What does Lohnverpackung (Contract Packaging) cost?

A practical guide to understanding per-unit pricing, hidden fees, and total cost of ownership when outsourcing secondary and primary packaging.

Contract packaging pricing is highly dependent on service type. Multipacks and club packs typically run $0.75–$1.25 per unit, kitting and assembly costs $0.40–$0.60 per unit, and display builds cost $30–$50 per unit. However, these per-unit prices are only one component of total cost. Many co-packers offer fully-loaded pricing that includes materials procurement (typically adding 5–10%), or you can supply your own materials and pay labor only. The real question for procurement officers is not the lowest quote, but whether the quoted price includes all direct costs (setup, storage, handling, QC, materials) or if additional charges will accumulate once production begins.

Contract packaging remains fundamentally a variable-cost model that replaces fixed capital investment and labor overhead with outsourced, scalable labor and line time. For healthcare device manufacturers, medical packaging co-packers, and pharmaceutical companies in particular, the cost drivers are strict compliance requirements, sterility certifications, and regulatory traceability—not just volume. This article provides the market-based price ranges you can expect in 2026, what pushes costs up, what drives them down, and how to structure RFQs to get honest, comparable quotes.

What the typical range is

Larger production runs result in reduced costs per unit due to economies of scale, but smaller runs may incur higher per-unit charges. Larger, more established co-packers may require minimums in the thousands, which could be a challenge for smaller businesses but could help reduce overall costs for large-scale operations.

Minimum order quantities vary: multipacks and club packs typically have 100,000-unit minimums, kitting and relabeling require 10,000 units, and display builds may start at just 100 units. Projects below minimums may be possible but carry higher per-unit costs.

For pharmaceutical contract packaging specifically, the pharmaceutical contract packaging market size was valued at USD 17.1 billion in 2024 and is estimated to grow at 7.8% CAGR from 2025 to 2034.

The North America pharmaceutical contract packaging market size reached USD 9.5 Billion in 2024, exhibiting a CAGR of 6.96% to reach USD 17.80 Billion by 2033. This growth reflects increased outsourcing but does not directly tell you what you will pay. Per-unit pricing for pharmaceutical blister packing, labeling, and bundling typically falls into three tiers: low-volume premium ($0.50–$1.00 per unit), mid-volume standard ($0.25–$0.50), and high-volume commodity ($0.10–$0.25). Medical device secondary packaging (thermoformed trays, die-cut lids, inserts) ranges even more widely, from $0.15 per unit for simple rigid trays at 100,000+ volumes to $2.00+ for complex, small-batch builds with tooling.

What pushes price up—features, certifications, support tier

If your product requires special attention or unique packaging requests such as custom labeling, special inserts, or multi-pack configurations, expect to pay more. Customizations may require additional setup, labor, or materials, all of which can increase the overall cost of co-packing.

Medical and pharmaceutical packaging carries regulatory and quality premiums. One of the major challenges in medical device packaging is the high cost associated with specialized packaging materials and advanced sterilization processes. Manufacturers are under constant pressure to balance regulatory compliance with cost efficiency. Specific cost escalators include:

• Cleanroom manufacturing. ISO Class 8 Cleanroom manufacturing of medical packaging requires high-level quality control procedures and is more expensive than packaging produced in a standard facility.

• Material grade. Medical grade PETG is the most-common plastic material used for thermoforming medical device packaging, forms and cuts well, maintains superior clarity, facilitates a strong seal to lidding, and is compatible with the majority of sterilization methods. Medical grade PETG is usually more expensive than non-medical PETG.

• Serialization and track-and-trace. E-commerce growth in pharmaceuticals has heightened demand for tamper-evident, traceable, and protective packaging formats, encouraging the development of secure, direct-to-patient packaging solutions that ensure product integrity during transit.

• Complex packaging formats. Shifts toward unit dose dispensing such as blister packs and stick packs are needed for enhanced patient adherence, with demand for child-resistant and senior-friendly designs bolstering packaging innovation, plus growth of personalized medicine propelling the need for smaller customized batch production.

Quality and compliance are necessary but not always included in the base rate. Many brands assume a co-packer's standards automatically match their retailer's requirements, but sometimes they don't, and the gap can cost money.

What pushes price down—refurbished, older generation, lease, GPO contracts

Keeping inbound deliveries tight to the production schedule, and not shipping in six months of packaging if you only need six weeks, is an operational fix that reduces costs.

Bulk packaging can reduce the per-unit price, and in some cases, a co-packer may offer tiered pricing with lower per-unit costs for higher order volumes.

For non-regulated or lower-risk secondary packaging (cartons, corrugated, labels, bundling), folding cartons are typically the most cost-effective option, often priced under $1 per unit, and are ideal for lightweight products commonly used for retail packaging. Negotiating longer contract terms with a single co-packer also leverages your volume: Six-month price locks on approved programs are available, and with index-based pricing you can see exactly why and how pricing adjusts if materials costs fluctuate.

MedSource does not yet have aggregate pricing data from multiple contract packaging providers for this segment. Pricing will be updated as proprietary quote data is collected from GPO contracts, GSA schedules, and direct vendor submissions.

Hidden costs—install, training, calibration, consumables, service contracts

In a 3PL-oriented model, storage cost is handled as a separate line item and starts on the day inventory comes into the facility. That charge can range from $12–20 per pallet stored in a given month, and inbound and outbound pallet charges often range from $5–10 per pallet.

The biggest swings usually come from setup and changeovers, packaging complexity (extra touches add time), run length, storage and handling fees, and waste that reduces sellable units. Common hidden-fee items include:

• Setup and changeover fees. Set-up fees and monthly admin fees are very common in e-commerce fulfillment but are rarely itemized in larger enterprise-level co-packing programs. The key is understanding if there are any start-up costs and ongoing admin fees to your projects, especially if you have a lot of small SKUs or starts and stops in incoming inventory.

• Rework and quality hold. Retailer requirements include label placement, scannability, case labeling, pallet labels, and photo verification. Rework can include relabeling units, replacing a wrong label roll, re-coding product, re-packing crushed cases, or sorting mixed lots.

• Overtime and expedite premiums. A reasonable fee may be for expediting service that requires overtime.

• Unloading and receiving. Understandable charges may include a fee for manually unloading a container, or a fee for disposing of bad inventory, manually inspecting goods or dealing with unorderly receipt of inventory.

The cure is itemization: ask every co-packer to break down storage, setup, materials handling, QC, and overage charges separately, then convert all bids into an all-in per-unit cost so you can compare apples-to-apples.

How to negotiate—concrete tactics

Before you decide, gather a few numbers: your monthly volume range, SKU count, quality and traceability needs, and launch timelines. Then run a simple ROI framework using real assumptions, not best-case forecasts.

1. Lock minimums and price visibility. Request a written schedule showing per-unit cost at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of your forecast volume. Ask whether setup fees, materials handling, storage, and rework are fixed, variable, or tiered.

2. Request a fully-loaded quote. Specify that you want fully-loaded prices with no hidden setup fees, no surprise materials handling charges, and no line items that appear on your invoice three months into the relationship.

3. Compare total cost of ownership, not per-unit price. Co-Packing Pricing works best when you treat it like a system, not a single per-unit number. The quote is the starting point; the real cost comes from how labor, line time, materials, and handling stack together once the job hits the floor.

4. Demand compliance documentation upfront. For medical and pharmaceutical packaging, confirm that the co-packer holds all required certifications (FDA, ISO 13485, ISO 9001, SQF, cGMP) and that quality costs (FAI, process validation, ongoing audit support) are included in the quoted price, not billed separately.

5. Negotiate a right to audit pricing. Ask for the option to conduct a cost-review audit after 12 months to ensure volume-based pricing is accurate and that no unauthorized line items have accumulated.

When the price feels off—red flags

A quote that looks too good is often incomplete. Watch for:

• Per-unit pricing quoted without materials, setup, or storage detail. If a co-packer quotes $0.50/unit for blister packing without itemizing materials cost, setup, and changeover, the quote is incomplete.

• No mention of minimum order quantities. Co-packers typically set a minimum order quantity (MOQ) that you must meet in order to receive their services. MOQs vary based on the product, the complexity of the packaging process, and the co-packer's operational capacity.

• Vague compliance claims. The pharmaceutical contract packaging sector encounters considerable limitations due to substantial regulatory demands. Ensuring adherence to regulations across various regions heightens operational complexity and necessitates ongoing investment in quality management systems, audits, training, and documentation. Even slight discrepancies in labeling, packaging integrity, or data reporting can pose challenges, and frequent updates to regulations require continuous adjustments in processes and technological enhancements, escalating operational expenses. If a co-packer claims regulatory compliance but cannot produce a current certificate or audit scope, assume you will pay for compliance remediation later.

• No stated lead time or ramp-up timeline. Typical ramp-up is 2.5 weeks to full production, and standard turnaround once running is 10 business days. If a co-packer cannot commit to a timeline, schedule risk becomes your cost risk.

• Willingness to drop price sharply to win the business. Savvy sourcing managers are now scrutinizing co-packers and especially 3PLs who charge low co-packing fees but then actually make much more of their revenue and profit on ancillary activity-based fees. It's important to understand upfront exactly how much will be charged for each service provided, allowing one to compare apples to apples, avoid surprises, and ultimately prepare accurate unit-related budgets.

Sources

• Industrial Packaging. (2025). "How Much Does Contract Packaging Cost?" Retrieved February 17, 2026.
• Versatile Packagers. (2023). "Understanding Co-Packing Pricing." Retrieved November 21, 2023.
• GM Insights. (2025). "Pharmaceutical Contract Packaging Market Size, Forecasts 2034." Retrieved April 1, 2025.
• IMARC Group. (2025). "North America Pharmaceutical Contract Packaging Market 2033." Retrieved May 2025.
• Dordan Manufacturing. (2024). "Medical Packaging Pricing Structure." Retrieved May 21, 2024.
• LF of America. (2025). "Unit Dose Packaging Solutions: Complete Guide for Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Brands." Retrieved November 2, 2025.

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Note: This article reflects publicly available pricing from co-packer websites, market research reports, and industry surveys current as of May 2026. Actual quotes vary significantly by product type, volume, regulatory tier, and geography. MedSource will update this pricing guide as aggregate quote data from healthcare procurement clients is collected.