The six decisions to make first
1. Where will you actually sell?
Not "globally". Pick the first market, because the country decides the paperwork. EU importers ask for food-contact and packaging documents. US buyers ask different questions. If you answer "everywhere", the factory has to give you the union of every requirement, which is slower and more expensive than starting with one market and expanding.
2. Water only, or carbonate anything?
This is the positioning decision, and it decides which platform you buy. A water-only machine is simpler. A machine that can carbonate juice, fruit, tea or cocktails is a different mechanism, a different cleaning story and a much better story on the shelf — but only if your market actually wants it. Our mix line exists for the second case.
3. Which bottle system?
Three common ones: a bottle that screws into the machine, a bottle that hangs or clips on, and a system where the customer uses their own bottle. They differ in footprint, in whether the bottle fits in a fridge, and in how the carbonation feels. If you have not decided, look at how your customers store drinks — the fridge is usually the real constraint.
4. Who owns the tooling?
If you pay for moulds, own them, and get the storage and transfer terms in writing. If you do not want to carry the asset, buy a platform instead. There is more on this in OEM or ODM: which one do you need.
5. Packaging and spare parts
Decide early, because packaging affects shipping cost and tooling affects your packaging shape. Also decide what happens when a customer needs a replacement bottle or gasket two years after purchase. Spare-part plans are cheap to set up at the start and very awkward to retrofit.
While you are at this stage, pull the certificate list into the plan — food contact, materials and packaging are the documents that decide whether a retail listing can go live. There is a guide on which certificates importers ask for that groups them by who is asking.
6. Your CO2 supply chain
This is the one most new brands under-plan. A soda maker is only used as long as the customer can get gas. Before you order machines, know how a cylinder gets refilled or exchanged in your market, who handles it, and what it costs the customer. Getting this wrong is the most common reason a technically good product stalls after launch.
The real development timeline
A new machine does not start with a drawing. It starts with the structure.
- Structure. How the gas path, valve and bottle actually work together.
- Appearance. The housing is designed around that structure — not the other way round.
- Drawings. What will be cut, moulded and assembled.
- Prototype. A physical unit you can hold, carbonate with and criticise.
- Tooling. Moulds cut from the approved design.
- Trial run. First production pieces, checked against the specification.
- Mass production. Assembly, then testing, then packing.
That sequence is the same whether you are a factory or a brand, and it is why "how long until I have stock" has no useful answer until the structure is frozen. You can see the full process, with the two inspection stages, on design and made.
The certification checklist importers ask for
| What | Why the buyer asks |
|---|---|
| ISO 9001 / ISO 14001 | Factory quality and environmental management |
| Food-contact material documents (for example PET and silicone) | Everything that touches the water or the gas must be documented |
| RoHS / REACH | Restricted substances in the electrical and plastic parts |
| CO2 cylinder documents (CoS, MSDS, cylinder standards) | The gas vessel is regulated, and a cylinder crossing a border attracts questions |
| Packaging compliance | Packaging rules now differ by market and are checked at import |
| Social-responsibility audit | Larger retail buyers require it before listing a supplier |
We hold documents in all of these areas, and you can see the list and download the patent schedule on the patents and certificates page. Ask for the specific documents your market needs rather than a generic pack — it saves everyone time.
Where new brands lose money
- Printing packaging before the tooling is frozen. The machine changes, the box no longer fits.
- Buying the cheapest platform and the most expensive branding. Customers notice the machine.
- Skipping the CO2 plan. The machine sells once; the gas relationship is what keeps a customer.
- Not asking about the bottle. The bottle is the part the customer physically handles.
What working with us looks like
We design, tool, blow-mould, assemble and test in one plant in Foshan — 5,000 m² under one roof, with a 300 m² dust-free bottle workshop. Every machine passes two 100% high-pressure tests, at sub-assembly and again at final assembly, and every bottle run gets a destructive pressure test.
You also get a private project page: the plan, the milestones, which engineers are working on which part, and a running log of progress — including problems and how they were solved. Most suppliers tell you everything is fine. We would rather you could see the work.