Private label tile manufacturing in India means a Morbi factory presses, fires and packs tile to your specification, and the carton that reaches your warehouse carries your brand instead of the factory's. The commercial question most importers ask first is order size, and the honest answer is that it is measured in containers, not pallets. Published exporter guidance such as Rollence Granito's import guide puts the standard export minimum at one 20-foot container, holding roughly 1,800 to 2,200 square metres depending on size and packing thickness. That figure is the unit your branding budget has to clear.
The second question is harder and matters more over a three-year relationship: will the second container match the first? A private label programme attaches your name to someone else's kiln, so every shade variation, calibration drift and late dispatch becomes your problem in front of your own customer. This guide works through the order-size arithmetic, the quality gates that make repeatability possible, what has to be settled before artwork goes to print, and the documents that move the goods — written for importers, distributors and builders sourcing from Morbi.
What Order Size Should You Plan for a First Private Label Run?
Plan your first run in container units and work backwards from square metres, not from carton counts. If a 20-foot container carries about 1,800 to 2,200 sq m, a single SKU filling one container is a serious stock commitment for a new design — and a mixed load spreads that risk across several faces and sizes while keeping the freight economics of a full container. Most importers get the branding they want on a mixed load rather than on a single-design run.
The constraint that bites is not the container, it is the print run on the carton and the firing batch on the tile. Printed cartons are produced in lots, so a very small quantity of one SKU may carry a disproportionate packaging cost per square metre. Firing works the same way: a batch is a batch, and splitting one design across two firings months apart is how shade complaints start. ORKAY Tiles quotes minimum quantities and lead times per range through the export desk rather than publishing one blanket number, which is the realistic approach — a 300×600 ceramic wall tile and an 800×2400 porcelain slab do not share an economic batch size. Ask per range, in writing, before you design the carton.
- Convert everything to square metres first: compare quotations and minimums in sq m, because boxes per pallet and pieces per box differ by size and thickness and make carton counts useless for comparison.
- Ask for packing data before you plan stock: boxes, sq m, pallets and weight per container decide whether you hit volume or weight limits first. ORKAY Tiles publishes container packing data for wall, floor, parking tiles and porcelain slabs.
- Separate the tile minimum from the carton minimum: they are different numbers with different suppliers behind them, and only one of them is a kiln decision.
- Decide mixed or single load early: a mixed container tests several designs in your market; a single-design load suits a repeat seller you already know moves.
How Do You Judge Tile Quality Before Your Brand Is on the Box?
Judge the process, not the sample. Any factory can send you a good sample — the sample is selected. What tells you whether container ten will match container one is where inspection sits in the production cycle. If quality is checked only at the end of the line, the tile has already been decided by then: the body, the glaze and the firing curve were fixed hours earlier, and sorting can only grade a problem, not fix it.
So ask where the control points are. ORKAY Tiles describes five gates — pre-production control, in-process inspection, pre-packing checks, packing and pallet verification, and pre-shipment release — which is a useful shape to compare any supplier against, because it covers the three places defects actually enter a shipment: the body before pressing, the sort before packing, and the pallet before it is sealed. On the product side, pin down the technical values you are selling on. Water absorption, breaking strength, dimensional tolerance and surface abrasion are all declared properties, and a supplier who can hand you current test results against a recognised standard is a different proposition from one who sends photographs.
| What to verify | How to check it | Why it decides the order |
|---|---|---|
| Shade and batch repeatability | Ask for a signed shade reference, then ask how the next run is matched to it and whether batch holds are possible for project quantities | Shade drift between containers is the single most common private label dispute, and it surfaces after the boxes are open |
| Declared technical properties | Request current test reports for water absorption, breaking strength, dimensional tolerance and abrasion for the exact range | Your market's specifiers and retail claims depend on these; a wrong claim on your own carton is your liability |
| Inspection points in production | Ask what is checked before pressing, during the run, before packing and before release | End-of-line-only checks mean defects are graded, not prevented |
| Slip rating for wet and outdoor areas | Ask which test method and what value; ORKAY Tiles rates matt and anti-skid finishes to AS/NZS 4586 | Bathroom, terrace and poolside tile sold without a rating is a safety and returns exposure |
| Packing and pallet integrity | Request pallet photographs and the packing data sheet before shipment release | Transit breakage is avoidable and is usually a packing decision, not a sea-freight accident |
Read that table as a question list for your first supplier call. If a supplier answers four of five clearly and goes vague on the fifth, that is where your risk sits — and it is cheaper to find it now than on a container already on the water.
Settle the specification before you print a single carton. Tell the ORKAY export desk the market, the size and the volume you are planning, and ask for minimum quantities and lead times on the specific ranges you are considering. Send your requirement to the Morbi desk and you will hear back within one business day.
What Has to Be Agreed Before a Private Label Run Starts?
Three things have to be closed before the line runs: artwork, carton design and shade approval. ORKAY Tiles settles all three before the run starts, and that sequence matters — artwork approved after production has begun means either a repack or a delay, and both cost you more than the week you thought you were saving. Treat approval as a gate with a date on it, not a formality to tidy up later.
Decide the branding depth at the same time. Private label can mean your logo on the carton, or it can mean nothing on the pallet identifying the factory at all — a distinction worth fixing in writing if your customers are distributors who might otherwise trace the source. ORKAY Tiles supports both, including unbranded pallets where that is what the partner wants. If you are still weighing whether full OEM or a lighter white-label route fits your business, the B2B and private label page sets out what the partnership covers, and our earlier comparison of OEM versus white label tile manufacturing works through the trade-off in detail.
- Shortlist ranges against your market. Send the sizes, finishes and price points that move where you sell, and let the supplier's team narrow a 4,000-design catalogue down to a shortlist. Verify by asking why each one was picked.
- Approve a physical shade reference. Screens lie about shade. Get full-size samples, sign them, and confirm that the signed reference is what later runs are matched against.
- Finalise carton artwork and product codes. Include your SKU code, size, finish and any declared technical values. Check the print proof against the regulatory labelling your destination market requires.
- Confirm the load plan. Use packing data to fix boxes, pallets and weight per container, and confirm whether the load is mixed or single-design before production is scheduled.
- Agree Incoterms and the document set. FOB, CIF or CFR changes who pays for what and where your risk begins — settle it before the proforma invoice, not after.
What Does Export Documentation and Shipping Involve From Morbi?
The paperwork is routine but unforgiving: a commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading and certificate of origin travel with almost every shipment, and your destination customs may add its own requirements on top. Incoterms decide the split of cost and risk, and misreading FOB as though it included freight is a common and expensive first-time error. Agree the terms in the proforma and keep the same terms on every document.
Geography helps on the Indian side. Morbi is the hub — Gujarat government figures reported by TaxTMI put Morbi at up to 90 per cent of India's ceramic exports — and ORKAY Tiles sits roughly three hours from Mundra port with its own on-site loading yard for full container loads. That proximity shortens the inland leg and reduces the handling between the factory gate and the vessel. Demand conditions are worth watching too: Ceramicpost's monthly HS 6907 tracking shows India shipped to 188 destinations in FY26 worth ₹18,730 crore, with realisation per square metre rising even as volumes fell — a shift toward higher-value product that favours buyers building a branded range rather than competing purely on price.
- Keep one thread for the order: enquiry, selection, production, dispatch and documents handled on a single communication thread cuts the follow-up time that quietly eats a buyer's week.
- Ask for document drafts early: reviewing a draft invoice and packing list before issue is far cheaper than amending a bill of lading after sailing.
- Check certifications yourself: ORKAY Tiles holds CE marking and ISO 9001 and publishes its certificates for buyers to verify directly.
- Plan the reorder in the first order: ask what evidence is retained so a repeat run can be matched — a signed shade board and recorded firing parameters are what make container ten look like container one.
Get the catalogue and packing data in one go. If you are costing a first private label container, the design range and the load figures are the two files you need side by side. Request the full catalogue from the export desk — it comes back as a file from a person who can quote it, with no download gate.
Is a Private Label Programme the Right Move for Your Business?
It is right when you already have distribution and the brand is what you are missing. If you run a showroom network, supply projects, or sell to builders who reorder, your name on the carton builds an asset you own — customers return to your brand rather than shopping the factory's name against your price. The margin case follows from that: branded stock is harder to compare line-for-line against a competitor's quotation.
It is the wrong move when your volumes cannot absorb a container of a single design, when your market buys on lowest landed cost and nothing else, or when you have not yet tested which faces sell. In those cases, start with a mixed unbranded load, learn what moves, and brand the two or three ranges that prove themselves. One structural point worth asking about: a supplier who appoints selectively — ORKAY Tiles runs a one-dealer-per-district model under its dealer programme — protects the investment you make in display, samples and stock, which is exactly the investment a private label programme asks you to make.
Scale matters on the supply side too, because a brand you cannot restock is worse than no brand. ORKAY Tiles has manufactured in Morbi since 1996, runs seven units on one campus producing a combined 60,000 sq m a day across four active lines, exports to 40+ countries, and presses 800×2400 and 800×3000 porcelain slabs on a SACMI CONTINUA+ line — one of only 60–70 such units in use worldwide. For a private label buyer, that capability is less about the headline number and more about whether a reorder six months out can be produced at all.
Let's build the product mix your market buys. Tell us the country, the sizes and the volumes you are planning, and the team will shortlist the ranges, confirm minimums and set out the private label process for your specific case. Talk to the B2B team about a private label programme.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the minimum order quantity for private label tiles from India?
Published exporter guidance, such as Rollence Granito's import guide, puts the standard export minimum at one 20-foot container, which holds roughly 1,800 to 2,200 square metres depending on tile size and packing thickness. In practice the figure varies by range, because a thin ceramic wall tile and a large porcelain slab have very different batch economics and packing weights. There is also a separate minimum on printed cartons, which is a packaging decision rather than a kiln one. ORKAY Tiles quotes minimum quantities and lead times per range through the export desk, so ask for the specific ranges you are considering rather than assuming one number covers the portfolio.
How many square metres fit in a 20ft container of tiles?
Roughly 1,800 to 2,200 square metres, according to Rollence Granito's published import guidance, with the exact figure depending on tile size, thickness and how the pallets are built. Heavier or thicker bodies hit the container weight limit before they fill the volume, so square metres per container falls as thickness rises. Never plan stock on an estimate: ask for the supplier's packing data sheet, which gives boxes, square metres, pallets and weight per container by product. ORKAY Tiles publishes this data for wall, floor, parking tiles and porcelain slabs at /downloads/packing.
Can I mix several tile designs in one private label container?
Yes, mixed loads are a common way to run a first private label order. Instead of committing a full container to a single untested design, you spread the same freight cost across several faces, sizes and finishes and learn what your market actually buys. The constraints are the per-range minimum quantity and the carton print lot, so a mixed load usually means several ranges each at a workable minimum rather than a handful of boxes of twenty designs. ORKAY Tiles supports private label and mixed loads; confirm the per-range minimums with the export desk before you finalise the load plan.
How do I make sure the second container matches the first?
Match against a signed physical shade reference, not a photograph or a screen. Approve a full-size sample, have it recorded as the reference for the range, and confirm with the supplier that later runs are matched to it. Then ask where quality is controlled during production. ORKAY Tiles runs five gates — pre-production control, in-process inspection, pre-packing checks, packing and pallet verification, and pre-shipment release — which matters because shade is decided in the body, glaze and firing, long before anything reaches the end of the line. For project quantities, ask whether the material can be held from a single firing.
Will the factory's name appear anywhere on my private label shipment?
Only if you want it to. Under ORKAY Tiles' private label arrangement, artwork, carton design and shade approval are settled before the run starts, the boxes arriving at your warehouse carry your name, and nothing on the pallet identifies the factory unless you choose otherwise. This is worth putting in writing at the artwork approval stage, particularly if you sell on to distributors who might otherwise trace the source. Decide early too whether you want the full OEM route or a lighter white-label arrangement, because the two differ in how much of the specification you control.
What export documents do I need when importing tiles from India?
A commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading and certificate of origin accompany almost every shipment, and your destination customs authority may require additional certificates or declarations depending on the market. Equally important is the Incoterm. FOB, CIF, CFR and EXW each move the point at which cost and risk transfer to you, and treating FOB as though it covered freight is a common and costly first-time error. Agree the terms on the proforma invoice and keep them consistent across every document. Ask to review draft documents before issue, since amending a bill of lading after sailing is far more trouble.
Which Indian port will my tile container ship from?
Most Morbi tile shipments leave through Gujarat's western ports, with Mundra and Kandla the usual routes and Nhava Sheva also used. ORKAY Tiles is about three hours from Mundra and has its own on-site loading yard for full container loads, which shortens the inland leg and reduces handling between the factory gate and the vessel. Morbi's dominance in this trade is substantial — Gujarat government figures reported by TaxTMI put the cluster at up to 90 per cent of India's ceramic exports. Confirm the loading port on your proforma, since it affects freight quotations and transit time.
Is private label tile worth it for a small distributor?
It is worth it when you already have distribution and only the brand is missing, because a branded carton stops customers from comparing your price line-for-line against the same factory's name elsewhere. It is not worth it when your volumes cannot absorb a container, when your market buys purely on landed cost, or when you have not yet tested which designs sell. A sensible path is a mixed unbranded container first, then private label on the two or three ranges that prove themselves. Ask your supplier about territory protection as well — investment in display and stock is safer where appointments are made selectively.
