sheet) for the raw materials.
Ensure that the formula complies with the "Cosmetic Safety Technical Specification" and target market regulations (such as China, the European Union, and the United States).
Entrust a third-party organization to test indicators such as heavy metals, microorganisms, and irritants.
Risk: The formula contains prohibited ingredients (such as hormones and heavy metals), has not been registered as a new raw material, or has not been labeled with all ingredients according to regulations.
Avoidance:
2、 Common problems in the cooperation process
Communication is not transparent
Provide detailed requirement documents (such as efficacy direction, target skin type, usage scenario, packaging form).
Request the factory to provide sampling services and sign a sample confirmation letter.
Clearly specify the number of modifications and fees (such as whether there will be charges for formula adjustments exceeding 3 times).
Risk: Misunderstanding of requirements may result in products not meeting expectations (such as skin feel, efficacy, texture).
Avoidance:
Insufficient confidentiality of the formula
Sign a confidentiality agreement (NDA) to clarify the ownership of intellectual property rights for the formula.
Provide formula information in stages (such as purchasing core ingredients and delivering them to the factory).
Choose factories with independent research and development laboratories to avoid sharing production lines.
Risk: Formula leakage or unauthorized use by the factory for other customers.
Avoidance:
3、 The invisible pit between cost and quality
hidden fee
Request the factory to provide a comprehensive quotation (including costs for formula development, packaging materials, testing, filing, etc.).
Clarify whether there is a "minimum order quantity surcharge" (such as an additional charge when the order quantity is below the minimum order quantity).
Risk: After attracting cooperation at a low price, additional costs may be incurred through packaging design fees, mold fees, testing fees, and other means.
Avoidance:
Poor quality control
The contract specifies the quality inspection standards (such as an error range of ± 5% for active ingredients).
Require factory inspection reports for each batch or commission third-party sampling.
Agree on compensation clauses for quality issues (such as returns, redoing, or compensation for losses).
Risk: Unstable quality of production batches (such as insufficient content of active ingredients and excessive microorganisms).
Avoidance:
4、 Supply chain and after-sales risks
Poor packaging material matching capability
Request the factory to provide a compatibility test report for packaging materials (such as high/low temperature stability testing).
Prioritize choosing factories that offer integrated packaging services (to avoid multiple connections).
Risk: The package is incompatible with the contents (such as poor leakproofness of the dropper, resulting in oxidation of essence).
Avoidance:
Delayed after-sales response
The contract specifies the after-sales response time (if there are quality issues, a response must be given within 24 hours).
Require the factory to provide quality insurance or warranty deposit (such as reserving 10% of the final payment as warranty deposit).
Risk: If there are customer complaints (such as allergies or leaks) after the product is launched, the factory will shift responsibility.
Avoidance:
5、 Suggestions for cooperation strategy
Staged cooperation: Start with small-scale trial production (such as 3000-10000 bottles), test market feedback before expanding orders.
On site factory inspection: Investigate the production line, storage environment, and R&D team of the factory to confirm its actual production capacity.
Bind core personnel: directly communicate with factory R&D engineers and project managers to avoid the risk of intermediary subcontracting.
By avoiding the above risks in advance and choosing a professional and transparent OEM factory, we can significantly reduce the potential cooperation risks and ensure that every link of essence Liquid from R&D to listing is controllable, compliant and efficient.