Photo Credit: Graza
Brand collabs are nothing new. We’ve seen them everywhere—celeb partnerships, brand mashups, limited-edition drops. But what Graza and Rind did in late 2024? That’s a different kind of play.
Graza, the brand that made olive oil fun (and squeezy), has been expanding fast. First, it was RTD olive oil martinis with Aura Bora. Then baby food with Little Spoons. Now? Granola. But not just any granola. Grazola—“powered by RIND.”
That last part is key. RIND Snacks, the dried fruit snack brand, is the actual manufacturer behind this product and they’re right there on the pack. This isn’t a white-label situation where a brand slaps its name on a co-manufacturer’s formula and calls it a day. It’s public. It’s intentional.
What’s Different Here?
Typically, co-manufacturer relationships happen behind the scenes. A brand formulates a product, a co-man makes it, and that’s it. Consumers rarely know who’s actually making what. But Graza and RIND flipped the script. They’re putting their co-man on the front of the package—almost like a co-branded release, but without fully merging identities.
It raises some big questions:
- Will more brands start publicly acknowledging their co-mans?
- Could this create a new marketing advantage for manufacturers who typically stay in the background?
- Does this transparency make products feel more premium, more trustworthy?
For co-manufacturers, this could be a major shift. Instead of being invisible workhorses, they could start gaining brand equity of their own. For brands, it might mean more flexibility to launch new products without the weight of doing everything in-house.
Graza has always been good at storytelling, and this move fits right into their playbook. It’s part product innovation, part smart branding, and maybe, just maybe, the start of a new way for brands and co-mans to work together.
Is this the future of co-manufacturing? Too soon to tell. But if it works, don’t be surprised if more brands follow Graza’s lead.
Can Koyuncu, Co-Founder & CMO