Pricing guide
How much does beverage packaging design cost?
Anywhere from a few hundred dollars to six figures. For a beverage brand in retail or heading there, most specialist studios charge between $8,000 and $25,000. Here's how it breaks down.
What the market charges
Most of the difference comes down to who you hire and what you're actually asking them to do. A single label from a freelancer and a full identity and packaging system for a retail launch are two very different jobs.
Here's how the market breaks down, what drives the price, what we charge, and how long it takes.
These are rough ranges for design fees. Every studio prices a little differently, but this is the general shape of it. And one thing that trips people up: these are design fees only. Printing is a separate budget, and on a first production run it's often the bigger number.
What actually drives the price
How many SKUs you have
The first one is the expensive one, because it sets the whole system. Each flavor after that adds work, just less of it.
How many formats
Singles, multipacks, cartons and different sizes each need their own layout.
Identity, or packaging only
Building a brand from scratch costs more than refreshing the packaging on a brand that's already working.
Production files
Print-ready artwork for every SKU, ingredient panels, and things like bilingual labels for Canada all take time to get right.
How much thinking comes first
Figuring out what needs to read first, and who you're sitting next to on shelf, is real work. It's also the part that decides whether the design does its job.
Our pricing
We're a specialist studio, and we work with beverage brands only. We have two ways of working together.
The Shelf Refresh
Starting at $12,000 | 4-6 weeks
The Retail Launch
Starting at $16,000 | 8-10 weeks
The final number depends mostly on how many SKUs you have and how much is in scope. Want a real number for your brand?
Book a call
Which one is right for you?
One product, selling direct, still testing the idea?
A freelancer is probably fine.
In retail, or about to be, with a few SKUs?
That's where a specialist studio earns its fee. The job stops being about looking good and starts being about working on a crowded shelf.
National launch, big lineup, budget for research?
An agency makes sense.
One honest note
The most expensive packaging is the kind you pay for twice. If it doesn't hold up on shelf, it usually gets redone within a year.
Not sure where you fit?
Let's talk about your brand.
Tell us where your brand is, and we'll tell you honestly whether we're the right fit and roughly what it would cost.
Book a call
