Dry Atlas: Working with Your Formulator
Ley Line Labs is a CPG Product Development collective that offers the flexibility of an agency with the full service capabilities of a larger firm. At our core we focus on building beautiful products efficiently, while fostering small businesses on both the brand and service provider side. Passionate about product, productivity & people, we’re really in it to make cool things & work with founders we believe in. Our process is full flavored & full service - we piece together the full CPG puzzle, starting with market analysis, branding, and formulation. When the product's polished and data's determined, we coordinate with manufacturing, compliance,distribution & media experts for a product launch that properly matches the brands goals and ethos. We live for libations and everything that gets them from brain to bottle.
Is the above too wordy? - Nope, i think it works!
STEP ONE: Green Flags Red Flags
When developing a product, there’s a million moving pieces and things to consider. Most advisory should be tailored to the brand, however, there are a few “Red Flags” & “Green Flags” that translate across the board.
Manufacturers:
Red Flags: There’s no clear documentation about IP ownership - this could mean a host of troublesome things. They may be using a white labeled formula, which means it’s the same formula used for multiple brands. If they don’t share your formulation with you, you can’t make adjustments in the future or communicate effectively with ingredient suppliers - this will cause major trouble!
Green Flags: Transparency. If the manufacturer supplies all audit documents and offers a walk-through of the production floor and clarifies brand ownership of the formula, these are all good signs.
Product Developers [Formulators, Designers & Brand Strategists]
Red Flags: Inconsistent & unclear communication. Communication is key with any healthy relationship & that includes the relationships you have with your service providers.
Green Flags: Mutual respect & passion. These are the folks helping create your vision, it’s important they hear you and your goals for your brand. On the flip side, you’ve hired professionals for a reason - to help guide you through a process that requires a variety of skills and experience. All parties should be passionate about the project & respect each other’s viewpoints.
STEP TWO: Making a good brief - Brain before bottle
The most trouble we see new brands get into when they make their first product is making sure their formulators properly share their vision. We have put together some tips, so that no matter who you work with, you can get the right product made:
Making a Good product & Strategy brief; getting from brain to bottle.
The Product Development process is understanding your Who, Where, When, Why, What, then you can get to How.
Who; your target consumer.
Where ; your distribution goals.
When; your milestone timeline. If you want to target a specific season, work backward from that season and pad the estimated timelines for each milestone.
Why; your ethos, your reason for creating this product & bringing it to the world, as well as your product differentiator.
What; the product descriptors - flavors, packaging format and size, carbonated vs still, any major callouts or certifications, the Who, Where & Why help direct these decisions
We bring the How by utilizing all the data & creativity to get the concept through every stage of creation and then into the hands of your consumers.
STEP THREE: What are some good trends you are seeing?
Form & Function: We’re seeing an increase in requests to develop products that are not only enjoyable but also serve a health focused purpose.
Travel in a can: The CPG space has seen the success of brands inspired by regions and cultures presented in their flavor profiles. If this is the route you chose, make sure it’s a culture you can represent with wholesome intention & integrity.
Pioneering Pours: When Non-Alc first started hitting shelves most products were replicants of their alcoholic counterparts These days brands are owning their individuality, and it’s paying off.