Our Most Commonly Asked Questions in 2025

ZoRoCo Packaging
5 days ago
5 min read

Choosing a contract manufacturer is one of the most important decisions a brand can make — especially in today’s better-for-you market, where gluten-free contract food manufacturing, allergen claims, and innovation are quickly becoming category expectations.

Whether you’re an emerging brand ready to scale or a national name looking for a long-term partner, you likely have the same big questions we hear every week. Here are ZoRoCo’s most commonly asked questions in 2025, and what every brand should know before

choosing a co-man.

What types of products does ZoRoCo manufacture?

Quite a lot — and all under one family-owned organization. Across our allergen-free, gluten-free, and frozen plants, we support a wide range of gluten-free manufacturing, allergen-free contract food manufacturing, and better-for-you co-manufacturing needs.

That includes:

Baked goods, brownies, and muffins
Cookies (wire cut and rotary molded)
Dried fruits, nuts, and particulates (blending and enrobing)
Dry baking mixes and oatmeals
Frozen vegetables, IQF re-pack, and seasoned blends
Scratch baked granolas and snack mixes
RTE bowls, smoothies, and better-for-you meals
Vegan butters, and plant-based spreads

From simple blends to highly technical formulations, our capabilities were built for brands in the better-for-you, gluten-free, vegan, and allergen-friendly space — without compromising on scale or quality.

Are your facilities gluten-free, allergen-free, or plant-based?

Yes, and each plant has dedicated claims, with all being peanut-free. This is one of the biggest reasons brands choose ZoRoCo.

Our Free-From Plant is a dedicated Big 9 allergen-free facility — supporting products that require the highest level of allergen control.
Our Gluten-Free Plant is both GFCO-certified and peanut-free, ideal for brands needing strict gluten-free co-manufacturing or gluten-free co-packing.
All plants are 100% plant-based and peanut-free.

If you’re producing gluten-free snacks, allergen-friendly cookies, plant-based spreads, or anything requiring tight controls, your product is made on dedicated lines — not shared with major allergens to avoid cross-contact.

What packaging formats do you offer?

We provide almost every packaging format a modern CPG brand could need. As a snack food contract manufacturer, gluten-free co-man, and RTE co-man, we support:

Vertical Form Fill & Seal (VFFS) — 0.75 oz to 6 lb
Stand-up pouches (SUPs)
Pillow packs and sachets
Bag-in-box (BIB) cartons
Single-serve cups, tubs, and Peel + Go formats
Tray or carton packaging
Bulk (10–60 lbs)
Multi-unit and club packs

Whether you’re producing oatmeal sachets, allergen-friendly cookies, plant-based granola, vegan baking mixes, or frozen veggie blends, we can package it for retail, club, e-commerce, or foodservice.

Can you support both small emerging brands and large CPG companies?

Absolutely. We’re built for entrepreneurial brands and household names.

Emerging brands choose ZoRoCo because we are nimble, collaborative, and willing to co-invest in growth. Larger CPGs choose us because we have enterprise-level food safety, automation, consistency, and capacity.

We also do not own any brands of our own, so we never compete with you on shelf space — a major difference from many other co-mans.

What does your onboarding process look like?

Clear, structured, and transparent. Here’s the typical flow:

Discovery – NDA, formulation review, requirements, and site visits
Collaboration – samples, testing, credit application, and pricing proposal
Set-Up – ingredient and packaging approvals, claims review, and workflow set-up
Trial Run – QC audits and performance validation
Manufacturing Agreement – MOQs, forecasting, and production terms
Execution – weekly production calls, monthly forecasting calls, and ERP access

Our goal is simple: make onboarding smooth, set expectations early, and work as an extension of your team.

Do you offer full turnkey manufacturing?

Yes. Many clients use us as their full turnkey co-man or non-tolling manufacturer, which includes:

Ingredient sourcing
Batching and blending
Baking, forming, freezing, or enrobing
Packaging in any major retail format
Packaging referrals
Food safety and QC testing
Inventory management
Live visibility through our ERP portal

You can be as hands-on — or hands-off — as you want. Turnkey is ideal for teams focused on sales, marketing, and innovation while we handle operations and production.

How does ZoRoCo ensure food safety and quality?

With the rigor your brand deserves. We operate GFSI BRC AA/AA+ rated facilities, hold GFCO gluten-free certification, and support Non-GMO, Kosher, Organic, and allergen-free claims.

Quality and safety are reinforced through:

Strict allergen zoning
Ingredient and packaging validation
Automated production lines
QC checkpoints throughout each run
Annual audits
On-site food safety and quality teams

Our founders built ZoRoCo on integrity, and it shows in how we show up for every client and every product.

Do you help CPG brands with forecasting, scaling, and long-term growth?

Yes, this is one of our core strengths.

CPG brands come to us because they’ve outgrown their kitchen, their current co-man, or their own facility. We help them build a scalable path forward through:

Weekly production and supply chain calls
Monthly leadership and forecasting alignment
Annual strategic reviews focused on efficiencies and cost savings
Capacity planning for future growth

We’re not a transactional vendor. We're a long-term growth partner.

What is your minimum order quantity (MOQ)?

MOQs vary by plant, packaging format, and product type, but we are known for being flexible — especially compared to larger co-mans who require heavy volume from day one.

Instead of hard minimums, we look at:

Product type
SKU complexity
Packaging format
Line time
Frequency

We believe in scaling with you. We only grow when our brand partners grow.

What makes ZoRoCo different from other co-manufacturers?

A few things set us apart:

We operate with integrity — we do what we say.
We offer full transparency — clients have real-time ERP access to production, inventories, and reporting.
We don’t own or market our own brands — your product is always the priority.
We’re entrepreneurial and family-owned — quick decisions, no board approvals, no bureaucracy.
We only grow when our clients grow — we place partnership over transactions.

When brands say they want a co-man who feels like part of their internal team, this is what they mean.

Can ZoRoCo handle frozen and temp-controlled products?

Yes, our Temp-Controlled Plant supports a wide range of frozen manufacturing needs, including:

IQF vegetables (single ingredient or blends)
Seasoned and enrobed frozen veggies
Frozen fruit blends
Ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat meal components
Vegan butter, spreads, and plant-based sticks
Pillow packs, stand-up pouches, steamable bags, bowls, and tubs

This plant is ideal for brands needing a frozen vegetable co-packer, IQF repacker, or plant-based co-man with high food safety and high care capability.

What does ZoRoCo’s contract food manufacturing open capacity look like for 2026?

We currently have open capacity across all three plants — including baking, dry blending, frozen processing and blending capabilities, etc. Because capacity changes quickly, we recommend reaching out early if you’re planning a new launch or preparing for seasonal volume.

The Right Answers Lead to the Right Partnership

Better-for-you brands need more than a production slot. They need a partner who understands gluten-free manufacturing, allergen-free co-man expectations, plant-based innovation, frozen scalability, and the realities of modern CPG growth.

At ZoRoCo, transparency and quality aren’t buzzwords. It’s how we help brands build smarter, scale faster, and protect the integrity of every product that leaves our floor.

If you have questions beyond these, we’d love to answer them — and explore whether we’re the right long-term partner for your next stage of growth.