Guide
How to evaluate a private label pet supplement supplier
This page is written so you can use it on us. Each question below has a specific answer and a vague one, and the vague one is what you get from a supplier who is passing on somebody else's file. No competitor is named and no regulation is quoted, because neither of those helps you decide.
Questions
Six questions, and what each answer tells you
| Ask | A specific answer sounds like | A vague answer sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| What is the unit price, and at what volume? | A figure tied to a pack count and a quantity band | A number with no pack count, or "it depends" |
| Which facility runs it, and what does it hold? | A facility name and its certification set, with numbers and dates | "Our factory is certified" with nothing behind it |
| What is the batch tested against? | A specification sheet, and a COA naming the batch and the method | "We test every batch" |
| How long, counted from when? | A window with its start condition named | "About a month" |
| What does sampling cost, and is it separate? | Its own line, confirmed before the sample is made | Sampling "included", with no number |
| Who signs the label? | A named party carrying registration, plus the adviser or importer who signs it | "Compliance is handled" |
Documents
Seven things to hold before you pay a deposit
- The specification you are buying against, in numbers
- A batch COA that names the batch and the method
- The facility name and its certification set, with validity dates
- The artwork proof, and who signs it off
- A sample you have approved, not a photograph of one
- The lead time with the condition it is counted from
- The sampling and tooling cost as their own lines
If any of these cannot be produced before a deposit, that is the answer to the whole question.
Red flags
Six signals worth stopping on
- A price with no specification attached. A unit price means nothing until the formula, the pack count and the container are fixed.
- A minimum quoted before the format is known. Chews, tablets and powders do not share a minimum order.
- A COA that names neither the batch nor the specification. A document that could belong to any order is not a document about yours.
- "Our certifications", with no numbers. Name, number and validity date is the whole value of a certificate.
- A lead time with no start condition. Four weeks from the brief, from sample approval, or from the deposit?
- Sampling bundled invisibly into the unit price. If it is not a line of its own, you cannot tell what you are paying for it.
Our own answers
Where we answer the six, on this site
| Question | Where you can check it |
|---|---|
| Unit price, and what volume does to it | Every line on the range, and the volume tiers |
| The facility, and what it holds | Company details, and what is issued at qualification |
| What a batch is tested against | Compliance — the eight-part pack |
| Lead time, and its start condition | The timeline |
| What sampling costs | Quoted as its own line before anything is made; see the process |
| Who signs the label | Compliance — registration follows the name on the label |
Put the six to us
Send the brief and you will get a specification, a band, a sampling plan and a lead time — the documents above, in the first reply.