It's In The Bag: The Essential Role of Co-Packing 

February 1, 2026

The adage, “It’s good to have a friend in the business,” rings true for, in particular, co-packing. 

The partnership between lead companies and co-packing sites is an integral part of the industry. Despite its widespread use, most consumers are unaware of where the bagged product was produced. What they do expect is a quality product wherever they make a purchase. That requires a strong cooperation that extends to facilities across North America. 

“Co-packing has become more and more of a factor in our industry because it's hard to go build your own plant,” said Byron Morgan, general manager of Mountain West Bark. “Taking advantage of another person's facility and cutting a lot of that freight out to maintain your business is really what co-packing is all about.” 

Smith Creek, a sustainability-focused mulch, animal bedding and wood fuels production facility based in Borden, Indiana, knows the key to a good co-packing partnership is understanding the standards, recipes and mixes exactly as the lead company would want them — and then delivering on that promise. 

“If it's a Smith Creek-branded product, it's probably going to have a different recipe than what it would be for the co-packers,” said Matt Smith, COO and managing partner at Smith Creek. “They give us their recipes and we make the soil mixes, mulches, and (animal bedding) pellets how they want it and then put it right on a truck or trailer, going to their stores. We work with several different large companies to ship directly to their stores, but the consumer never knows that it was manufactured here.” 

As the lawn and landscape business has moved away from localized buying to national buying, producers have been forced to find ways to get their product into major big box stores. But, to Morgan’s point, sometimes, you have to take advantage of another operation’s proximity to the market stores to cut down on freight costs. 

“One of the main reasons people come to the Mulch & Soil Council’s Annual Meeting is to meet packers and co-packers,” said Bob LaGasse, executive director of the Mulch & Soil Council. LaGasse has seen trends in co-packing evolve over the years, to the point that now, they are essential for major companies that are placing products in big box stores located across the nation. He said the lead companies bear a lot of responsibility when it comes to product quality and the co-packing relationship. 

“At the end of the day, it’s the lead company that is held responsible for any issues with quality. In a good relationship, the lead company has someone who is visiting the co-packing sites regularly to do their own quality assurance tests on the product to ensure they meet a high standard, whether that’s mulch, soil or something else.” - BOB LAGASSE 

“The Mulch & Soil Council has its certification testing and we will pull random samples of product from across the country,” LaGasse explained. 

Co-packing has played an essential role in the expansion of the mulch and soil industry. There are benefits around additional revenue for co-packers and location optimization for lead companies. The result of these strong partnerships is no matter which store a consumer goes to for landscaping products, they can expect quality in the bag.