How do you make sure the bulk shipment matches the approved sample?
By tying the container to three things you can hold in your hand: a pre-shipment sample drawn from the packed lot before it is loaded, a retained sample from that same lot kept for its full shelf life, and one processing facility locked to your contract. A beautiful sample proves only that someone can make one beautiful bag. These three controls make the container answer to it. Without them, a quality dispute is one supplier’s word against another, and the buyer usually loses.
What is a pre-shipment sample, and how should it be split?
It is a sample taken from the finished, packed commercial lot, after production and before stuffing. That distinction is the whole point. A benchtop sample of a kilo or two can be hand-picked for the best cuts, dried with extra care and packed by hand, and it will look perfect. A commercial run on an industrial dicer makes more fines, shows more variation in colour and runs its moisture across a range. A pre-shipment sample drawn from the packed lot shows you the second product, the one that is actually going into your container. FruitBuys sends 100–200 g in two sealed foil pouches with desiccant, by courier, within 24–48 hours of packing.
The split matters:
- Pouch 1 is for your sensory and handling checks: colour, aroma, crunch, cube size, fines, rehydration if you use it wet.
- Pouch 2 carries a tamper-evident seal printed with the production lot code and stays closed until your laboratory opens it: moisture, water activity, and any test your QA policy adds. Because the seal matches the lot code on the COA and the retained sample, a result from that pouch stands as evidence if a dispute ever arises.
Approve the pre-shipment sample in writing. That approval, with the lot number on it, becomes the reference the container is measured against. The release limits behind it are set out in what moisture and water activity freeze-dried passion fruit should meet.
What is kept back, and for how long?
From every container lot, FruitBuys keeps a retained sample for the lot’s full shelf life, up to 24 months. If a question comes up at month nine, about softening, colour or a customer complaint, there is a sealed sample from the same lot to test against yours. That turns an argument into a measurement: same lot, two bags, one lab.
What changes between seasons, and how much should you accept?
Passion fruit is a natural product, and the Central Highlands crop moves through the year. Pulp runs from about 13 to 17 °Brix and pH 2.8 to 3.2 between the dry and rainy season. You will see that shift as a slightly sweeter or sharper taste and a shade of gold that moves a little between lots.
In practice the two ends of the season look and taste different:
| Season | Pulp | What R&D sees |
|---|---|---|
| Dry season | about 15–17 °Brix, pH around 3.2 | Deeper orange-gold cubes, rounder sweetness, a fuller aroma; strong on chocolate and ready-to-eat snacks |
| Rainy season | about 13–14 °Brix, pH around 2.8 | Brighter yellow, sharper sourness; balance the sweetness of the cereal or yogurt base accordingly |
That variation is real and it belongs in the specification, not in a complaint. Agree the acceptance range with two reference samples, one from each end of the season, rather than a single “golden” sample from the best week of the year. Your R&D team then knows in advance that a year-end lot will taste a little sharper than a mid-year one. What should not move with the season are the release limits: moisture ≤5.0%, water activity ≤0.30, fines within the limit for your cube size, and the microbiology on the COA. Those hold all year.
The yield side of the season, more fruit per kilo in the rainy months, is covered in how many kilos of passion fruit make 1 kg of freeze-dried.
What does facility lock-in mean in practice?
FruitBuys works as a supply chain orchestrator: we coordinate growing areas and contracted processing facilities and are responsible for the export file. For each contract, one qualified processing facility is locked in. If that facility ever has to change, you receive written notice in advance and a new pre-shipment sample for approval before any product from the new facility ships. You also have audit access to the facility.
This is the clause that protects you most, and the one buyers forget to write. Many quality drifts that look like “a bad lot” are a quiet switch to a different processor between sample and container. This is what every buyer should check, including with us: the facility on the COA should match the facility named in your contract.
US importers can fold these documents straight into their Foreign Supplier Verification Program: the facility’s certifications, the lot COA and the baseline reports are the core of supplier verification.
What should you check when the container arrives?
Five checks, in this order, before the goods go into your stock:
- Paperwork. Lot number on cartons, COA and pre-shipment approval all match.
- Packaging. Open one carton from the top, middle and floor; bags flat and sealed, cartons dry and square.
- Water activity. Measure on a bag from the container and compare with the COA, using the method in ISO 18787. A rise of more than a few hundredths points to a seal or storage problem.
- Fines and cube size. Weigh the fines at the bottom of one bag against the agreed limit.
- Sensory. Colour, aroma and crunch against the approved pre-shipment sample, inside the seasonal range you agreed.
If something is off, raise it inside the claim windows: 14 days from devanning for packaging, appearance, fines, moisture and water activity, and 30 days for laboratory results such as microbiology, heavy metals or pesticide residues. Record it with photos and the lot number, and keep the affected bags sealed. Clear windows protect both sides: you are not left arguing about a fault found months later in a warm store, and FruitBuys can act while the evidence is fresh.
If your result and the FruitBuys release result differ by more than the method’s tolerance (for water activity, more than 0.03 measured to ISO 18787), the retained sample from Vietnam goes to an independent ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory agreed by both sides. The party whose result is out of line pays for the test. Neither side marks its own homework.
How does a trial order work before the first container?
Most buyers start below a full container. A trial or LCL lot ships with the in-house release log (moisture, water activity and sensory per batch) and the most recent third-party baseline report. If your QA needs an independent COA on the trial lot, FruitBuys arranges it at net laboratory cost and credits it in full against your first container order. Samples are prepared in 3–5 working days, and a full 20ft container is produced in 20–30 days after the deposit.
Use this sequence from sample to container
| Step | What happens | What you hold afterwards |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Development sample | Two cube sizes for R&D trials | Format and size decision |
| 2. Specification | Release limits, seasonal reference samples, fines limit | Signed specification |
| 3. Contract | Facility named and locked; change-control; audit access | Contract clause |
| 4. Pre-shipment sample | Two sealed pouches from the packed lot | Written approval with lot number |
| 5. Loading | Container stuffed against the approved lot | COA, documents, retained sample in Vietnam |
| 6. Arrival | Five checks against the pre-shipment sample | Acceptance or a documented claim |
When is this process more than you need?
For a one-off retail trial of a few cartons, a full seasonal reference set and audit visit are more process than the order needs. Approve the pre-shipment sample, keep pouch 2 sealed, and save the full sequence for the first container.
Request a pre-shipment sample
Send your cube size, seed-in or seedless, and target delivery month. FruitBuys prepares a sample in 3–5 working days and sets out the pre-shipment and retained-sample process for your contract. Product details are on the freeze-dried passion fruit page, and the full buyer checklist is in what to check before buying freeze-dried passion fruit in bulk.
FAQ
What is a pre-shipment sample? A 100–200 g sample from the packed commercial lot, in two sealed foil pouches with desiccant, one of them lot-code sealed for your lab, sent before the container is loaded.
How long do I have to raise a claim? 14 days from devanning for packaging, appearance, fines and water activity; 30 days for laboratory results.
How long is the retained sample kept? For the lot’s full shelf life, up to 24 months, so any later question can be tested against the same lot.
Can the supplier change the processing facility? Not without written notice and your approval of a new pre-shipment sample. One facility is locked per contract, with audit access.
Will every lot look and taste the same? The release limits hold all year. Taste and colour shift slightly with the season, so agree the acceptable range with reference samples.
How fast can I get a sample? Samples are prepared in 3–5 working days; courier time depends on the destination.
