Private label foot cream: what to know before you order

Private label foot cream or foam is a finished product from a manufacturer that you sell under your own brand. The manufacturer develops, produces and certifies it. You choose the product, the name and the label. At CareActive in Freiburg, Germany, you start at 500 pieces per product and choose from fourteen foot, hand and nail care products.

What is the difference between private label and white label foot cream?

In both cases the manufacturer owns the formula and the production, and you own the brand on the pack. Many suppliers use the two terms as synonyms. Where they draw a line, white label means one standard product that many resellers sell under their own names, and private label means a product finished for one brand, with that brand’s label and packaging.

A third route is a custom formula: a new product developed for your brand. It takes longer, because the formula has to be developed and tested before production can start.

CareActive works both ways. You can put your label on a product from the existing range, or have a new one developed with German laboratories. The range grows every year, often on customer request. If you would rather resell an existing brand, every product is also available under the CareActive name.

What is the minimum order for private label foot cream?

500 pieces per product, for aerosols and non-aerosols alike. Tubes and the nail pen are the only exception: their packaging is printed with your design, so they have a higher minimum order quantity. If you choose alternative packaging for these non-aerosol products, the standard minimum of 500 pieces applies.

That is small enough to test a product in one market, one practice chain or one sales channel before you commit to larger volumes. The minimum counts per product, so a first order of a foam cream and a cracked heels cream means 500 pieces of each.

Minimums vary widely across the industry. Suppliers of stock formulas sometimes start lower, while a custom formula often needs 1,000 to 5,000 pieces in the first run. When you compare offers, ask whether the minimum applies per product, per variant or per order. The answer changes what your first order costs.

Which foot care products can carry your brand?

Fourteen products in two ranges. The aerosols have been the core of the range since 2014:

• Foam cream for very dry to rough skin
• Foam cream for calloused and cracked skin
• Anti-fungal foam cream
• Hand foam cream
• Clotrimazole tincture, a nail spray

The non-aerosols cover creams, tinctures, peelings and sprays:

• Nail Tincture
• Sugar Peeling
• Cracked Heels Cream
• Antimix Pen
• Callus Softener
• Nail Softener Tincture
• Foot Bath
• Shoe Disinfection Spray
• Ocean Cream

A brand can start with a single product and add others from the same supplier later, under the same label design.

Should your foot cream be a foam or a classic cream?

A foam cream comes out of an aerosol can: an oil-in-water emulsion that expands into foam as it leaves the valve. It absorbs fast and leaves no greasy film, so socks or compression stockings can go on right after application. The can is a closed system, so nothing reaches into the product, and the formulas are free of PEG emulsifiers, silicones and paraffins. One 125 ml can lasts about six weeks at twice-daily use.

Most foot creams still come in tubes or jars, so a foam gives your brand a different format to offer. A classic cream remains the format many buyers expect for some uses, which is why the range also includes the Cracked Heels Cream and the Ocean Cream.

How the foam works in detail: why foam creams suit professional foot care, and the technology behind them.

What does EU law require for private label foot cream?

In the EU, foot cream is a cosmetic product under Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009. Three requirements matter most for a private label:

• A Responsible Person in the EU, named on the label. A company that sells a cosmetic product under its own name or trademark takes on this role. A brand based outside the EU needs a Responsible Person who is based in it.
• A safety assessment and a product information file for every product, kept available for the authorities.
• A notification in the Cosmetic Products Notification Portal (CPNP) before the product goes on sale.

All CareActive products are listed in CPNP. Sold under your brand, the product needs its own notification under your name. CareActive supports this registration for the EU and for markets outside it, where each country has its own rules.

How do aerosol foot creams ship?

As dangerous goods. An aerosol can holds a propellant under pressure, and transport rules class aerosols as UN 1950, class 2. Road, air and sea each have their own rulebook: ADR on the road, the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations in the air and the IMDG Code at sea. Each one sets its own requirements for packaging, marking and shipping documents.

CareActive ships dangerous goods by road, air and sea and prepares the documents. For a buyer abroad, that is one less specialist to find before the first delivery.

How fast is a private label delivery?

For the aerosols, fast. The cans are produced in advance and kept mostly in stock without a label, so your order starts from finished cans instead of a new production run. A new formula takes longer, since development and testing come first.

What should you check in a private label cream manufacturer?

Where the product is made, which certifications the production partners hold, and who you deal with when something needs a decision.

At CareActive, every product is developed, produced and certified in Germany with ISO and GMP certified partners, and the aerosols come from DIN EN ISO 9001 certified companies. The company was founded in Freiburg im Breisgau in 2014 and has been a GmbH since 2017. It is run by managing director Robin Ebert who is also your contact for private label projects.