Questions brands ask: manufacturing, development and ownership

Each answer starts with the short answer and links to the page that goes deeper. Minimums, timings and fees are set per project and agreed at the brief, so this supplement FAQ explains how we approach them rather than quoting figures.

Supplement FAQ: formula ownership

Who owns the formula you develop for us?

You do. Your formula is yours. The formula, its specification and the data behind it, including stability and test results, belong to your brand, and we never sell it or offer it to anyone else. A brand that owns its formula can move production, and owns something a buyer or investor can value. Our page on formula ownership sets out exactly what you own.

Can you make a formula we already own?

Yes. If you already own a formula, we review it, improve it where the evidence supports a change and document it to the same standard as a new development. We check every ingredient's novel food status, form and amount for each market, confirm the formula on samples and run stability in the final pack. Nothing changes without your sign-off, and the formula stays yours, as our formula ownership page explains.

Do you sign an NDA before we share our formula?

Yes. We sign a mutual NDA before you share a formula, a specification or a supplier's name, because both sides share sensitive information. We protect what you share with restricted access and controlled documents. Your formula is yours, and confidentiality is part of keeping it that way. The same applies when you bring us an existing product, as our guide to moving your supplements to a new manufacturer explains.

Development and fees

Do you charge for product development?

Yes. R&D is a paid stage that can be included with an order of the right size. We scope the stage before work begins, so you know what it delivers from the start: the evidence review, formulation rounds, sensory work, pilot batch, stability study and documentation. The fee is set per project and agreed at the brief, from your format, actives, markets and testing needs. Our research and development page explains each stage.

What does the R&D stage deliver?

A formula built for your brand, with the data to defend it. The stage delivers a written evidence review with a rationale for every ingredient and amount, bench samples and sensory results for each round, a pilot batch and a stability study in the final pack, the formula with finished product and raw material specifications, and test reports and a claims review for each target market. Everything it produces belongs to your brand. Read how our R&D team works.

Can you reformulate or improve an existing product?

Yes. We start with why the current product works, or falls short, for your customers. Then we review the evidence, forms and doses, test the existing product where it helps, and take the new version through bench samples, sensory panels and stability like any new formula. Reformulation can improve taste, stability, dose accuracy or claims coverage, and the result is yours. Taste is often the reason, and our flavour development and taste masking work starts at the brief. Our supplement case studies show how we mask a bitter high-dose active.

Minimums and timings

What are your minimums?

Minimums are set per project and agreed at the brief, rather than published as one figure for every product. The right first run depends on the format, the pack, the ingredients and how many variants you launch. Tell us your estimated annual volume and launch plans in your brief, and we set out minimums with the rest of the project plan before work begins. Our guide to supplement formats shows how each format is made.

How long does a project take?

Timings are set per project and agreed at the brief, so we don't publish standard timescales. Each plan depends on the formula, the materials, the testing and the markets, and we agree it with you after screening your brief. We commit to a scoped R&D stage agreed before work begins and to your sign-off at every gate: sample, specification, label and first batch. Our page on private label and contract supplement manufacturing sets out the stages from brief to launch.

Can you take on large or multi-market programmes?

Yes. We take on programmes larger than ourselves, with our partner network of laboratories and ingredient specialists behind us. Multi-market launches, formula transfers and range extensions are core work. We plan each programme's stages, testing and documents for every market from the brief, and we prepare products and documents for the UK, the EU and the US. See how we approach supplement manufacturing for every market.

Formats and categories

Which formats do you make?

We make capsules, softgels, tablets, gummies, powders, sachets and stick packs, liquids and liposomal liquids, shots and sprays, functional pouches, drinks, functional coffee and tea, protein bars and functional gum in our Leicester facility, which is ISO 9001, HACCP and GMP certified by BSI, and we make cosmetics there too. Capsules, gummies, pouches and liquids are GMP certified. Our guide to supplement formats compares every option, from dose and taste to stability.

Which supplement categories do you develop?

We develop across the need states brands are building now: sports nutrition, gut health, healthy ageing, sleep and stress, women's health, beauty from within and cognitive health. Each category has its own evidence, authorised claims and regulation to watch, so we match ingredients, doses and formats to what each market allows. A category outside this list is a brief, not a barrier: any legal product can be developed. Explore the supplement categories we develop.

Do you make skincare and cosmetics?

Yes. We make creams, serums, lotions, balms, scrubs, oils, washes, masks, eye creams and mists in our Leicester facility, which is ISO 9001 certified by BSI. Every formula gets stability and compatibility testing, and challenge testing where it contains water. We arrange the safety assessment with a qualified assessor and build the product information file with your Responsible Person, who notifies each product before sale, and we register our facility under MoCRA as US skincare programmes start. See our skincare and cosmetic manufacturing page.

Quality and certifications

Which certifications does British VitaTech hold?

British VitaTech is ISO 9001, HACCP and GMP certified by BSI, and FDA registered. Our ISO 9001:2015 certificate is BSI FS 822806, and our HACCP and GMP certificate, BSI HACCP 827076, covers food supplements packed in capsules, gummies, pouches and liquids. Everything we sell is made in our Leicester facility, and our ISO 9001 scope includes cosmetics. Both certificates are listed in BSI's online directory, and our quality and accreditations page sets out each scope.

Is FDA registration the same as FDA approval?

No. As of October 2026, FDA registration is the food facility registration US law requires of every facility that makes food, including dietary supplements, for the US market. It is not an approval or a certification, and FDA issues no certificate of registration. We are an FDA registered food facility for dietary supplements, and brands receive our registration number in our quality pack, ready for the prior notice each US shipment needs. Read more about our FDA registered facility.

Does British VitaTech hold BRCGS certification?

Not yet: BRCGS implementation under way, certification expected in early 2027. Today we are ISO 9001, HACCP and GMP certified by BSI, and FDA registered. BRCGS adds a GFSI-benchmarked food safety certificate with graded audits and unannounced visits, which many retailers ask own-label suppliers to hold. Our guide to BRCGS certification explains what the audit covers and what it means for your range.

Is every batch tested before release?

Yes, every batch is tested by accredited partner laboratories (ISO/IEC 17025) before release, and batch testing is part of every order. The tests for identity, active content and contaminants are set for your product and markets, so each product gets the tests its ingredients, claims and sales channels need, and gummies get an active assay on every batch as standard. Our testing and batch release page explains how each batch is tested.

How is each batch released?

Quality control releases every batch against its specification once it has checked the batch's results from accredited partner laboratories, and nothing is dispatched without quality control sign-off. Labels are verified on every batch as the critical control point in our HACCP study, and any non-conformance is closed with QA and Operations sign-off. See how supplement testing and batch release work.

Can you make halal, vegan, organic or kosher products?

Yes. Halal, vegan, organic and kosher certification are arranged for your product with the relevant certification body, and Informed Sport certification is arranged the same way. The certifier assesses your product, its recipe and how it is made, and we supply the ingredient documents, process records and site access it asks for. Our supplier approval and traceability records make that evidence quick to assemble, as our quality and accreditations page explains.

Markets and regulation

Which markets do you make products for?

We prepare products and documents for the UK, the EU and the US, and our clients sell in Europe, the USA and Mexico. Before development starts we screen every ingredient's novel food status in-house against the public registers, because novel foods need authorisation before sale in GB and the EU, then set forms, amounts, labels and claims for each market. Every product leaves with the documents its markets ask for. See supplement manufacturing for every market.

Can you make supplements for US brands?

Yes. We are an FDA registered food facility for dietary supplements, and we prepare products and documents for the US alongside the UK and the EU. We build the Supplement Facts panel, keep claims to structure and function with FDA's disclaimer, and prepare the notification FDA needs after first marketing for you to file. We share our registration number with you and your importer on request. Read about custom supplement manufacturing for US brands.

Which health claims can our product make?

Your product can carry the claims its ingredients, doses and markets allow, and our claims review sets them out before label design. As of October 2026, we use only authorised health claims for GB and the EU, each with its conditions of use, quoted in the register's exact wording. US labels can carry structure/function claims with the FDA disclaimer, notification and substantiation. We use no medicinal claims, and our supplement regulation watch tracks the rules that change.

Samples and stability

Can we see samples before production?

Yes: samples are part of the R&D stage. We make bench samples to your brief and test each round against agreed targets for dose, texture, appearance and taste, and blind sensory panels compare the prototypes. You approve the final sample and the finished product specification before first production, and a pilot batch proves the process at scale. Our research and development page explains each round.

How do you set shelf life?

We set shelf life from stability data on your product in its final pack. Studies run at long-term (25°C, 60% relative humidity) and accelerated (40°C, 75% relative humidity) conditions taken from ICH stability guidance. We measure actives, breakdown products, water activity, microbiology and sensory quality, set overages from measured loss rates and confirm the printed date with real-time data. See how stability work fits our R&D process.

Do you keep samples from every batch?

Yes. We keep three retained samples from every batch for the product's shelf life plus one year. If a customer, retailer or regulator raises a question about a batch, the retained sample from that exact batch is there to test, and we trace that batch from supplier lot to customer in seconds. Our page on testing and batch release explains how each batch is checked and released.

Moving manufacturer

Can you match our existing product?

Yes, from your own formula and specification. We match the actives, their forms and amounts, the format and the serving, then prove the match against retained samples of your current product: actives assayed by accredited partner laboratories, physical properties compared, and a blind triangle test to ISO 4120 for taste. Where a material grade is no longer available, we specify an equivalent and you sign it off. Read how moving to a new supplement manufacturer works.

What documents do we need to move our product?

Gather your formula or finished product specification, raw material specifications and certificates of analysis, stability data, label artwork and claims files, and your regulatory notifications, such as EU national notifications and US structure/function claim notifications. Send retained samples of the current product too, because they are the benchmark for equivalence. If something is missing, we rebuild it during the move. Our moving manufacturer guide lists each document.

What if our current manufacturer owns our formula?

Then we develop a new formula to your brief, and that formula is yours. We never use your current manufacturer's documents. Our R&D team starts from your customer, the evidence and the experience you want, and takes the new formula through bench samples, sensory panels and stability. Check your agreement before you brief us: if it gives the formula to your manufacturer, it stays with them when you leave. Read how formula ownership protects your next product.

Starting a project

How do we start a project?

Send us your brief through our Start your project form. It asks about your product and format, whether it is a new product, a move or a range extension, your markets and plans, and who you are. We work with premium wellness brands worldwide, from brands launching a hero product to established brands extending a range or changing manufacturer, and retailers and distributors creating products of their own.

What should our brief include?

Include your product idea and format, a reference product if you have one, your estimated annual volume, your launch window, your target markets and your budget. If you already hold a formula, specification or artwork, tell us: we sign a mutual NDA before you share it. The clearer the brief, the sharper the scope of your R&D stage. Our page on private label and custom projects shows how a brief becomes a finished product, stage by stage.

References: Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims (2006); Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 on novel foods (2015); Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products (2009); 21 CFR Parts 1 and 101, US food facility registration and labelling rules (2026); US FDA, registration and listing of cosmetic product facilities and products under MoCRA (2026); US FDA, Questions Regarding Whether Food Facilities are Required to Pay Registration Fees (2024); ICH Q1A(R2) stability testing guideline (2003); BSI Client Directory, certificates FS 822806 and HACCP 827076 (2025).