How to Start a Vodka Brand

When figuring out how a private label vodka would cost here are a few things to take into
consideration. The first thing we want to think about is your budget.

PACKAGING
The liquid itself is not the most expensive part of the finished product, the packaging is.
Packaging means all dry materials : Bottle, labels, cork, capsule, outer box. There are many
different techniques for your design : traditional self adhesive labels, silk printing, coating, frosting, engraving, etc etc. Each technique has a different cost, and a minimum order quantity per order. The choice of your design will make your final price, it is very important to take this into consideration, as sometimes it can be a very costly design, therefore high cost of the final
product, which mean high retail price, and hard to sell.

BOTTLE
We do advise to choose a standard bottle, from a glass manufacturer, because creating your own bottle, which means your own mould, will cost a lot of money (mould needs to be paid only once, but each size means one mould), and a minimum quantity to run a production which will be very high. When you choose a bottle, try to choose a bottle with the maximum sizes available. Meaning choose a bottle with a least 700ml and 750ml sizes, (750ml for America and RSA, where as the rest of the world will be 700ml). Bottles can go from 0.30euros/unit up to more than 2 euros/unit. Once you have chosen your bottle, and made sure the supplier has stock (most suppliers, since 2008, do not carry much stock), you can start your design.

DESIGN
Design can take different shape and technique, and this will be a crucial point in your costing. We do advise to not choose too many colors, the more colors you do have in your design, the more expensive it will be. To print a label means a minimum run of 1000 units, some printer can offer a small testing run of 20/30 labels so you can test your product.
You can also print your design directly on the bottle, like Grey Goose, which is the most expensive technique. In the case of Grey Goose, they are using a frosting technique (which make the glass unclear), and then printing their design on the bottle, with a see threw widow at back of bottle. Before you do launch a full production, we do advise, a small test run of a couple of bottles, which cost around 900euros. It will be helpfull to see the final product, and to see the colors you have chosen, perception of colors on a computer screen and reality is often very different.

CLOSURE
The last element left on your bottle is the closure. Again there are many different options, which
means different costs. From a screw cap (often on cheap bottle), T-Cork, tin capsule, aluminium,
guala capsule, GPI closure, those are the main closures available. Again, between choosing a
personalised capsule (with your design), and choosing a plain standard color, the price and
minimum run will be very different. A personalised capsule – often in aluminium or tin (tin will be the most expensive material), the minimum order will be 10,000 units, where a standard plain color capsule can be ordered by 10 units.

Finished product
Cost price of vodkas can go from 1 euro to more than 7euro, which is a large difference of pricing. The cost price will determine your shelve price, and how much a consumer is ready to spend for your bottle. Keeping in mind that Grey Goose has an average retail price of 55euros, and to have a shelve price above or near it, will be a very hard challenge in terms of sale.