Contract Packaging vs. Co-Packing: What's the Difference?
3 min read
Anyone searching for a packaging partner runs into two terms that are often used interchangeably: contract packaging (in German, „Lohnverpackung“) and co-packing. The short answer: at BKM, it's the same service under two names, not two different offerings.
Where the terms come from
„Lohnverpackung“, the established German industry term, describes a provider packaging someone else's goods for a fee, historically common in industry and wholesale.
„Co-packing“ comes from English-language markets and emphasizes the collaboration (“co-”) between manufacturer or retailer and provider. The term has become common in German-speaking markets too, largely through e-commerce and international supply chains.
What both terms actually cover
In practice, both terms cover the same range of services: storage, sorting, order picking, packaging, labeling, display assembly and shipping preparation.
Some providers narrow “co-packing” to pure packaging and assembly work and use “contract packaging” more broadly for the entire logistics process, but there's no single accepted definition. At BKM, that distinction doesn't matter: both terms describe the same service portfolio.
Why the choice of term makes no difference at BKM
Whether an inquiry is framed as a contract packaging order or a co-packing project changes nothing about the process: same equipment, same team, same site in Stuhr near Bremen.
In practice, that means whoever searches for contract packaging ends up in the right place at BKM, just as with a search for co-packing. What matters isn't the term, but whether capacity, equipment and experience fit the project at hand.
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