Looking for a Pilot Plant or a Food Innovation Center?

Our mission is to help brands of all-sizes find their ideal pilot plant or food innovation center to help them in the project development needs.

What is a Pilot Plant?

A Pilot Plant is a small-scale facility where food products are developed, tested, and scaled up before mass production. It allows food manufacturers to experiment with new recipes, optimize processes, and ensure quality control before launching products into the market. Some also do pilot runs for a local launch.

Recruiting Pilot Plants

The Contract Manufacturing Alliance is recruiting Pilot Plants to join the Contract Packaging Association. The Contract Packaging Association has expanded its membership base to now include Pilot Plants who help brands of all-sizes with product development, test runs and small-scale regional launches.

What is the Difference Between a Pilot Plant and a Food Innovation Center?

Pilot Plants Together as One Voice

The Contract Manufacturing Alliance is creating an extension program to align all Pilot Plants together. We created a Food Innovation Center and Pilot Plant search tool for future clients to find a location for their needs.

Our Mission: To recruit current and future commercial kitchens and contract manufacturers to offer pilot runs or even create a pilot plant.  We also want to offer all Pilot Plants to become members of the Contract Packaging Association (www.ContractPackaging.org).
With our commercial kitchen programming (also culinary kitchens, shared kitchens, kitchen incubators, food innovation centers) with tools that help their clients (such as incubation programs).  We will be availing our matchmaking platforms to our commercial kitchen partners that have needs for kitchen equipment, ingredients, packaging, recipe tools and much more. Other benefits to partners include offers and discounts with companies in these related areas:
  • Commercial Kitchen Equipment
  • Paper Products
  • Kitchen Supplies
  • Janitorial and Cleaning Supplies
  • Ingredient Sales
  • Commercial Kitchen Software
  • Refrigeration Companies
  • Flooring Products
  • Shelf-Life Testing Companies
  • Retail Packaging Companies
  • Food Service Packaging Companies
  • Packaging Designers
  • Small-wares
  • Catering Supplies
  • HR Software
  • HVAC Companies
  • Commercial Kitchen Designs
  • Contractors
  • Equipment Repair Companies
  • Uniform Supply
  • Energy Solutions
  • Insurance
  • Certifications
  • Water Solutions
  • Food Containers
  • Baking Supplies
  • Food Prep Supplies
  • Furniture
  • China and Glassware
  • Food Service Distribution
  • Retail Food Distribution
  • Consumer Product Brokers
Helping With Manufacturing
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Starting With Local Sales Opportunities
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Expanding CPG Opportunities in America
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Introducing New Brands to Customers
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Pilot Plants:
Needing Customers?

The Contract Manufacturing Alliance’s founders have over 30-years in the consumer products space and are available to help create new brand group (start-up, emerging and established) customer sales plans. Recruiting New Pilot Plants: The Contract Packaging Association’s membership includes contract manufacturers of all-types.  We are recruiting current commercial kitchens and contract manufacturers to offer pilot runs and / or to create pilot plants within their own locations. We also are working with colleges and universities with current programs.

Brand Groups:
Needing Pilot Plants?

The Contract Manufacturing Alliance’s founders have over 30-years in the CPG/contract manufacturing space and are available to help brand groups (start-up, emerging and established) in a-number of ways:

1.) Search and Secure a Pilot Plant: The Contract Manufacturing Alliance can create a full pilot plant program for brand clients (search and secure a facility partner).
2.) Manage the Process: Our team is available to be project managers to manage to whole process (managing co-packers).
3.). Be Involved With Product Developmentn: We have a full roster of product developers (food scientists, nutritionists) for pilot plant runs and projects.

The Contract Manufacturing Alliance

The Eight Arms of Manufacturing:

The Contract Packaging Association and the Co-Packing Network established the Contract Manufacturing Alliance as a prime resource for all aspects of consumer product manufacturing, catering to startups, emerging, and established brands.
Explore more at www.ContractMFG.org

Our Search By County Tool: Commercial Kitchens

We created the 'Search By County' Tool to help food industry start-ups find the ideal commercial kitchen (also known as a commissary kitchen, kitchen incubator) in their area. We list the commercial kitchens by county and by zip code.
Look for our other programs relating to help with working with farmer's markets; our commercial kitchen incubation programs for clients of commercial kitchens and our own efforts helping create new kitchens.

Logo for CPA

Pioneering Industry Standards in Contract Packaging & Manufacturing

Established in 1992, the Contract Packaging Association (CPA) is the national, non-profit trade organization dedicated to promoting the growth and welfare of firms in the Contract Packaging / Manufacturing industry and related businesses. We offer exposure and programs designed to foster growth within our member firms.

Co-Packing-Network-Logo-min

A Century of Expertise in Consumer Product Manufacturing

The Co-Packing Network is a comprehensive national Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) advisory group deeply rooted in the diverse US and Canadian consumer product manufacturing industries. Celebrating our 100-year anniversary, our expansive history spans supermarkets, wholesaling, manufacturing, owning brands, and beyond.

PILOT PLANTS AND FOOD INNOVATION CENTERS

The Contract Manufacturing Alliance’s founders have over 30-years in the consumer products space and are available to help brand groups with their manufacturing and launch needs (start-up, emerging and established).  Helping Pilot Plants and Food Innovation Centers: The Contract Manufacturing Alliance is helping Pilot Plants and Food Innovation Centers find new customers starting with its launch of the Search Tool (helping food start-ups and entrepreneurs find a pilot plant and / or food innovation center in their area).

We offer all Pilot Plants and Food Innovation Centers with tools that help their clients (such as incubation programs).  We will be availing our matchmaking platforms to our Pilot Plant and Food Innovation Center partners that have needs for kitchen equipment, ingredients, packaging, recipe tools and much more.
* The Contract Packaging Association itself has expanded its membership to now include Pilot Plants and Food Innovation Centers (www.ContractPackaging.org for more details).

The Contract Manufacturing Alliance’s founders have created an incubation program specific to the clients of Pilot Plants and Food Innovation Centers nationwide.

Incubation Programming:  We have created white label incubation models ideal for Pilot Plants and Food Innovation Centers that help their clients with subjects relating to the business.  These include subjects such as retailers, calendar reviews, distributors, brokers, funding, PO financing, logistics, recipe and formulation help, packaging, ingredients, food service, exporting product and more.

The Contract Manufacturing Alliance

Creating products for the following:

100 Years Experience

Our family has been involved within the consumer product industry (US based manufacturing, retailing, distribution) since the early 1920’s.  From the first generation to the latest, our best practices have been handed down over time leading to a long legacy of successes in the business (manufacturing, retailing, distribution and more).

Our New Community Tool: Squawkee

We our using our own media assets by creating, Squawkee, a new community communication tool aligning with internal and external relationships, platforms (with their own slack communities) and more. We will be offering our programs (examples include  Pilot Plants, Commercial Kitchens, Expo Manager, Ingredient Manager and others) to anyone in the industry (to use for their members and clients).

Our Own Media:

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Contract Packaging (CP) is the official magazine for the Contract Packaging Association, published three times each year by PMMI Media Group (owners of Packaging World magazine). Dedicated exclusively to contract packaging issues and news, each issue is overseen by Editor-in-Chief, Anne Marie Mohan. 20,000 qualified packaging professionals receive each edition of CP. These professionals are individuals who have indicated that they have purchase involvement in contract packaging and related services and products. Magazine recipients are also contract packagers, who are CPA members.
www.ContractPackaging.org

What is the Difference Between a Pilot Plant and a Food Innovation Center?

Pilot Plant: A Pilot Plant is a small-scale facility within a food manufacturing company or research institution where food products are developed, tested, and scaled up before mass production. Its focus is on conducting experiments and trials related to specific food processes, recipes, and equipment, with the ultimate-goal of optimizing production efficiency and quality.
* A Pilot Plant may offer small manufacturing runs that a brand group may use to launch in a local or test market.

Food Innovation Center: A Food Innovation Center, on the other hand, is a collaborative facility that brings together multiple stakeholders, including entrepreneurs, researchers, industry experts, and often multiple companies. The center’s primary aim is to foster research, development, and testing of new food products, processes, and technologies. It serves as a hub for generating cutting-edge innovations and supporting food startups, emerging brands, and established consumer product groups through various resources, expertise, and collaborative opportunities.

In summary, while both pilot plants and food innovation centers contribute to food product development, the pilot plant is more specific to a single organization’s experimental production needs, while the food innovation center provides a broader platform for collaborative research and development across the food industry.

University-Based Pilot Plants

  1. Ownership:  Affiliated with universities and often hosted within the academic institution’s facilities.
  2. Focus:  Primarily oriented towards research, education, and supporting students and faculty engaged in food-related studies.
  3. Funding:  Supported through university funding, research grants, government funding, and collaborations with the industry.
  4. Intellectual Property:  Intellectual property policies can vary by university but often involve a mix of open-access research and proprietary licensing.

Non-Profit Pilot Plants

  1. Ownership:  Operated by non-profit organizations dedicated to advancing the food industry’s interests and promoting social welfare.
  2. Focus:  Often centered on research, sustainable practices, nutrition, food safety, and community development.
  3. Funding:  Rely on grants, donations, government funding, and philanthropic support.
  4. Intellectual Property:  Research outcomes and innovations may be shared with the public, industry, or other stakeholders for broader impact.

Privately Owned Pilot Plants

  1. Ownership:  Privately-owned and operated by corporations or companies in the food industry.
  2. Focus:  Typically focused on developing new products, technologies, and processes to enhance their own food products and brands.
  3. Funding:  Reliant on private funding from the owning company or industry partnerships.
  4. Intellectual Property:  Research outcomes and innovations may be proprietary and used exclusively by the company.