Direction, formulation, nutrition, cost and regulatory position are information problems. We solve them in software, and only then does anything get made. This page is exactly how.
That is the whole idea. Move every decision you can into the part where a mistake costs an afternoon rather than a batch.
Every version is a file. It can be built, compared, rejected and replaced without anyone weighing anything out. Iteration costs time, not money.
Only what survives the digital build gets made. Prototypes, lab panels, shelf-life and the pilot run — at our lab network or at yours.
“Digital” is not a document. It means four engines running against your formulation continuously, each answering a question that traditionally waits for a batch.
Every ingredient carries its own nutritional and functional data. Change an inclusion rate and the panel recalculates — per serve and per 100 g — against the thresholds the claim you want depends on. Answers: does this recipe actually hit the numbers on the pack?
Ingredients, additive levels and category standards checked against applicable FSSAI requirements while the formulation is being designed, not reviewed once at the end when changing anything is expensive. Answers: is this legal to sell, and can I say what I want to say?
A live cost stack across ingredients, inclusion rates and sourcing options. The trade-off attached to every reduction is quantified rather than asserted, so cost work happens before the quote instead of after it. Answers: what does this cost to make, and what does saving money break?
The product measured against the competitive set label by label — nutrition per serve, claims, certifications, pack and price — so the target is a real product on a real shelf, not an aspiration. Answers: is this better than what it has to beat?
Change any ingredient and all four engines rerun. A fourth version of a product exists because versions one to three were rejected on screen — three trial batches that never had to be made.
Digital work is worthless if nobody can make the result. The point of settling everything on screen is to arrive at the bench once, with a formulation worth the trial.
The first physical sample is made against a formulation that has already passed nutrition, cost and compliance. What remains is what only matter can tell you.
Lab and pilot charges are invoiced at cost and approved by you before they are committed. Nothing physical is ever committed without a yes.
You can route the work through the Bettrlabs network or through your own facility, whichever suits the product and the timeline.
See Labs & Network for how facilities are qualified.
Everything above resolves into one document. The Buildfile™ is the deliverable, and on a Build it is yours outright the day it is handed over.
Full percentage breakdown, raw material specifications and permitted supplier alternates.
Parameters, sequence, critical control points and the notes a plant needs to repeat it.
Claim substantiation, ingredient status and label copy cleared against category requirements.
Incoming, in-process and finished-goods parameters with limits, methods and a sampling plan.
| Measure | Traditional development | Digital-first |
|---|---|---|
| Where the first decision is tested | In a trial batch, after it is paid for | On screen, before anything is spent |
| What it costs to reject a version | A trial batch, its ingredients and its testing | An afternoon |
| Versions explored before committing | Two or three, budget permitting | As many as the question needs |
| When regulatory problems appear | At label approval, after artwork | At formulation, before artwork exists |
| Brief to shelf | Six to nine months, one at a time | Eight to twelve weeks per product, several in parallel |
| What the process produces | A recipe and a lot of email | A Buildfile™ a factory can run |
Timeline and cost figures are the working assumptions in the Bettrlabs Co-Build model for a mid-size Indian brand. Complex categories — regulated claims, difficult stability, a new process — extend both columns.
Buy them one at a time on Pricing, or run them as one engagement on a Build.
Category, benchmarks, target profile and the claims worth building toward.
The formulation itself, with nutrition, cost and label impact simulated on every version.
Ingredients, claims and artwork against applicable FSSAI requirements.
Prototypes, lab panels, shelf-life and sensory — our labs or yours.
Manufacturer matching, tech transfer, QC specification, first validated batch.
The Formulation Library shows the output of the digital build for products Indian brands are making right now. Free, no account.
