FAQ

Why should I choose CoValence and not another lab?

We ask all of our new clients the same question, 'Why are you choosing to leave your labs for us or adding us to your manufacturing arsenal?' The answer, 9 times out of 10... Customer Service! On the surface, we may look similar to all of the other labs, but it is our personalized Customer Service that draws people to us and keeps them here. 'People' are what makes us special. We want to make sure all of our clients, vendors and employees feel esteemed.

Now, it may come to a surprise to you, but our 'Customer Service' extends far greater than your designated Account Executive. CoValence's amazing customer service can be found in all of our departments. Our clients normally get to know not only their Account Executive, but the managers and supervisors that work on their projects. Why is this important? If there is a problem with a launch, for example, there is typically someone at the lab that can address the problem quickly. All departments are under one roof, therefore, instead of an Account Executive sending an email to a supervisor with a question, they get up and find the supervisor on the floor in order to get a quick answer for their clients.

We offer maverick development and creative marketing assistance for our clients. We do not expect all of our clients to know what products they want, so our development team works closely with our clients to create the best products that fit our clients' philosophies. Once the products are made, our marketing team is available to provide creative, custom White Papers to help our clients understand and 'sell' their custom products.

Do you only offer Private Label and Contract Manufacturing for personal and skin care products?

Even though Private Label and Contract Manufacturing is our core business, clients quickly find out that one of our hidden assets is our R&D Team. Our team of chemists and formulary experts have created a myriad of successful personal and skin care formularies that are highly revered in the personal and skin care global market.

99% of the time we develop products for our clients who also want to use our manufacturing and filling capabilities. However, in the past few years we have worked with a number of non-client brands, product developers, R&D teams and mass manufacturers who have their own R&D, manufacturing and filling capacities. They teamed up with us to create new products because they had found that we are extremely easy and flexible. Therefore, they are able to tap into our maverick development expertise and in turn capitalize financially on the success of a new product without exhausting their own R&D teams.

Do I own my own formulas? If 'no', how do I own my formulas?

CoValence automatically offers free product licensing to clients, which simply means that CoValence will not manufacture or sell a client's custom formula to any other client as long as the custom formula is purchased through CoValence. A more specific Ownership Agreement is available for any client who wants to own their formulas; Account Executives should be notified before the product development process begins if a client would like to own their formula(s). CoValence will send Ownership Agreements to clients, for their legal teams to review. Any changes to the Ownership Agreements will be created and paid for by the client’s legal teams, not by CoValence. Note: Our private label products are not available for ownership outside of CoValence.

Do you have standard private label formulas I can purchase?

Yes, CoValence has a number (probably too many, if you ask our CEO and CFO) of private label formulas. Our private label products formulas are the best of the best products available; therefore, you will not be compromising efficacy or new technology by choosing a private label formula. All private label formulas are accompanied with a Marketing White Paper (product specific) to help you understand and sell the products.

What are your prices?

CoValence’s R&D Fees average out to around $500-$800 per product, depending on the cost of ingredients selected and the complexity of the formula. All costs are variable per project; therefore, we ask that you speak directly to an Account Executive for them to explain how we can specifically help fulfill your needs, as well as give you a better idea of pricing once the Development Quote is completed. We also offer private label products as an option for clients to save money while launching a new brand and/or product. But, in all actuality, our clients have also found that our private label products are perfect for most skin care lines, as is, in addition the private label products are wonderful 'starting points' for customizing products. We also have a number of private label options to fit within your 'pricing' range.

What are your MOQs?

CoValence will manufacture products as small as 4 kilograms (approximately 1 gallon) and fill for as little as 300 – 500 pieces. However, the best price points will be reached when larger quantities are ordered. Private label product pricing offers larger volume price discounts, for as little as 4 kilograms ordered. Please ask to see our Price List for more detailed information.

What are your lead-times?

On average, R&D lead-times are two weeks; manufacturing is two weeks and filling is two to four weeks, once a formula is approved and has gone through the appropriate testing as well as all necessary components are in CoValence's possession.

Do you carry the most up-to-date ingredients?

Much to the chagrin of our Inventory Manager, we stock, under one roof, over 2000 commodity and novel ingredients. Why so many ingredients? Well, as you have read throughout our website, we LOVE ingredients! CoValence’s development team researches, tests and formulates with the newest ingredients, while still harnessing the success from tried-and-true ingredients. In addition, we are constantly working on our own ingredient development to help our clients catupult ahead of their competitors.

Do you formulate with natural, sustainable, organic and/or ‘green’ ingredients?

CoValence believes in Sustainability Development (SD) through green chemistry (Chiral and Callogenesis... to highlight just a couple of technologies) as well as formulating with environmentally secure organic and natural ‘Of the Earth’ ingredients. Per the essence of Sustainable Development, CoValence aims to manufacture skin care products while doing everything in our power to preserve the environment so that the needs of present as well as future generations are successfully managed and met.

CoValence is FDA Registered and ISO 22716 Certified

I prefer not to have animal products in my skin care; what other ingredients would you recommend?

There are only a small handful of animal derived materials in circulation in today’s modern skin care market. However, the materials that are still in circulation are typically highly specialized. To that, for the more common ones, there are 1:1 offsets for nearly each one available that is either natural derived or man-made. They usually have a comparable shelf life but at times can command a higher cost per gram.

Why does my ingredient list say one ingredient when it used to say another ingredient?

Due to the countless changes and evolution with INCI identifications and ingredient vendors, ingredient names have and will change. An ingredient name change does not necessarily mean that a formula has changed; changes to an ingredient list more than likely means that the INCI, which is the name that identifies the ingredient(s), has changed. Account Executives are deligent at informing clients in a timely manner of any INCI and/or ingredient changes.

I distribute in other countries, can you help me manage the exporting red tape?

Yes, CoValence has an established International Regulatory Department that can help compile your Global Dossiers, as well as answer your country specific exporting and importing questions. If we do not have the answer, we will find the answer in order to help make the process as stress-free for our clients as possible.

Do I need any special documents or licenses to work with you?

Yes, due that we only sell business to business (B2B) we require a copy of your Business Liability Insurance; a copy of your Professional Liability Insurance may be required if professional (pH under 3.0) is purchased. An Account Executive will send you an Account Registration form which may require more information.

Can I use CoValence Marketing information and White Papers to help sell product?

All Marketing material is copyrighted by CoValence; however, clients are able to use our private label White Papers as a resource for their Marketing objectives with the understanding that other CoValence clients may be using the same information for their own Marketing efforts. All images are subject to the copyright by their owners and may not be used without permission.

What are the brands of your mixing, filling and boxing equipment?

Groen, Microfluidics, Norden, Blister-Pak and Kalix Box Machines; more information can be found on our Equipment page.

Do you have packaging components available?

Yes, we offer an array of standard packaging for our clients who would prefer not to order custom packaging. Packaging components available through CoValence include: airless, tubes, bottles, and jars. Please ask to see our Packaging Catalog for pictures and pricing of the components that we carry. Note: We can label most products, except tubes; all tubes must be screened by the client (packaging, label and screening vendors are available through our Resource List).

Why don’t you offer a larger selection of diverse packaging components?

CoValence decided to reduce our inventory and only offer non-descript packaging components since the components we kept worked with most of our clients' products and Marketing; packaging is simply not our focus, therefore a number of our clients provide their own packaging components for their filled orders.

I’m interested in having my product filled in foil packets...How do I get started?

Filling product into a Blister-Pak (aka: Sample Foil Packet) should start by looking over the Sample Foil Packet Dossier guidelines (provided by an Account Executive); it is not a difficult process, but there are some points that need to be addressed before starting the filling process.

FAQ