Demand for equipment that can handle enhanced formulations is coming from across the supply chain, and the contract manufacturers that produce other companies’ brands are leading the way.
According to PMMI’s The Formulation Effect white paper, OEMs identify contract manufacturers and co-packers as the most frequently cited source of demand for equipment capable of handling enhanced formulations, named by 62% of respondents. Large CPGs and brand owners follow closely at 60%, a sign that both brand owners and the outsourced partners who produce for them are seeking equipment that can support more complex products.
The pull extends beyond those two groups. Nutraceutical firms are a notable source of demand at 40%, and emerging brands account for 34%. Retailers and private-label manufacturers (16%) and ingredient companies (14%) are cited less often.
For OEMs, the prominence of co-packers reflects a broader shift in how brands get their products made. One supplier connected the rise of outsourcing directly to the kind of equipment customers now want.
“We have seen a lot of trends…A lot more co-packers,” a managing director at an OEM said. “We see big brands asking co-packers to take care of it. And for us, it translates into having more flexible equipment, equipment that can pass different packages, different bottle size, different bottle shapes. But maybe after a year or two they will need to make something for another big brand.”
That dynamic places a premium on fast, frequent format changes. Because a single co-packing line may run several brands’ products in a day, changeover speed becomes a defining requirement.
“When you talk about a line that has to change over two to three to maybe even four times per shift, then it becomes more of a pit stop style changeover,” a vice president at an OEM said. “They literally need to change over in minutes and change from one product to another or one package to another.”
The takeaway for OEMs and suppliers is that the formulation opportunity reaches well beyond brand owners. Contract manufacturers, who absorb the variability of many clients at once, are among the most active buyers, and equipment designed to switch quickly between products and formats speaks directly to what that segment needs.
SOURCE: 2026 The Formulation Effect: Impacts on Food & Beverage Production, Equipment and Investment
For more insights from PMMI’s Business Intelligence team, find reports, including The Formulation Effect: Impacts on Food & Beverage Production, Equipment and Investment, Robotics in Packaging & Processing, and Managing Obsolescence at https://www.pmmi.org/business-intelligence.
Download the FREE report below.
