This is the first question every private label buyer asks, so here is a straight answer about how it works.

Minimum order depends on two things: the product type and the pack format. A programme built around 208L drums reaches a workable minimum at a very different volume to one built around retail bottles, because the cost of filling, labelling and packing scales with the number of units rather than the number of litres.

Rather than quote a single figure that would be wrong for most enquiries, we would rather you told us three things — the products you want, the pack sizes you need, and the volume you can realistically move in your market. We will come back and tell you plainly whether it works, and if it doesn’t, what volume or pack format would.

If the honest answer is that your volume is too low for private label to make commercial sense yet, we will say so rather than take an order that leaves you with unsold stock.