To the Shelf
“We're putting product on a retail shelf.” Co-packing, retail-ready packaging, club resets and display pack-outs, built in one plant and shipped to the retailer’s routing guide.
Detail A of the cutaway drawing of the MGA plant: the dock and the exit to the shelf. Each zone it shows links to its page.
Retail-ready
Packed to the retailer’s spec, not ours.
From paper goods to cosmetics to cleaning supplies, the objective is the same: get product into the store on time and on budget, looking the way it left your design team, so you can spend your time on the product itself.
We plan with you while the product chain strategy is still being drawn: how demand will scale, which line the pack runs on, and where cost comes out of the pack. The cost levers we review with you are set out on How we work.
Startups get access to the same resources as major industry leaders: the same lines and the same plant. You keep your capital in the product.
What a co-packer is, how the co-packing process works, and every line we run for retail is set out on Retail co-packing. Why brands make the move at all is in 4 benefits of working with a co-packing company.
Displays
Club resets, endcaps and counter units.
Shelves are crowded with similar products that drown out careful branding. A display moves the product to where the decision is made, and we design, build, fill and ship it shelf-ready.
Club trays and club packs
Club trays are great for large retailers and “big box” stores. In club stores the tray is the shelf: square, corrugated and stackable, front-facing for large-volume product, with your promotional branding directly on the club packaging. Club packs have to meet the club store’s own requirements, and for any brand moving into club stores they are essential for staying competitive.
Pallet displays
For retailers that need to display a large number of products, trays are combined on a single pallet and travel under a protective wrapping. Remove the covering and the product is set for sale. Corrugated pallet displays do not have to meet club-store requirements; pallet skirts are the simpler, lower version.
From idea to the store floor
Whether it is a club store endcap or a counter display, MGA has the knowledge, experience and resources to design, develop, fulfill and deliver it. Help your brand cut through the noise without cutting through your budget. Formats and the in-store reasoning behind each are on Point of purchase displays.
Display formats
Seven formats, and where each one goes
Endcaps reach buyers who never walk down your aisle; counter units catch the impulse buy at the register. The POP displays 101 guide covers intent, audience and location.
| Format | Where it goes | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Club pack / club tray | Club stores | Square, corrugated, stackable; front-facing for large-volume product. Must meet club-store requirements. |
| Corrugated pallet display | Large-volume retail, action alleys | Merchandiser trays over an interior support structure. Wrapped for transport; uncover it and it is ready for sale. |
| Pallet skirt | Large-volume retail | Wraps the pallet. Simpler and lower than a full corrugated display. |
| Endcap | End of aisle | Reaches buyers who never walk past your shelf position. |
| Freestanding display | Wide aisles, beside a complementary item | Places the product next to the purchase it pairs with: the hummus in the chip aisle. |
| Counter display | Any store counter, near the register | Small and corrugated; built for the impulse buy near the register. |
| Shelf talker | In-aisle, on shelf | A small sign or hang-tag that marks the product within the aisle. |
Promotional programs
Branded kits, media kits and bespoke packaging.
Packaging that starts promoting the brand the moment it is opened, not a brown box with bubble wrap.
Promotional merchandise, company swag, media kits, college acceptance packages and new-employee kits: assembled by hand where the piece needs it, kitted under one SKU, and shipped to a list, a store or a single address.
Monthly mailers, gifts, sales kits, invitations, product launches and reward programs run the same way. The full list is on Promotional packaging; design, print, assembly and shipping of brand-specific boxes is on Bespoke packaging.
How a program runs
Four steps, one production phase
Custom programs follow a step-by-step plan built with one of our co-packing specialists. The long version is on How we work.
Step 1: Ideation
The goal of the piece, why it exists, and the full fulfillment scope.
Step 2: Plan
Print and design, pack type (blister, clamshell, carton), affixing, kitting, and the mail or freight path.
Step 3: Production
Built to the plan in a single production phase, inspected against it, loaded and shipped to date.
Step 4: Review
The order is examined for quality assurance in the final steps of the process, so your needs are met.
Capabilities
Everything that goes to the shelf
Each capability has its own page, with the processes behind it.
Retail co-packing
Full-service contract packaging that gets your products to stores on time and on budget.
Cartoning
Vertical and horizontal cartoning and sealing, and tray forming, in corrugated, chipboard and folding cartons.
Overwrapping
Cartons, trays and bundles sealed in clear film, with easy-open or extra-security films.
Shrink wrapping
Transparent shrink film on Shanklin shrink wrappers, from small to large orders.
Point of purchase displays
Counter, club and pallet displays that attract attention and drive more sales.
Promotional packaging
Promotional merchandise, company swag and custom promotional products, kitted and shipped.
Bespoke packaging
Brand-specific packaging, designed, printed, assembled and shipped.
Kitting
Save time and money by combining separate items into one unit under one SKU.
Hand assembly
Glue gunning, ribbons, price tags, glass and porcelain: the work too intricate for machines.
On the line
The processes behind a shelf program.
Each process a shelf program runs through, and the equipment behind it.
| Zone | Process | Equipment |
|---|---|---|
| Production area | CartoningItems enclosed in corrugated, chipboard and folding cartons for retail, sampling and mail. | Kodiak vertical cartoners · Adco semi-automatic horizontal cartoner · PMI Kyoto semi-automatic vertical cartoner |
| Production area | OverwrappingCartons, trays and bundles sealed in clear film: diamond-fold, tuck-and-fold and bundle wraps, easy-open or extra-security films. | Fuji overwrappers |
| Production area | Shrink wrappingTransparent shrink film for multipacks and single items, small to large orders. | Shanklin shrink wrappers |
| Blister and clamshellBlister cards and clamshells for peg and shelf presentation. | ||
| LabelingProduct, case and pallet labels applied for scan and read: type, volume, weight, measurements. | Label Airs | |
| Production area | Display build and pack-outCounter, club tray and corrugated pallet displays built, filled and shipped shelf-ready. | |
| Production area | KittingSeparate items combined into one unit under one SKU: subscription boxes, promotional kits, sample packs. | Portable custom-built assembly lines |
Clients
From the people we pack for
We've been working with the team at MGA for the last 28 years… and from my POV, no one works with a company that long unless it's ultimately a 'partnership' relationship vs a 'vendor' relationship. MGA has earned a partnership relationship with Brandshare, as they consistently deliver unique solutions to our creative ideas, helping to bring these ideas to life for our key clients… and they are not a 9:01am to 4:59pm partner… they make it happen based on our clients' timeline, not theirs.
Co-Founder and Director of Strategic Development, Brandshare
MGA provides excellent customer service, competitive pricing and flexibility to meet our customers' demand.
PPI Beauty
Proof
A retail launch, supported from the mailbox
Before Reynolds energy bags reached Atlanta shelves, MGA co-packed samples and educational material and mailed them across the metro area.
Sampling a whole metro area ahead of a retail launch
Energy bag samples and educational material, mailed across the entire Atlanta, Georgia area to support a retail launch — inside the requested window.
- Client
- Reynolds
- Exit
- To the Mailbox
- Market
- Atlanta, Georgia metro
- Processes
- Mailer development, co-packing, targeting, distribution
Guides for shelf programs
- POP displays 101
Display types, POP versus POS, and how to choose by intent, audience and location.
- 4 benefits of co-packing
Cost, scale, systems and packaging: what a co-packer changes.
- Custom package design tips
What to settle before the package goes to print.
- What we need to quote
The intake checklist that pre-fills the project brief.
Here is exactly what we need to quote you.
Tell us the product, the retailer, the format and the date. Attach the routing guide, specs or artwork if you have them, and a named estimator replies.