Vetting a New Food Supplier: a Checklist

Before you buy from a new food supplier, verify their food safety credentials, traceability records and product specifications rather than relying on price or reputation alone. Ask for their food safety programme or licence, allergen declarations, and evidence of temperature control in transit. A short, documented vetting process protects your customers, supports recall readiness under the Food Standards Code, and gives you a clear paper trail if something ever goes wrong. Key takeaways: Vet a supplier on documents and evidence — licence or food safety programme, product specifications, allergen declarations and traceability — not on price or a sales pitch.. Traceability is the core of recall readiness: you need to identify one step back (who supplied you) and one step forward (who you supplied) for every ingredient.. Confirm cold-chain control in transit; food should stay at or below 5°C for chilled goods and out of the 5-60°C danger zone on delivery.. Get allergen information in writing and check it against Plain English Allergen Labelling requirements before the first order.. Keep your vetting records. An approved-supplier file with dates and documents is your defence if a product or ingredient is later implicated in an incident.. Why supplier vetting matters Every ingredient you buy becomes part of a product you are responsible for. Under the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, food businesses must handle food safely and, when something goes wrong, be able to trace and recall affected product quickly. A supplier who cannot tell you where their food came from becomes your weakest link the moment there is a contamination scare, an allergen mislabel or a recall. Vetting is not about distrust — it is about evidence. A reputable supplier expects to be asked for documentation and can produce it without fuss. The exercise also surfaces practical risks early: gaps in cold-chain control, vague allergen information, or an inability to identify their own upstream sources. Doing this before the first purchase order is far cheaper than discovering the gaps during an incident. A short, repeatable vetting routine turns supplier selection from a gut-feel decision into a documented, defensible one. Confirm they are licensed and operating legally Start by confirming the supplier is a legitimate, registered business and holds any approvals their activity requires. Ask for their business name and ABN, and — depending on what they produce — evidence that they are licensed, registered or notified with the relevant authority. Higher-risk activities such as manufacturing, meat, seafood, dairy and some catering are more tightly regulated. Licensing and registration requirements vary by state and territory, and by the type of food handled — confirm what applies with your local council or state regulator rather than assuming. Business licence information services can help you understand which approvals a given activity needs. A supplier who is evasive about their registration status, or who cannot name the authority they answer to, is a warning sign. Legitimate operators know exactly who regulates them and are used to proving it. Request their food safety documentation Ask for the paperwork that shows the supplier manages food safety systematically. Depending on their sector this may include a documented food safety programme or plan, evidence of a HACCP-based approach, or records tied to Standards 3.2.2 and 3.2.2A. Many businesses will also hold third-party certification to a recognised standard. Don't just collect certificates — read them. Check that any certification is current, covers the products you are actually buying, and names the site the goods will ship from. An expired certificate, or one for a different product line or facility, does not give you the assurance it appears to. If a supplier cannot provide any formal food safety documentation, weigh that against the risk of the product. For a low-risk, shelf-stable item it may be acceptable with other controls; for ready-to-eat or temperature-sensitive food it is a serious gap. Check product specifications and allergen information For each product, ask for a written specification: ingredients, storage and shelf-life conditions, intended use, and packaging. This is the document you check deliveries against, so it needs to be accurate and specific — not a marketing blurb. Allergen information deserves particular attention. Get a written declaration of allergens present in the product and any handled on the same line or site, and check it against Plain English Allergen Labelling (PEAL) requirements under Standard 1.2.3, which set out how allergens must be declared. If you serve customers with allergies, cross-contact statements matter as much as the ingredient list. Confirm how the supplier will tell you if a specification changes — a reformulation that adds an allergen, or a new manufacturing site, can invalidate your own labelling and allergen advice overnight. A commitment to notify you of changes in writing should be part of the arrangement. Assess cold chain and delivery controls Temperature control does not stop at the supplier's door — it has to survive the trip to yours. Ask how chilled and frozen goods are transported, how temperature is monitored in transit, and what happens if a delivery arrives out of specification. Potentially hazardous food should be kept out of the 5-60°C danger zone, with chilled food at or below 5°C. Agree in advance on what you will check on receipt and what you will do with a non-conforming delivery. Practical receiving controls include probing or checking the temperature of chilled and frozen items, inspecting packaging integrity, and confirming use-by and best-before dates before anything is accepted. Also consider timing. The 2-hour/4-hour rule and cooling rules apply to your own handling once goods arrive, so a supplier whose deliveries routinely land warm or late erodes your ability to keep food safe downstream. Build the response to a rejected delivery into your agreement rather than improvising on the day. Verify traceability — one step back, one step forward Traceability is the backbone of recall readiness. A good supplier can tell you, for any batch, where their inputs came from (one step back) and, in turn, expects you to know who you supplied (one step forward). Ask how their products are coded — batch or lot numbers, production dates — and confirm those codes appear on what you receive. Test the system with a simple question: if a specific batch had to be recalled tomorrow, how quickly could they identify and contact everyone who received it? The confidence and specificity of the answer tells you a great deal about how their records actually work. Make sure your own receiving records capture the supplier, product, batch or lot code, quantity and delivery date. Without that link, even a well-organised supplier recall can't be actioned cleanly at your end. Trial, approve and keep records Once the documents check out, consider a trial order before committing to volume. A first delivery tells you whether the product matches its specification, whether temperature and packaging hold up in transit, and whether paperwork such as delivery dockets and allergen details arrives as promised. When you approve a supplier, record the decision. An approved-supplier file — with the documents you reviewed, the dates, and who signed off — is both a practical reference and your evidence of due diligence if a product is later implicated in an incident. Approval is not permanent. Set a simple review cadence, re-request certificates before they expire, and keep an eye on delivery performance and any complaints. If a supplier's standards slip, your records make it straightforward to raise the issue or move on. Checklist: Business name and ABN confirmed. Licence, registration or notification appropriate to the food type verified with the relevant authority. Current food safety programme or plan on file (relevant to Standards 3.2.2 / 3.2.2A where applicable). Certification checked for expiry, correct product scope and correct site. Written product specification for each item. Written allergen declaration, including cross-contact, checked against PEAL (Standard 1.2.3). Transport, temperature monitoring and delivery arrangements agreed. Batch or lot coding confirmed and traceability tested. Non-conforming delivery process agreed in writing. Trial order assessed against specification. Approval decision, documents and date recorded in an approved-supplier file. Review or re-certification date set. Common mistakes: Choosing on price or reputation alone and skipping the paperwork. Filing certificates without reading them — missing an expiry, wrong product scope or wrong site. Accepting verbal allergen assurances instead of a written declaration checked against PEAL. Assuming a supplier's cold chain holds without agreeing receiving checks or a rejection process. Not recording batch or lot codes on receipt, breaking your one-step-forward traceability. Treating approval as permanent and never re-checking certificates or delivery performance.