Sixteen stages from brief to reorder

This is the exact sequence your project follows, and the exact sequence you will see in your portal. Stages overlap. Procurement usually runs alongside artwork, and flavour work often continues while packaging is being quoted.

01 Enquiry05 Formula09 Procurement12 Manufacturing16 Reorder

Every stage in your portal says who it is waiting on: you, us, or a supplier.

Brief and scope

Before anyone spends money, we agree what is being made, what it will cost and what is included.

  1. Initial enquiry

    You send the brief. We reply within one working day with either a project reference and next step, or an honest "this is not for us".

    Waiting on you

  2. Discovery and project briefing

    A call to pin down the product, quantity, packaging, target cost and launch date. We will tell you here if the retail price and the formula do not fit together.

    Anvil and you, together on a call

  3. Scope and quotation

    A written scope listing exactly which services are included, plus a quote broken into development, procurement, manufacturing and freight. Anything excluded is named.

    Waiting on Anvil

  4. Deposit and onboarding

    You accept the quote and pay the deposit. Your portal workspace opens the same day with your account manager assigned.

    Waiting on you

Formula and flavour

The longest part of a first project, and the part worth not rushing. Most powders need two flavour rounds; we would rather do a third than manufacture something you are unsure about.

  1. Formula development or review

    We build the formula from your brief, or review the formula you already have for manufacturability, cost and dosage. You see the ingredient list at whatever level of detail your agreement allows.

    Waiting on Anvil

  2. Sample development

    A trial batch is made and dispatched with a tracking number, test instructions and a feedback deadline.

    Waiting on Anvil

  3. Flavour and performance testing

    You rate the sample in the portal on flavour, sweetness, bitterness, aftertaste, mouthfeel, mixability and overall acceptance, and write what you actually think. That feedback drives the next version.

    Waiting on you

  4. Formula approval

    You approve a specific formula version. It is locked, dated and stored, and it is the version we manufacture, every batch, until you change it.

    Waiting on you

Sourcing and artwork

These three run in parallel. Lead times here are the usual cause of a moved launch date, which is why they are visible to you rather than hidden in our inbox.

  1. Ingredient and packaging procurement

    You compare shortlisted packaging with cost, minimum, lead time and freight visible, then approve one. Purchase orders are raised and tracked through to arrival and inspection. Supplier identities stay with us.

    Waiting on you to approve, then on suppliers

  2. Artwork and label approval

    Label dimensions are confirmed against the chosen packaging, artwork is prepared or checked, and a print proof goes to you for sign-off. Approved proofs are version-locked.

    Waiting on you

  3. Production scheduling

    Once every material is received and passed, your job gets a confirmed production date and room. Before that point you see an estimated window, and we label it as one.

    Waiting on Anvil

Make and dispatch

The predictable part. By now nothing should surprise either of us.

  1. Manufacturing

    Blending, emulsification or oil blending against the approved formula version, in an assigned room with pre-production checks recorded.

    Waiting on Anvil

  2. Quality control

    In-process and batch checks against the finished-product specification. Retained samples are pulled and logged against the batch.

    Waiting on Anvil

  3. Filling and packaging

    Filled to weight or volume, capped, sealed, scooped, labelled, batch coded and cartoned. A final inspection runs before anything is signed off as finished stock.

    Waiting on Anvil

  4. Dispatch

    Freight is booked, quality documents are uploaded and you get the tracking number and the batch paperwork in the same place.

    Waiting on Anvil and the freight company

  5. Reorder and ongoing support

    The product stays on file with its approved formula, packaging and label. A reorder reuses all of it: same formula version, same components, new batch. The second run is a fraction of the work of the first.

    Available to you at any time

About dates

We separate estimated windows from confirmed dates, and label which is which. A window becomes a confirmed production date only when every material has arrived and passed inspection. If something slips, the portal shows the new date and the reason on the same day we find out, not at the end of the month.

Ready to start at stage one?

The brief takes about five minutes. You will have a project reference and a written next step before the day is out.

Start a project