I really hope that I don't dump any rain on anybody's parade, but I'll bet your favorite ink wasn't made by the company whose name is on the box!
Due to the intensely competitive and internationally diversified nature of business today, very few companies selling fountain pen ink actually make their own product. At this point in time, I can only think of six companies, that I am sure of, that do indeed make all or part of their own ink.
The first company that comes to mind is the venerable Sheaffer Pen Co. of Fort Madison, Iowa. They have been making their own ink under the Skrip label since the early part of this century and I believe they still do. However - all of their ink formulae have changed and all of their inks are now made in their facility in Slovenia.
Second would be the equally well known Parker Pen Co. of Janesville Wisconsin. They have been making the Quink brand for well over 60 years. However the Parker pens and Quink inks are no longer made in the USA, they are made at the New Haven, England facility. The other Parker ink line, Penman (discontinued), was never made by Parker. It was made for them by Documentel of Germany .
A third company that I know makes their own ink is Herbin of France. Herbin has been making vegetable based ink colors since the 1600s. In addition to making their own inks, Herbin makes inks for other companies, such as making the wonderful but discontinued Vespucci Red ink for Omas of Italy.
Then there is the Rubinato ink company of Italy. Many boutique ink and private lable brands are made by Rubinato. Seldom do you run accross inks actually labled Rubinato, but most of the store brand and private lable inks out of Italy are by Rubinato. Gnocchi and Colorado Pen company inks are two that come to mind.
Next is a relative newcomer to the inkmaker ranks. The American company Private Reserve of Zionville IL has been in the ink business for a fairly short time. They started production in 1994. They custom bottle inks for Bexley and Farhneys Pen Company as well as produce their own line of inks. At last count they were up to about 22 colors!
And the newest brand in town is Noodlers ink. These are also made here in the USA in New England. These inks are very interesting and boast such unheard of before features as being truly waterproof and sun fade proof. One ink - Polar Black - will even write well at -100 degrees F! Last count was 30 inks in the line. Noodlers also makes inkes for Pendemonium, Swisher pens and Art Brown pens.
With the possible exception of Herbin of France, even the words "made by" are misleading. "Mixed by" would be a far more accurate description of what actually takes place if the company even did that. Those few companies that can claim to make their own ink usually simply blend together several different standard commercial dyes that they purchase from large industrial suppliers. Many of the dyes used are actually intended for the clothing/textile industry. One company that does specifically address the writing fluids industry is the Formulabs Corporation of Escondito Ca. For more information on Formulabs, see the November, 1996 issue of Pen World International magazine.
One problem that the ink companies have is that the writing fluids industry is rather small compared to the textile industry. As a result, fashion trends dictate sudden changes in what dye colors are kept on hand, and ink manufacturers may find a needed dye color suddenly unavailable. This results in frequent small changes in blending formulas so that the consumer never notices any change in the beloved product.
With this all said and done, I'm sure that it will have very little real effect on your feelings for your favorite inks!
Greg