You are preparing to launch your brand and two paths lie ahead: start from an existing formula, or create a formula that belongs to you alone.
Both lead to a finished product, made in France, compliant and ready to sell. But they are not managed the same way, they do not take the same time and, above all, they are not priced at the same moment.
This is often where misunderstandings begin. With white label, we can give you a price very early on. With custom formulation, we first ask you for your target price. This article explains why, and how to turn it into an asset for your project.
White label: a proven formula, under your name
With white label, you start from one of our bases that has already been developed, tested and stabilised: serum, cream, body lotion, shampoo, deodorant… You dress it in your identity: container, label, logo printing, gift box.
On the formula side, the base remains ours. Adjusting the colour or adding complementary actives is assessed case by case; the fragrance and texture of the base are not modified.
It is the most direct path to:
- launch a first range quickly;
- test a market before investing further;
- complete an existing range without reinventing everything;
- start out with a controlled budget.
At Costomise, white label starts from 500 units per SKU, in around 4 months from choosing the formulas to delivery. The Product Information File (PIF), CPNP notification, toxicological assessment and label review are included.
Custom formulation: a formula created for you
With custom formulation, we start from a blank page: your concept, the benefit you are after, the target sensory profile, your natural or organic positioning. Our formulators develop an exclusive formula, which becomes your property.
Development moves forward through back-and-forths: first lab trials, samples, adjustments to texture, fragrance and performance, until you approve the formula. Then come stability, packaging compatibility and safety tests, before industrialisation.
This is the path to choose when your differentiation rests on the formula itself: a signature active, a texture found nowhere else, an innovative formulation type, or a promise only a dedicated formula can keep.
Its timeline depends on the complexity of the formulation type and the tests: we set it with you from the start.
The two approaches at a glance
| White label | Custom formulation | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | An existing base from our catalogue | Your concept, on a blank page |
| Formula | Ours; colour and complementary actives case by case | Exclusive, developed for you, your property |
| Customisation | Packaging, labelling, printing, gift box | Formula, texture, fragrance, actives, and packaging |
| Timeline | Around 4 months, from choosing the formulas to delivery | Depends on complexity, set from the brief |
| Minimum quantity | 500 units per SKU | Defined with you at scoping |
| Price | Known from the outset, quoted according to packaging and volumes | Built from your target price, confirmed by quote once the formulas are approved |
Why a price is available straight away with white label
With white label, the product already exists. Its formula is fixed, its raw materials are known and sourced, its manufacturing process is well established, its tests have been carried out.
We therefore know exactly what it costs to manufacture the formula. The only variables left to factor in are the ones you choose: the container, the dressing and the quantities. That is why we can send you an initial pricing very early in the conversation, followed by a quote with volume-based sliding prices.
Why, with custom formulation, we start from your target price
With custom formulation, the situation is the reverse: at the first conversation, the product does not exist yet.
As for the production costs requested for each product, since this is a custom development for your brand, it is not possible to price them at this stage. The price will depend on choices still to be made together: the nature and concentration of the actives, the complexity of the formula, and the packaging selected.
That is why we work the other way round.
The target price, a working basis
At the start of a collaboration, we work together on a simulation of the production cost based on the formulation and active-ingredient options under consideration. Since the choice of packaging also has a major impact on the final price, we ask you for your target price.
This cost serves as a working basis to guide our technical choices: which actives, at what dosage, in which container. A target price is not a constraint that holds the formula back: it is the compass that lets us design the right product for your market.
Without a target price, the risk is twofold: developing a superb formula that cannot be sold at the intended price or, conversely, under-using a budget that would have allowed one more active.
Studying your market upstream
To set this target price, it is essential to study your market upstream and to reason backwards, starting from the intended retail price:
- The retail price your customers are willing to pay, compared with similar products in your segment.
- VAT, to be deducted from the retail price.
- Your distributors’ margin (pharmacies, concept stores, spas, online retailers), if you do not sell exclusively direct.
- Your own margin, which must cover your overheads, marketing, logistics and your brand’s profitability.
- What remains: the maximum production cost of the finished product, formula, packaging and manufacturing included. That is your target price.
This calculation depends on your sales channel and your positioning: it is yours to make, and we can help you check that it holds together. Our article on the business plan for a cosmetics brand details the market research approach.
From target price to official quote
Once the final formulas are approved, we therefore send you the final prices through an official quote for the production part.
What is useful to send us from the first conversation
Whichever path you choose, a few pieces of information help us move faster and give you an accurate answer:
- the product or products you have in mind and their main benefit;
- your positioning (natural, organic, certified or not);
- your sales channels and the intended retail price;
- your target price per product, for a custom project;
- your packaging ideas, even rough ones;
- the quantities planned for a first production run.
White label or custom: why not both?
The two approaches are not mutually exclusive. Many brands start with white label to validate their market, then develop exclusive formulas with us. Others combine, within the same range, custom products and bases from the catalogue.
The right choice depends on your timeline, your budget and what will set your brand apart. Tell us where you stand: we will help you decide, and build the right pricing.
