MOQ (minimum order quantity) is the first question every brand asks. German co-packers quote different numbers because they run different bags on different machines for different audiences. Here is what drives ours, what the floors are, and how to plan a launch run from Kosovo without wasting capacity.

Our floor: 5,000 bags per SKU

For co-packing (you supply the tea, we bag it on the PT-2.33), the minimum order quantity is 5,000 bags per SKU. That is low for the industry and intentional - first-time private label projects need a viable entry point, not just multi-million-bag retail programs.

For full production (we source the tea and develop the recipe), the floor is higher because we lock raw material on your behalf and book recipe-specific ingredients. Talk to us with project specifics for the exact number.

For German wellness houses and Tee-Eigenmarken weighing Lohnabfüllung kleine Auflage options, the 5,000-bag floor is one of the lowest contract packaging minimums available in continental Europe.

What drives a co-packing MOQ

Planning a launch run

If you are launching a new SKU, the goal is to balance MOQ against retail risk. Three patterns work for most German and EU brand owners we package for:

1. Sample run first (5,000-25,000 bags). Validates the artwork, taste profile, and retail response without committing to a full launch volume.
2. Standard launch run (25,000-100,000 bags). Covers a regional pilot or a single retailer rollout - typical for a DACH apothecary network.
3. National launch run (100,000+ bags). Multi-DC, multi-region. Locked retail commitments, usually a mainline grocery or drugstore listing.

Multi-SKU plate-batching saves cost

Running multiple SKUs in the same campaign lowers the per-bag rate against running each separately. We plate-batch artwork variants and line-clear once instead of per SKU. The math turns clearly in your favor at four or more SKUs - common for German Eigenmarken launching a full herbal range (chamomile, peppermint, fennel, lemon balm) in one production window.

MOQ for German private label tea brands

German brand owners ask three Teebeutel Mindestbestellmenge questions more than anyone else: what is the floor, where does the per-bag economics flatten, and how soon can the first pallet land in Hamburg or Munich.

• Floor: 5,000 bags per SKU for co-packing. Lower than most German Tee-Lohnabfüller publish openly.
• Break-even: Per-bag economics start to flatten around 50,000 bags per SKU. Below that, plate and clearance amortization dominates.
• Lead time to a German pallet: 2-4 weeks for co-packing (you supply the tea), 8-14 weeks for full production. Direct EU-internal truck from Kosovo via Austria.

Our parent operation has supplied dried herbs to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland since 1990 - 36 years of DACH compliance, documentation, and quality expectations now extended into finished tea-bag co-packing.

What we tell first-time brands

Start with a sample run. Validate the bag, the artwork, the blend, the retail response. Lock the learnings into your standard SKU and scale into the next volume band. This is the same pattern German wellness houses have used with our herb business for over 30 years. It works.