Factories / OEM

Supplement manufacturer in Thailand: launching a brand from formula to Thai FDA number

10 min read · Updated 14 Nov 2026

Three unlabelled white supplement bottles, powder sachets, a dish of capsules, an open navy folder and an orange pen on a meeting table in front of a window onto a production room, illustrating supplement manufacturer in Thailand

What a supplement manufacturer in Thailand does for your brand

People who search for a supplement manufacturer in Thailand are usually about to launch their own brand, or already have one and want to change producers. The first questions follow quickly: what does the factory actually do, what does the brand owner still have to do, and how can you tell whether the factory you are talking to is producing legally?

Legally, dietary supplements fall under the Food Act B.E. 2522 (1979) and Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) Notification No. 293 B.E. 2548 (2005), which defines them as products taken in addition to normal food, in the form of tablets, capsules, powders, flakes, liquids or other forms. Notification No. 405 B.E. 2562 (2019) classifies them as quality- or standard-specified food. Anyone producing for sale needs a licensed manufacturing site, and every product needs a food serial number (the 13-digit Thai FDA number) before it goes on sale.

Brand owners without their own site therefore hire a factory that already holds a licence to produce under the brand's name. A well-prepared supplement factory can usually cover several stages:

Developing or adjusting the formula, and producing samples for trial
Sourcing raw materials with their quality documents
Preparing documents and filing for the food serial number under the factory's licensed site
Producing, packing, sending samples for testing, and delivering goods with certificates of analysis

What the factory cannot do for you is make brand decisions, run your marketing, or carry responsibility for what your brand tells consumers. This article gives the overall picture, from choosing a contract model and the steps involved to checking the factory, labels and advertising. For a detailed pre-contract checklist, see Hiring a supplement OEM factory in Thailand.

OEM, ODM or ready-made formula: three ways to outsource supplement production

Contract supplement manufacturing in the Thai market covers several models. The key differences are who creates the formula and who owns it once production starts.

OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer): the brand already has a formula or product specification, and the factory produces to it. Suits brands with their own formulation team or a formula they want to keep.
ODM (Original Design Manufacturer): the factory develops a formula to the brand's brief, such as target customer, dosage form, flavour and key ingredients. The brand gets a tailored formula without its own R&D team.
Ready-made formula: the factory already has developed formulas, and the brand picks one and puts its name on it. The easiest way to start, but the product may resemble other brands using the same formula.

Whichever model you choose, agree clearly who owns the formula and the documents used in the application. The food serial number is tied to the manufacturing site, so if the brand later moves to another factory it must apply for a new number under the new site, using the same formula, raw material specifications and test results. If the formula belongs to the factory under an ODM or ready-made arrangement, the brand may not be able to take it elsewhere.

With a ready-made formula, also check that the product under your brand name has actually been approved. The food name and label used for sale must match what was filed. Swapping a new brand name onto the factory's existing formula without filing with the Thai FDA leaves the label out of line with the approved details.

Top-down view of four glass dishes holding capsules, tablets, powder and a small bottle of liquid above a blank checklist clipboard and a navy notebook, illustrating supplement manufacturer in Thailand

Ways to outsource supplement production

OEMODMReady-made formula

Who creates the formulaBrand ownerFactory, to the brand's briefFactory, in advance

Formula ownershipBrandSet in the contractUsually the factory

Product uniquenessHighHighMay match other brands

SuitsBrands with a formulation teamBrands with a brief but no R&DBrands that want to start fast

Source: Summary of contract manufacturing models in the market · serial number tied to site per the Thai FDA dietary supplement licensing manual (2026)

Supplement production with a factory, from idea to shelf

The sequence below works with most supplement factories. Some steps can run in parallel, but none should be skipped.

Define the product brief: target customer, dosage form, units per pack and the key ingredients you want.
Shortlist factories and check documents: ask for the site licence, GMP inspection results and a scope that covers your dosage form.
Check the formula against Thai FDA lists: every ingredient must be permitted in dietary supplements and within the set amounts.
Produce and trial samples: taste, odour, colour, ease of use and early stability.
Design the label: include every mandatory statement and screen out wording that cannot be used before printing.
Apply for the food serial number: the Thai FDA manual says the food registration (form Sor Bor 5) is filed through e-Submission under the licensed site. Category, type and process cannot be changed after filing, so get them right first time.
Produce the first lot and submit test results: the manual says that once the number is issued, the original set of test results must be submitted when the product is first produced for sale.
Launch and prepare advertising: advertising that states benefits, quality or properties needs an advertising permit first.

Steps 3 and 5 usually take the longest and cause the most rework. Checking the formula and label before filing saves a great deal of back-and-forth, because the Thai FDA manual says that when officers request clarification, the applicant must fix everything in one round within the set period or the system returns the application.

Supplement production with a factory

1
Define the product brief
2
Shortlist factories and check documents
3
Check formula against Thai FDA lists
4
Produce and trial samples
5
Design and check the label
6
Apply for the serial number (Sor Bor 5)
7
First lot and test results
8
Advertising permit before benefit claims

Source: Thai FDA dietary supplement licensing manual (2026 revision) · Food Act B.E. 2522 Section 41

Matching dosage form to the factory: capsules, tablets, powders or liquids

The dosage form decides which factories can make your product, because machinery and the GMP inspection scope differ from site to site. A factory that fills capsules cannot necessarily press tablets or produce liquids.

Form	Suits	Ask the factory about
Capsule	Powders or extracts with strong taste or odour	Shell type, powder moisture and moisture-proof packing
Tablet	Several ingredients in one unit	Excipients, coating and tablet disintegration
Powder or sachet	High doses per serving, such as protein or fibre	Solubility, caking and fill accuracy
Liquid or jelly	Consumers who prefer not to swallow tablets	Heat treatment, container and the specific GMP requirements that apply

For liquids in hermetically sealed containers that are heat treated, the Thai FDA manual says the site must meet the specific requirements of MOPH Notification No. 420 B.E. 2563 (2020) on top of the basic requirements, including a report from a thermal process authority. Factories taking this kind of work need specialised capability.

A quick way to shortlist: ask to see the scope on the GMP inspection result or certificate to confirm it covers your dosage form, and ask for examples of products the factory has made in the same form.

Checking a supplement contract manufacturer yourself

Brand owners do not have to rely on what they are told. Several things can be checked directly.

Site licence: the Thai FDA dietary supplement licensing manual (2026 revision) splits sites by size. Sites with total machinery of 50 horsepower or more, or 50 or more workers, hold a food production licence (form Or 2). Smaller sites hold a certificate for a non-factory production site (form Sor Bor 1/1). Ask for a copy of every page and check the licensee name, address and expiry date.
Actual production site: the Food Act prohibits producing outside the site named on the licence. If a supplement contract manufacturer has several sites, or passes work to another producer, find out where your product will be made and whether that site is licensed.
GMP 420 results: the pass mark is at least 60 percent in each section with no critical defects. Ask for the latest result and its scope. See GMP 420 explained.
Serial numbers of products the factory already makes: ask for a few and check their status with the Thai FDA number checker. The 13-digit number encodes the production site; see reading the 13-digit Thai FDA number.

If the company you are talking to is an intermediary without its own site, that is not necessarily a problem, but the brand should know the name and address of the actual production site from the start, because that name goes on the label and is tied to the product's serial number.

Four checks you can run on a supplement factory

Or 2 or Sor Bor 1/1 licence still valid
Actual production site matches the licence
GMP 420 result with scope covering your form
Serial numbers of current products are valid

Formula and ingredients: where serial number applications succeed or stall

The formula is what the Thai FDA reviews most closely. The usual problem is not that a factory cannot make the product, but that some ingredients are not permitted in dietary supplements or are used above the set amount.

Plants, extracts and other substances: the Thai FDA notification on guidance for key ingredients in dietary supplements, dated 8 July 2024, lists 444 entries with scientific name, part used, extraction solvent and conditions, mostly maximum daily amounts. If the source, part used or process differs from the list, a safety assessment may be required first.
Novel food: MOPH Notification No. 376 B.E. 2559 (2016) requires a safety assessment for substances with less than 15 years of history as food, or produced by a non-conventional process. The Thai FDA's explanatory notes give ginseng leaf, where the root is normally eaten, as an example of novel food.
Vitamins and minerals: must follow the published lists and amounts.
Protected plants: the note at the end of the Thai FDA list says that plants on the CITES list need a CITES permit through the Department of Agriculture.

Beyond the ingredient list, the application also needs raw material specifications (extracts must state the solvent, key compounds and extract ratio), the formula, the manufacturing process and test results. If the brand buys raw materials itself and sends them to the factory, it must supply this documentation too.

Before talking to factories, screen your formula with the formula checker and look up individual ingredients with the ingredient search.

Labels and advertising: duties the brand cannot hand to the factory

The factory is responsible for producing to the approved details, but what consumers see on the label and in advertising is the brand owner's responsibility.

Labels: Notification No. 293 and its amendments set mandatory statements for dietary supplements, such as the words "dietary supplement" in the name, key ingredients with amounts, and warnings in the prescribed format. MOPH Notification No. 450 B.E. 2567 (2024) requires the manufacturer's name and address, so the brand and distributor names appear alongside the factory's, not instead of it. Details are in Thai dietary supplement label requirements.

Advertising: Section 41 of the Food Act requires anyone advertising the benefits, quality or properties of a food to submit the text, images or sound to the Thai FDA for review first. The Thai FDA criteria for food advertising B.E. 2569 (2026), which replaced the 2021 criteria, set several rules that apply directly to supplements:

No suggestion that the product treats, relieves, cures or prevents disease, changes body structure, causes weight loss or slimming, or nourishes the skin
No endorsement by medical professionals
No citing of research reports or statistics that have not passed the Thai FDA's health claim assessment
Presenters in supplement advertising must be at least 15 years old and not pregnant

Wording on social media pages, livestreams and resellers' posts falls within the same rules. Screen wording with the advertising checker and labels with the label checker.

What to prepare before talking to a supplement factory

Preparing information before meetings gives you answers you can compare across several factories and shows quickly which ones answer clearly.

Product brief: target customer, dosage form, units per pack and key ingredients
Preferred model: OEM, ODM or ready-made formula, and who owns the formula
The production quantity per run your brand can take, to compare with each factory's minimum order
Documents to request: site licence, GMP results and scope, and sample test results from past products
Documents the brand wants to receive: test results for every lot, copies of the application documents and the approved label
The wording you want on the label and in advertising, so it can be checked before formulation starts

Factories that can show documents straight away and explain who is responsible for each step usually have their internal systems in order. Once you have chosen, use the checklist in Hiring a supplement OEM factory in Thailand when drafting the contract.

If you would like consultants to help develop the formula, assess factories or prepare serial number applications, see product development and registration and notification, or contact us with your case.

Frequently asked questions

What licence does a supplement manufacturer in Thailand need?

Sites with machinery of 50 horsepower or more, or 50 or more workers, need a food production licence (Or 2). Smaller sites need a certificate for a non-factory production site (Sor Bor 1/1). Both must pass GMP under Notification No. 420.

Does the brand owner need its own production licence?

Not when hiring a licensed factory. The food serial number is filed under the factory's licensed site, so the brand needs no site of its own, but it is still responsible for correct labelling and advertising.

What is the difference between supplement OEM and ODM?

With OEM, the brand has a formula and the factory produces to it. With ODM, the factory develops the formula to the brand's brief. The key difference is who owns the formula and the application documents.

Can I keep the same serial number if I change supplement factory?

No. The food serial number is tied to the production site, so moving to a new factory requires a new number. Agree on handing over formula documents from the start.

Which herbs or extracts can be used in Thai dietary supplements?

Check the list attached to the Thai FDA notification on key ingredients in dietary supplements (2024), which sets the part used, solvent and maximum daily amount. Anything outside the list or classed as novel food needs a safety assessment first.

Do supplement adverts need Thai FDA approval?

Yes, if they state benefits, quality or properties, under Section 41 of the Food Act. Claims of treating or preventing disease, weight loss or skin nourishment are not allowed.

Sources

Food Act B.E. 2522 (1979) · Open source · Search our archive
Food Act B.E. 2522, Chapter 5: Registration and advertising of food · Open source · Search our archive
MOPH Notification No. 293 B.E. 2548 (2005) on dietary supplements · Open source · Search our archive
MOPH Notification No. 405 B.E. 2562 (2019) on dietary supplements (No. 3) · Open source · Search our archive
Thai FDA dietary supplement licensing manual (2026 revision) · Open source · Search our archive
Thai FDA notification on guidance for key ingredients in dietary supplements (8 July 2024) · Open source · Search our archive
MOPH Notification No. 376 B.E. 2559 (2016) on novel food · Open source · Search our archive
MOPH Notification No. 420 B.E. 2563 (2020) on food production methods, equipment and storage (GMP) · Open source · Search our archive
MOPH Notification No. 450 B.E. 2567 (2024) on labelling of prepackaged food · Open source · Search our archive
Thai FDA criteria for food advertising B.E. 2569 (2026) · Open source · Search our archive

This article is for general information. It is not a Thai FDA ruling or legal advice, and rules change — check the latest notification or ask an expert before filing or producing.