US - Based Manufacturer of Botanicals

Lessons learned during the Covid-19 Pandemic by a US-based Manufacturer of Botanicals and the Dangers of Being Dependent on the Global Supply Chain.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the way we purchase products and the supply chains supporting those products. While the pandemic has created a boom for online businesses, its also created new logistical struggles for manufacturers. The global health concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic have created an unprecedented disruption to the global supply chain. These disruptions have had a domino effect for the product inventories for many health food stores and retailers of botanicals and nutritional supplements and highlight the need to seek out local manufacturing options like US-based Beehive Botanicals, a custom contract supplement manufacturer. Recently Jeffrey Rossi, of the public accounting firm CohnReznick, said that the main problem with the current global supply chain is getting raw materials because the pandemic has significantly slowed down almost all ports of entry. Mr. Rossi went on to say that to combat this problem, more manufacturers are starting to get materials for their products here in the U.S.

By contracting with a regional or local manufacturer like Beehive Botanicals, your purchases first support small businesses and local communities who have felt the economic impact from the pandemic most acutely. And more importantly for the retailer, the sourcing of the ingredients and the supply chain involved in the manufacturing process is more nationally or locally sourced. Thus your purchase will be shipped in a more timely manner and retailers can avoid the inventory slowdowns and shortages that are still being seen around the world.

To better understand the importance of knowing the full scope and likely failure points of your product’s supply chain and the importance of supporting local US based businesses like Beehive Botanicals, we need to look back at the impact the pandemic has had on the US economy.

What is Supply Chain

Supply chains are the activities required by an organization, business, manufacturer or retailer to produce and deliver goods or services to a customer. It’s all the little things you never think about. The product you buy came on a crate. That crate had to be assembled out of wood. The crate was wrapped in plastic that was created and shipped from another factory. That same crate was loaded and unloaded by a machine that needed to be made from metal, circuits, wires, and other electronic devices. The same is true of the truck that drove it across the country. And each of those individual processes have their own supply chains and failure points with just as many individual parts. So when factories began to shut down from the global pandemic and online shopping demand went through the roof – the wheels of our global supply chain fell off.

That’s why everyone had the experience of finding toilet paper aisles empty. It was impossible to find hand sanitizer. Lumber was the new gold. Finding a packet of yeast was like winning the lottery. Specific to the botanicals and nutritional supplements sector, Vitamin C and immune boosting supplements and ingredients were extremely difficult to source.

It’s easy to forget that while online shopping for that botanical or nutritional supplement seems as easy as clicking a button – the reality is that the logistics of getting your order to you can be just as complicated and labor intensive as the more traditional way of buying your items from a local brick and mortar shop. And sadly, with the rise of the Delta variant of the coronavirus and the lack of vaccines in many parts of the world, the problems within our global supply chains involved with producing these products don’t look like they are going to end anytime soon.

Local Supply Chains

Both the failures of the global supply chain and the struggles small business are facing highlight the need to seek out local manufacturing companies like Beehive Botanicals that have years of experience and are able to source their ingredients either nationally or even regionally. Supporting US based manufacturers also helps keep our American workforce employed during this continued period of hardship. Supporting a local supply chain means supporting an entire local community from truck drivers to receptionists to quality control technicians to everyone else you might forget that plays a small but vital role in each product you order. But it’s more than just an altruistic choice. By using a local supply chain you can avoid the hiccups and major interruptions that the global supply chain is still facing. Beehive Botanicals is able to keep or control much of their supply chain at a more national level. From capsule filling to bottling to packaging to quality control, a custom contract supplement manufacturer / private label manufacturer like Beehive Botanicals can better predict and maintain its manufacturing schedules over that of a larger international manufacturer that can be at the mercy of international pressures, ingredient shortages and shipping bottlenecks.

Beyond this, Beehive’s small batch production methods help lower the risk of interruptions and delays while providing a higher degree of flexibility and more cost-efficient manufacturing runs for their customers. With an uncertain marketplace still facing rolling shutdowns and closures – small batch manufacturing can help your business avoid delays, respond quickly to shifts in demand, and avoid risking significant amounts of capital.

Choose Beehive Botanicals

Beehive Botanicals manufacturing provides custom contract manufacturing of botanicals and nutritional supplements right here in the United States in Hayward, WI. They also specialize in prototype and small batch manufacturing in addition to capsule manufacturing, liquid filling, and bottling.

Since our founding in 1972, Beehive Botanicals has been committed to giving our customers the highest quality USA-based custom contract manufacturing of supplements and botanicals possible. We do this by providing years of formulation expertise, working with reputable 3rd party laboratories, a fully compliant Kosher, Organic, and NSF GMP certified manufacturing facility and a team of well-trained quality control technicians and manufacturing personnel. Beehive Botanicals uses advanced technology and manufacturing processes to deliver their customers quality products without delays and interruptions. Now is the time to shift your supply chain from global to local. Beehive Botanicals can be contacted via their website at beehivebotanicals.net or by calling them directly at 800-233-4483.