In our conversations with craft distillery founders, we often hear a familiar story. You’ve spent months or years perfecting your spirit, but when it’s time to design the packaging, you run into a practical hurdle: the 100,000 Minimum Order Quantity for custom glass molds.

For many emerging brands, ordering 100,000 custom bottles just isn't feasible. As a result, many excellent spirits end up in the exact same standard catalog bottles as everyone else.

At Cheery Packs, we wanted to find a more practical solution. We’ve spent time adjusting our production approach, and we are now able to offer fully custom glass molds starting at a 3,000 MOQ.

It’s not about disrupting the industry; it’s simply about giving brand owners more realistic choices. Here is why we believe this smaller volume makes a difference for craft brands:

1. Creating a bottle that tells your story Your bottle shape is often the first thing a customer notices on the shelf. Instead of trying to fit your brand identity onto a generic bottle, a lower MOQ allows you to create a shape, texture, or embossing that actually matches your brand's character, without the massive commitment.

2. Managing cash flow and warehouse space Tying up capital in 50,000 empty bottles is a heavy burden for a growing business. It also takes up significant warehouse space. A 3,000-unit run aligns much better with actual craft production batches. It keeps your inventory manageable and leaves your cash free for what really matters: developing your product and growing your market.

3. Room to experiment with special editions Want to release a seasonal gin or an anniversary rum? High MOQs usually make custom packaging for limited runs impossible. A smaller starting point gives you the flexibility to design unique, bespoke packaging for your small-batch releases without worrying about leftover inventory.

4. Keeping the quality standard high Producing in smaller quantities doesn't mean compromising on the manufacturing standard. We still apply the same precise CNC machining for our molds and maintain our strict quality control processes. The goal is to deliver the exact same glass clarity and structural precision, just in a quantity that makes sense for your business.

We hope this approach helps more brands bring their creative visions to the shelf. If you’re exploring custom packaging but want to avoid traditional volume requirements, we’d be happy to chat about how our process works.