Manufacturing is where beauty dreams are either built or broken. In this episode of Demystifying Cosmetics, we go past the mood boards and into the factory with Andrea Cid—founder of Miami Growth Machine and owner of Concept II Cosmetics. With a global background spanning Chile, the U.S., the U.K., and Asia (Harvard Economics; Wharton MBA), Andrea breaks down what “small batch” really means—volumes, costs, and flexibility—and why it’s mission-critical for emerging brands. We dig into the realities operators face today: labor dynamics in immigrant-powered teams, inflation and supply-chain pressures, and how savvy founders adjust sourcing and process to stay profitable. We also explore trade policy and tariffs, where risk can flip into opportunity for U.S. manufacturers. Andrea closes with straight-talk advice for first-time founders: how to choose a manufacturing partner, set MOQs and timelines you can actually hit, and where she sees the biggest opportunities over the next few years for beauty and wellness makers.

Takeaways:

• Iteration Should Be Baked Into Product Launches: Even established brands with major retail distribution shouldn't launch new products with 30,000-50,000 units. Testing products with real consumers at smaller volumes (500-1,500 units initially) reduces risk and allows for necessary adjustments before scaling, because no matter how experienced you are, product development will always surprise you.

• Manufacturing Minimums Are About Machine Economics, Not Difficulty: Traditional manufacturers require large MOQs because turning on machines requires staff, time, and changeover costs that only make financial sense at volume. Miami Growth Machine solves this by owning their facility and using extra capacity on their own production lines, allowing them to offer no minimums and scale clients gradually from 25-unit lab batches to full production runs.

• Supply Chain Expertise Clusters Geographically by Material: Rather than countries having wholesale advantages, expertise develops around specific materials—China excels in tubes, Brazil offers certain closures, the US is competitive in paper/labels at 5,000+ units. Smart manufacturing means understanding which global vendors specialize in what and comparing quotes across regions for each component rather than sourcing everything domestically or internationally.

• Formulate for Supply Chain Flexibility at Launch: When starting out, avoid proprietary ingredient blends with single suppliers that have 510kg minimums and 3-4 month lead times. Instead, formulate with readily available ingredients from multiple vendors to maintain flexibility and reduce risk. Make the conscious decision to lock into specialized ingredients only when differentiation justifies the supply chain complexity and cost.

• The Real US Manufacturing Challenge Is Skilled Labor, Not Automation: While automation and robotics get attention, the critical bottleneck is finding competent machinists and mechanics who can maintain and repair equipment. Miami's historically strong immigrant workforce provided this expertise, but current immigration restrictions have significantly shrunk the talent pool, making it harder to scale even when you have the capital to invest in better machines.

Timestamps

00:00 Start
00:29 Welcome to Demystifying Cosmetics
01:09 Meet Andrea Cid: Founder of Miami Growth Machine
02:18 How Global Experience Shapes Manufacturing Approach
04:20 Geographic Clustering of Supply Chain Expertise
06:45 Miami's Surprising Manufacturing Ecosystem
08:30 What "Small Batch" Really Means in Practice
11:24 Why Even Big Brands Don't Launch With 50,000 Units
13:16 The Unique Incubator Model: Leveraging Existing Capacity
15:04 [AD BREAK - Tagra's Cellucaps Line]
16:28 Navigating Raw Material MOQs and Vendor Negotiations
19:42 Formulating for Supply Chain Flexibility vs Proprietary Ingredients
22:15 Shrinkflation and Discovery Sets: Consumer Size Preferences
24:30 The Power of Bundling Without Changing Packaging
26:18 Current Geopolitical Challenges: Labor and Supply Chain
28:45 The Shrinking Pool of Skilled Manufacturing Workers
30:52 Machine Parts from Abroad: Months-Long Waits and Workarounds
33:10 The Atlantic Strike Story: Global Supply Chain Vulnerabilities
35:20 Automation vs Skilled Labor: What Manufacturing Really Needs
38:15 Conclusion and How to Connect with Miami Growth Machine