Prism and The First Round launch drinks development service

Prism eLogistics and The First Round have introduced an integrated drinks development service that combines beverage formulation, pilot manufacture, packaging and distribution through a coordinated operation in Basingstoke. The partnership supports production trials from 150 litres, allowing businesses to investigate manufacturing and product stability before committing to the larger volumes often required by commercial factories.

The new offering covers feasibility assessment, formulation, regulatory compliance support, ingredient sourcing, packaging procurement, pilot production, contract packing, storage, fulfilment and distribution. The First Round provides the pilot manufacturing capability at Prism’s Basingstoke site, while Prism’s existing packing and logistics operations support the subsequent stages of bringing a beverage to market.

The partners compare their minimum pilot batch of 150 litres with conventional factory minimum orders that they say commonly begin at approximately 1,000 litres. The lower threshold allows a developer to test a formulation with less product committed to a single trial, although the cost advantage will depend on the ingredients, packaging and processing requirements involved.

A reduced batch size can be useful where formulation decisions remain unresolved. Beverage developers may need several iterations to establish flavour, appearance, nutritional composition and storage stability, particularly when incorporating functional ingredients. Manufacturing a larger batch before those characteristics are confirmed can create unnecessary material use and additional expense if the product requires modification.

The First Round’s pilot equipment is intended to reproduce relevant commercial processing operations at a smaller scale. The company identifies blend stabilisation, carbonation, pasteurisation and shelf-life evaluation among the activities supported. These functions are connected because adjustments to a recipe can influence the processing conditions required and the behaviour of the finished drink during storage.

Blend stability depends on the ingredients and their interaction within the liquid. Insoluble components can settle, dispersed particles may form aggregates, and emulsified ingredients can separate over time. Proteins, minerals, acids and other materials can also interact under different temperature and storage conditions. Testing a formulation under controlled pilot conditions can reveal problems that may not become apparent during a brief laboratory preparation.

Where a drink contains suspended particles, mixing and transfer systems must maintain a sufficiently consistent distribution of ingredients. The required process depends on particle size, product viscosity and the intended filling operation. The partnership has not specified the range of ingredient sizes or viscosities that its pilot equipment can accommodate, so suitability will need to be established for individual formulations.

Carbonated beverages introduce pressure and temperature requirements. Dissolved carbon dioxide is influenced by both conditions, while filling must be managed to limit excessive foaming and unwanted loss of gas. The container and closure must also be compatible with the intended carbonation level and the loads experienced during storage and distribution.

The service allows developers to investigate carbonation before moving to larger production, but no particular carbonation capacity, pressure range or commercial filling speed has been disclosed. The results of a pilot trial must therefore be considered alongside the equipment available for subsequent manufacture, since operating conditions may differ when production volumes increase.

Pasteurisation introduces another set of technical decisions. A beverage’s acidity, ingredients and intended shelf life influence the microbiological hazards that must be controlled, while treatment conditions can affect flavour, colour and nutritional properties. Time and temperature settings must be validated for the individual product and process rather than selected from a single arrangement assumed to be suitable for every drink.

Shelf-life testing examines whether the finished product maintains the characteristics required throughout its intended period of distribution and storage. Changes may involve microbiological stability, flavour deterioration, separation, colour or packaging performance. The tests needed depend on the formulation and storage conditions, while the results must support any shelf-life period subsequently assigned to the commercial product.

The partnership is particularly directed towards functional beverages, sports nutrition and health and wellness products. These categories can involve added proteins, vitamins, minerals or other ingredients requiring careful formulation and labelling. Nutritional and health claims must also be evaluated under the rules applicable in the intended sales market, independently of whether the drink can be manufactured successfully.

Prism’s established operations extend beyond pilot processing. The company provides contract packing, sleeving, warehousing, inventory management and distribution services, allowing the packaging and fulfilment requirements of a product to be considered during development. The partnership has not stated that every stage for every customer will necessarily take place on one production line or within a single building.

Packaging selection can influence processing decisions before a product reaches commercial manufacture. A carbonated drink, for example, requires containers and closures suitable for its internal pressure, while a heat-treated product may need packaging compatible with the selected treatment. Labelling and secondary packaging also need to meet the requirements of the intended route to market and the equipment used by packing contractors.

Batch identification and traceability become important as the product moves between formulation, manufacture, packing and distribution. Ingredient and packaging records must be connected to the finished goods so that products can be identified during quality investigations or withdrawals. Coordinating those functions under one commercial arrangement may simplify the management of information, although the companies have not disclosed a new traceability platform introduced specifically for the service.

Eoghan Macilwraith, business development manager at Prism eLogistics, identifies the coordination of formulation, compliance, manufacturing, packaging and logistics as a difficulty for companies developing new beverages. Sam Hyde-Hart, founder of The First Round, says smaller production runs allow businesses to test and refine products before making larger manufacturing commitments.

Prism describes the partnership as the UK’s first fully integrated concept-to-shelf drinks development service. That description remains the company’s market-first claim; the available evidence does not establish an independent comparison of every British beverage development and contract manufacturing provider. The confirmed feature is the combination of a stated 150-litre pilot threshold with a broader set of existing packaging and logistics capabilities.

The companies have not named customers whose products have completed the entire process or disclosed a commercial production-capacity target. The next evidence of the service’s industrial performance will come from completed pilot projects and successful transfers into larger manufacturing runs, where formulation stability, processing conditions and packaging performance must remain consistent at the required scale.