Food, Beverage & Consumer Products
Variety packs, kitting and contract packaging for CPG brands.
RELY Contract Manufacturing builds variety packs, multipacks, promotional and gift packs, retail packouts and Amazon FBA-ready product for food, beverage and consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands, then ships to distribution centers, retailers, Amazon and end customers. RELY packs finished, packaged product. It does not fill, formulate or process food.
Finished variety packs · RELY floor
At a glance
What RELY does for food, beverage and CPG brands.
Move the packout around the product: configurations, labels, cartons, verification and shipment requirements. RELY performs secondary packaging of finished, packaged goods, with program-specific food-safety controls and lot and date-code handling.
- Serves
- Food, beverage and CPG brands, and consumer product companies
- Channels
- Retail distribution centers, distributors, Amazon FBA, B2B and direct-to-consumer
- Food handling
- Program-specific food-safety controls. Wisconsin food warehouse license (PDF)
- Proof
- A variety-pack launch with its first full truckload 42 days after the first meeting (Case No. 10); 360,000 units fulfilled through Amazon FBA in 2025 for another beverage brand (Case No. 19)
- Credentials
- ISO 9001:2015 certified. Member of Food & Beverage Wisconsin
Proof · Case Study No. 10 · Beverage brand
A new variety pack and a fixed launch date. First full truckload in 42 days.
A beverage brand needed an outside partner to stand up a new 18-can, three-flavor variety pack for a warehouse-club launch. Finished, sealed cans came in. Retail-ready variety packs went out. RELY did not fill, formulate or process the beverage.
- 42 days
- First meeting (March 6) to first full truckload (April 17, 2026)
- 3
- Full truckloads shipped April 17, ahead of the April 20 launch target
- 30,000+
- Variety packs, with 540,000+ cans packed, March to September 2026
- 0
- Customer-reported pack-mix errors across 30,000+ packs
- What RELY owned
- Receiving and segregating single-flavor product from two origins, date control by build, the six-of-each-flavor pack mix to the supplied dieline and brand specification, palletizing, storage and releases on demand.
- Date control
- Separate builds required different expiration-date profiles. RELY segregated inventory by date and held the required profile through packout.
- Ramp
- Two shifts, ramped from 4 to 24 associates over two weeks, with a peak week of 9,453 packs. Finished goods were stored at RELY and released as the brand needed them.
- Why it matters
- The brand kept its launch date without building a packaging line of its own.
Source: RELY Case Study No. 10. The 42-day milestone runs from first meeting to first full truckload for this program; it is not a standard lead time. Cans and finished packs are separate counts.
Proof · Case No. 19 · Beverage brand · Fulfillment
FBA volume up 359% in six months. Fulfillment left the brand’s floor.
- Starting problem
- A fast-growing beverage brand ran Amazon FBA fulfillment in-house. Daily pick-and-pack pulled leadership and production people off core work, and growth consumed floor space the core process needed.
- What RELY owned
- FBA fulfillment execution, including pick and pack, labeling and ship coordination, plus controlled co-packing of variety packs and multipacks.
- What RELY did
- Wrote packout definitions, cartonization rules and work instructions before the ramp; verified lot and expiration dates during kitting; built marketplace labeling and documentation requirements into the work.
- Result
- The brand’s FBA volume grew 359% over six months while RELY ran fulfillment. RELY fulfilled 360,000 units through FBA in 2025, across 20+ packout formats and 5 to 7 ship-to locations per transfer order.
- Why it matters
- Growth landed on a program built to absorb it, not on the brand’s production team.
- 359%
- FBA volume growth over six months
- 360,000
- Units fulfilled via FBA in 2025
- 194
- SKUs supported
- 20+
- Packout formats
Source: RELY Case Study No. 19. The growth figure measures the customer’s FBA volume, not sales; demand was the customer’s. Figures apply to this program only.
Consumer products · On-site kitting and packaging · 2026
Food-storage sets packed inside the customer’s plant. The retail dates held.
A consumer brand’s retail program needed four-bowl, four-lid food-storage kits packed inside its molder’s facility. RELY managed the kitting and packaging on site, with a RELY lead on each shift, and built a labeling requirement added mid-run into production. This was packaging of finished bowls and lids, not food processing.
- 132,115
- Kits assembled, January 13 to June 10, 2026
- 7,040
- Kits on the highest recorded day, across two shifts
- 1,056,920
- Bowls and lids, eight per kit
Source: RELY program records, January 13 to June 10, 2026. A 1,120-kit labeled validation run passed audit before full-rate restart. Results reflect this program only and are not a capacity commitment.
Promotion to shipment
Plan the components behind the finished pack.
A promotion can have finished product available and still miss its ship window because a carton, insert, label or flavor is short. Define the pack BOM, supplied materials, inventory ownership, packaging lead times, lot and date-code rules, and destination requirements before the first production release.
- 01
Brief
Configurations, counts, dates, channels and destinations for the promotion or launch.
Output: agreed pack definitions - 02
Spec
Cartonization rules, labels, inserts, lot and date-code rules, and inventory ownership.
Output: a written standard per configuration - 03
Pack and verify
Kits and packs built to the definition, with barcode checkpoints and inspection before sealing.
Output: verified finished packs - 04
Ship by channel
Retail DCs, distributors, Amazon FBA, B2B and direct-to-consumer orders, labeled and routed.
Output: channel-ready shipments
RELY can coordinate receiving, kit assembly, packaging, verification and shipment within the agreed scope. Set shortage escalation, approved substitutions and disposition of leftover promotional materials before the program starts. All work is secondary packaging of finished, packaged product.
Why CPG teams call RELY
The product is ready. The pack is the problem.
01 · Promotion deadline
A promotion with a date that will not move.
Marketing committed to a launch, seasonal or retailer promotion, and the packout has to be right at the dock on a fixed date. See the 42-day launch
First moveLock the pack spec early, build ahead and ship to the promotion window.
02 · SKU proliferation
Every flavor adds a configuration.
New flavors, counts and bundles keep adding pack formats your line was never set up to hand-pack.
First moveRun every configuration from its own pack definition and barcode check.
03 · Channel rules
Amazon and retailers want it their way.
Marketplace prep, labels and carton rules differ by channel, and a mistake can mean rejected shipments or chargebacks.
First moveBuild each channel’s requirements into the packout before the first order.
04 · Packaging change
New label, old inventory.
A label, UPC or packaging change hits product that is already built and sitting in the warehouse.
First moveRelabel and repack to the approved revision, with counts reconciled.
05 · Peak season
The warehouse is already flat out.
A demand spike or holiday peak lands on a warehouse team that is already running at capacity.
First moveAbsorb the peak or overflow run in a defined program at RELY, or with a RELY-managed team inside your facility.
06 · Brand presentation
The pack is the first impression.
A crushed carton or a wrong item in a gift pack is the first thing a new customer sees.
First moveInspect to a written standard before anything ships.
Where RELY fits
Secondary packaging, run as a program.
Variety packs, multipacks and gift packs.
Secondary packaging of finished product into assortments, bundles, seasonal and promotional configurations and retail-ready packouts, verified to the pack spec.
Explore contract packaging and kitting → FulfillmentRetail, marketplace and direct orders.
Amazon FBA prep, B2B shipments to distribution centers and retailers, and direct-to-consumer orders, with channel labeling and routing set before launch.
See fulfillment and FBA prep → Value-added manufacturingRelabeling and repackaging existing stock.
Label and packaging revisions, inserts, stickering and product preparation on inventory that is already built.
Explore relabeling and repackaging → Inspection & reworkHeld product, sorted before it ships.
Inspection, sorting and rework of packaged goods to your written criteria when a packaging or supplier problem puts product on hold.
Explore inspection and rework →Programs RELY can take on
CPG work that fits the RELY model.
- 01Beverage variety packs and multipacks
- 02Seasonal and holiday gift packs
- 03Retailer-specific promotional packs
- 04Bundling, overwrapping and assortment packs
- 05Amazon FBA prep and labeling
- 06Direct-to-consumer order fulfillment
- 07Contract labeling and UPC relabeling
- 08Repacking into new packaging
- 09Point-of-purchase display packouts
- 10Inspection and rework of held goods
RELY packs finished, packaged product under program-specific food-safety controls. Filling, formulation, food processing and food-contact component assembly are separate scopes and are not part of co-packing.
How the work is controlled
Traceable, verified, channel-ready.
01 · Traceability
Lot and date codes, checked in the work.
Lot and expiration-date requirements verified during kitting and recorded where the program requires, so a lot question has an answer.
02 · Verification
Barcode checkpoints, receipt to ship.
Scans and inspection against the pack specification at each handoff: receive, build, verify and ship.
03 · Channel rules
Requirements reviewed before launch.
Labels, carton markings and documentation for each retailer or marketplace built into the packout before the first order.
Scope and responsibility
RELY runs the packout. You own the product.
The packout and the shipment.
- Pack definitions and work instructions agreed with you
- Trained packout teams and supervision
- Barcode and inspection checkpoints
- Lot and date-code verification as required
- Labeling, routing and shipping in scope
The product, the brand and the specs.
- Formulation, manufacture and safety of the product itself
- Packaging artwork and label content
- Promotion and channel decisions
- Approval of pack specs and substitutions
- Release of held or nonconforming product
Questions CPG buyers ask
Short answers. Full answers in the FAQ.
Can RELY assemble variety packs or promotional configurations?
Yes. RELY runs approved variety-pack, multipack, bundle, gift-pack and promotional programs for finished food, beverage and consumer products. Each configuration gets its own pack definition, with product handling, lot and date-code rules, packaging verification and labeling set before production. In Case Study No. 10, RELY packed 30,000+ three-flavor variety packs with zero customer-reported pack-mix errors.
Read Case Study No. 10Can RELY prep and ship product to Amazon FBA?
Yes. RELY runs FBA prep, labeling, packout and ship coordination to the marketplace requirements, and ships to retailers, distribution centers, dealers and end customers as well. In Case Study No. 19, RELY fulfilled 360,000 units through FBA in 2025 for one beverage brand.
Full answer: shipping destinationsDoes RELY fill, formulate or process food?
No. RELY performs secondary packaging of finished, packaged product. Filling, formulation and food processing are different scopes. Food and beverage packouts run under program-specific food-safety controls, and RELY holds a Wisconsin food warehouse license.
Full answer: what co-packing coversCan RELY manage lot and expiration dates?
Yes. Lot and expiration-date requirements are defined in the program and verified during kitting. Tell RELY early whether you need finished-pack lot records only or traceability back to each incoming lot, because those are different requirements.
Full answer: lot traceabilityCan RELY relabel or repack product we already built?
Yes. RELY relabels and repackages existing inventory to an approved revision, adds inserts or stickers, and reconciles counts so the stock that goes out matches the stock that came in.
See relabeling and repackagingCan RELY support a seasonal peak without taking over the whole program?
Yes. A program can be scoped around one promotion, one season or one channel. Inventory ownership, pack specs, release timing and reporting are agreed before the peak, and the rest of your operation stays as it is.
Full answer: combining or scoping servicesPlanning a launch, promotion or packout?
Talk us through the pack configuration and the launch or ship date. A photo of the pack you want is a fine place to start, and one launch, season or overflow run is a fine first program.
- Products and configurations
- Units per configuration
- Ship or promotion date
- Channels and destinations
- Where it is packed today
info@relycm.com · Product on hold: 262.853.1634