Quality desks do not range on a sample that tasted right in a meeting room. They range on a file that names the product, the lot, the tests, the pack and who signed them: the spec pack plus the Certificate of Analysis for the first production lot. That file should exist before the first warehouse drop, not after the container is at the gate.
Written for supermarket category managers, private-label and controlled-brand teams, and QSR or foodservice buyers ranging imported grocery. It goes one layer deeper than the buyer checks that should sit on file: what the documents should contain, and who may issue each one.
Shiiv Imports Pty Ltd trades as Shiiv Imports. We are a sourcing agent, importer and private-label builder, not a manufacturer. The partner plant makes the food. A plant lab or a third-party lab tests a lot. We assemble, check and keep the file. Those are three different jobs.
A spec and a CoA do different work
A specification says what the product is supposed to be: identity, composition, pack, shelf life, allergen set, target limits and allowed claims. Agree it before production. Do not change it between the sample meeting and the first purchase order without a written mark-up.
A Certificate of Analysis (CoA, also written COA) says what this lot actually tested as. It is tied to a batch number, a production date and named methods. A spec without a CoA is a promise. A CoA without a spec is a sheet of numbers with nothing to fail against. Incoming QA at a retail or foodservice DC needs both.
Neither document is a plant certificate. HACCP and similar food-safety plans live at the maker. GFSI-benchmarked schemes (BRCGS, SQF, FSSC 22000 and others) live at the plant when they exist, for a named site and scope. Partners hold those certifications. Shiiv Imports does not claim to be GFSI-certified, and we do not describe ourselves as the factory. How we keep supplier files sits on quality and compliance.
What belongs in a useful spec pack
You need a pack a quality contact can read and hand to incoming QA. For a branded import from the catalogue range, or an own-brand on private label, the useful minimum is:
- Product identity: name, format, net weight, channel, and a SKU if one exists.
- An ingredient list written for an Australian pack, not an export carton for another market.
- Allergen statements that match the plant’s real practice, including true cross-contact.
- Nutrition information in the form the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code expects.
- Shelf life from manufacture, and the storage band it depends on (ambient, chilled or frozen).
- Packaging specs: primary pack, shipper, pallet pattern, and the codes incoming QA will scan.
- Target microbiological and chemical limits, written so a CoA can pass or fail them.
Say who owns the spec. On a controlled brand or supermarket own-brand, the buyer often owns the commercial spec and artwork. The plant owns the process. The importer holds the working copy. We do not reuse a buyer’s own-brand recipe for another banner, and we do not name major-chain private-label clients on this site.
What belongs on a useful CoA
A useful CoA is dull on purpose. It should let a quality officer match a pallet to a lot without a phone call:
- The same product identity as the spec, including pack size. A CoA for a 400 g jar does not clear a 1 kg foodservice tin.
- Lot or batch number, production date, and best-before or use-by, in the same form as the shipper.
- Named test methods and results against the spec limits, with units. “Tested” is not a method. A number without a limit is not a pass.
- The date of test, the legal name of the lab, and a sign-off. An unsigned PDF is a file, not a certificate.
Which tests sit on the CoA depends on the line. A dry snack, a sauce in glass and a frozen potato SKU do not share one panel. Choose the assays that matter against the spec and the risk. Date them. Tie them to the lot that will land.
Who issues what
The partner plant typically issues production identity: batch records, process checks, an in-house CoA where it runs a competent lab, and the allergen-control statement the label must match. Outside audit reports for the site’s food-safety plan sit with the plant. That is HACCP in the supplier network, not a claim that the importer is the factory.
A third-party lab issues the tests a ranging desk will not take on trust from the line that made the food. Ask whether the lab is independent, which methods it used, and whether the report names the sample and the lot.
The importer collects those sheets, checks that identity, lot and label agree, and sends the pack to the contact you nominate. Shiiv Imports holds an ISO 9001 quality system for how we source, select suppliers, watch production and handle recalls. ISO 9001 is not a food-safety certificate for the plant, and it is not a GFSI scheme. Lab results for a named line go under NDA. They are not a website download.
How the file ties to FSANZ labelling and incoming QA
An Australian pack is written to the Food Standards Code. Ingredient order, allergen declarations, nutrition information and country-of-origin statements (“made in” and “packed in”) have to match the spec, and the spec has to match the food. A CoA that shows a different fat, salt or allergen profile to the printed label is a hold, not a paperwork note.
If a claim is not supported by the spec and, where needed, by a test, it should not go on the pack. We prepare own-brand artwork to the Code before print. See how a private-label brief runs for where that sits in approve.
The first warehouse drop is when ranging becomes stock. Incoming QA should match the batch on the shipper to the CoA already on file and release or hold the same day. Filing that pack first cuts ordinary ranging risk: a label that misses the Code, a lot that misses the spec, an undeclared allergen, or a shipper that cannot be traced. Our 24-hour recall plan is only useful if the lot on the pallet is the lot on the CoA. More on the recall FAQ. Pair the documents with what buyers should lock before the first PO.
A short file, sent under NDA
Before the first DC booking, a quality contact should open one pack and find the agreed spec, a CoA for the first lot, who issued each sheet, how the label was prepared to the Code, and how a lot is identified from maker to warehouse.
We send that pack to a nominated buyer or quality contact, typically the same business day, under NDA. Request the compliance pack or email sales@shiv-impex.com. There is no public PDF on this site. If the line is an own-brand, start from a private-label brief. Teams sit in Sydney, Auckland, Singapore and Ahmedabad.
Shiiv Imports Insights. Shiiv Imports Pty Ltd (ABN 15 158 243 442 / ACN 158 243 442). Trading name Shiiv Imports. Public email sales@shiv-impex.com. Cities: Sydney, Auckland, Singapore, Ahmedabad.