SodaSom, I went to that local bottler a few months ago, his drinks were nasty-- his facilities were okay but his labels were poor / bottles poor, and prices unreasonable!

Anyways, That discouraged me until now.
I still have a few questions-- also congratulations to INKO! The Tea Man.

How much do those flavor companies usually charge-- anybody have any experience with a particular one?

Could anybody recommend some mid-west bottlers that can bottle custom bottles.. anybody in michigan?

How does the product go from the flavor company--*(ingredients)* to the bottler, to the distributor.

I want to run low runs-- any bottlers that do that?

What if i wanted to just make the stuff myself at home, Then I could do bottles (not cases) What equipment would i need, how would it taste? and do i need any special insurance?

That's all for now [img]smile.gif[/img]
Thanks

Welcome back. Now for you questions...I will have to say I am sorry and that I wont answer your questions. Seeing as I started my soda company without any help I think you can do the same if you really want to. But I will say just one thing...Look in the yellow Pages...

You know what boris...
If you were on these boards they you didn't start your soda company without any help [img]smile.gif[/img]

If you don't want to help, that's fine.. there are lots of people who are willing to help, The Soda King being of them.

I do wish you luck-- Lets look at my questions a little further shall we? I asked if anybody has any first-hand experience with any particular flavor companies.. I know tons that I could just telephone... Same with bottlers, distributors, etc. You don't get references from the yellow pages bud.

Seeing that you are in a different country then me and I would never pose a risk to your market.. quite frankly find it rather selfish that attitude you have taken on a community forum such as these.

Thanks [img]smile.gif[/img] I'm glad I met my first ******* in the business early on.

[ 06-01-2003, 04:52 PM: Message edited by: Romario ]

You've been here only 2 months [img]smile.gif[/img]

Welcome back!!! Never missed you. Where did you go? Who are you?

Originally posted by Romario:
You know what boris...
If you were on these boards they you didn't start your soda company without any help [img]smile.gif[/img]

I actually started last year around this time...I just came to promote...

If you don't want to help, that's fine.. there are lots of people who are willing to help, The Soda King being of them.

Where is he?I really still dont see what you need help about...All I can tell you is that you have to be over 18 to own a business properly...

I do wish you luck-- Lets look at my questions a little further shall we? I asked if anybody has any first-hand experience with any particular flavor companies.. I know tons that I could just telephone... Same with bottlers, distributors, etc. You don't get references from the yellow pages bud.

I wish you luck as well comrade...Or shall I converge on my american roots bud
Also,You meant Flavour.
"Tons", really? You dont need references. They send you free samples of whatever the hell you want. Try TFF,the guy there is from odessa Russia, Great place, I passed through there once. But I could hate something that you could enjoy, Thats the bad thing about references...One thing of advice, Dont waste your time paying a bottler for something you can do yourself.

Seeing that you are in a different country then me and I would never pose a risk to your market.. quite frankly find it rather selfish that attitude you have taken on a community forum such as these.

I live (At the moment) Just south of Richmond Va, It looks like, unless you lied in your profile that you are also from America, Unless you dont consider Virginia America...I also live in quebec canada...So thus I am trying to get distributors throughout the north eastern seaboard. Hey, you have to feel honoured, I was raised communist. Its been hard for me to draw the line. Sorry if I offended you in any way...

Thanks [img]smile.gif[/img] I'm glad I met my first ******* in the business early on.

Oh if you think I am something wait to you start talking to the real competetion...

You've been here only 2 months

What the hell has that to do with anything. And didn't you say something like "If you were on these boards they you didn't start your soda company without any help" [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I thought about that, bottling it yourself.. that would eliminate a lot of my problems. I want to start small and most bottlers have minimum runs, that I can completely understand.

For somebody like me, we have different definitions of small

How would you begin bottling yourself at home, and what kind of insurance would you need- if any?

Right now I am small, Yes. Every weekend I carbonate 3 5 gallon kegs....Giving me 15 gallons of pop which I bottle in glass bottles with some caps and a capper. 15 gallons is about 140 12ounce bottles...It takes me about two months(non-summer) to run and bottle my entire line.
You just really need a business license...You can get FDA approved if you want. But most distributors dont care as long as you have the nutrition facts or a number to call on the bottle.
Right now, I see it easier to carbonate and bottle myself...Maybe if I start getting bigger...
But the only thing about bottling for me here in Virginia is finding clear bottles. I can get amber bottles easy from my local home brew shop. But I only find those good for my Root Beer. I looked every where. Then finally I drove up the road 10 miles to The Switch's location. Have you heard of The Switch around there? Well after some lying to make them not think I was a competetion they gave me the place where they get their bottles. Success! But the bottles ended up costing about 40 cents a bottle...So I offer anyone who gives me back the bottles 20 cent for each bottle.

how do you develop your drink? Once you get your ingredients.. Do you use a syrup that the flavor company provides? Do you follow a process similar to: http://www.olybrew.com/sodamaking.html

I think I spent too much time focusing on finding a real bottler and not looking at the obvious-- Bottling at home.

How do you carbonate your drinks? Yeast? Carbonated water?

You should check out this top ten flavor companies list!

http://www.leffingwell.com/top_10.htm

anyways, let me know any additional info!

After a rocky start, Boris and Romario's relationship blossomed into a strong partnership.

How touching...