What a Tea Co-Packer's Quotation Should Include

A quotation for tea bag production can look like a single confident number, and that is exactly where the trouble starts. Two documents that both quote "$0.14 per unit" can describe very different orders once you check what sits underneath that figure — different unit bases, different inclusions, different assumptions about who pays for the sample round. Reading a quotation well means treating it as a checklist to verify, not a price to accept at face value.

The unit the price is actually quoted on

Before comparing any two numbers, confirm what one unit means on each document. A price can be quoted per finished retail box, per thousand loose bags, per kilogram of blend consumed, or per case for shipping — and these are not interchangeable without doing the arithmetic yourself. A quotation that states "per bag, boxed and cartoned" is telling you something meaningfully different from one that says "per bag, ex-machine," even if the two numbers happen to look close. Ask for the price restated per finished retail unit if it isn't already, since that is the figure that actually maps to a shelf price or a listing price.

What sits inside the unit price versus what's itemized

A complete quotation separates the recurring, per-unit cost of production from the one-off costs that only apply to getting a new project started. The blend or tea itself, the bag conversion, the envelope, and the standard box and carton typically belong in the unit price. Artwork development, new print plates, freight, and any destination-specific compliance work are usually itemized on their own lines, because they don't scale the same way a per-unit cost does. If a quote bundles everything into one number with no itemization, ask for the breakdown before comparing it against a competing quote that already shows its lines.

Sample production and whether it's credited

Sample rounds cost the packer real material and machine time before a single commercial unit ships, so a quotation that stays silent on sample cost is leaving out a real expense, not being generous. Look for a specific line stating whether the first sample batch is charged, what a revised round costs if grammage or format needs adjusting, and — the detail buyers most often miss — whether that sample charge is credited back once the commercial order is confirmed. A quote that addresses this explicitly is easier to trust than one that treats sampling as an afterthought.

Artwork and setup fees, and whether they repeat

New artwork for a tag, envelope or carton usually means new print plates or dies, and that setup cost is properly a one-time line rather than something folded quietly into the unit price. A well-written quotation names the fee and states plainly whether it applies again on a reorder using the same artwork, or only on the first run and any future design change. Buyers planning a repeat order should read this line as closely as the unit price itself, since a setup fee that resets every time erodes the economics of reordering.

How lead time is framed, and from what starting point

A lead time figure is only useful once you know what it's measured from. "Four to six weeks" means something different depending on whether the clock starts at deposit, at final artwork sign-off, or at sample approval — and printed components are frequently the step that actually determines when production can begin. A quotation worth relying on names its own starting trigger rather than leaving the buyer to assume it starts the day the quote is signed.

Freight, destination and what's excluded

The unit price and the landed cost are not the same number unless the quotation says so. Confirm whether the quoted figure is ex-works from the Antalya facility, includes delivery to a port or forwarder, or excludes freight and destination documentation entirely. For labeling language, ingredient declarations or any market-specific requirement, a quotation that says these will be confirmed with the buyer for the target market — rather than guessing at a rule — is giving an honest answer, not a vague one.

A quotation that names its unit basis, separates one-off costs from recurring ones, and states its own validity window gives a buyer something to actually compare, order to order and supplier to supplier. TeraVella issues its contract tea bag and private label quotes this way, with MOQ, sample terms and lead time confirmed against the specific brief rather than a generic price list.