How to verify a Moroccan fresh produce supplier before you buy

Buying fresh or frozen produce from a supplier you have never met is the riskiest step in a new sourcing programme. Prices on a spreadsheet are easy to send; real capacity, certification and a working cold chain are not. This is the checklist we use around Larache before we introduce any supplier to a buyer.

1. See the operation, not just the paperwork

A visit tells you more in an hour than a month of emails. When we visit a farm, packhouse or freezing plant we look at:

• The fields or orchards: are the crops there, at the stage the supplier says, on the area they claim?
• The packhouse: sorting lines, hygiene, pre-cooling and cold rooms.
• The freezing plant: tunnel or IQF capacity, cold storage temperature and how lots are traced.
• The people: who manages quality, and who you will actually speak to when something goes wrong.

We record dated photos and video so a buyer can see the same thing we saw.

2. Check the certificates against the issuer

Certificates are only useful if they are current and belong to the site you are buying from.

• GlobalG.A.P. for the farm (most European retail buyers expect it). Check the GGN number on the GlobalG.A.P. database.
• Food-safety certification for the packhouse or freezing plant where it applies (for example BRCGS or IFS).
• ONSSA: the supplier should be able to export with phytosanitary certificates from Morocco's food-safety authority.

A certificate for a different company, an expired date or a name that doesn't match the invoice is a reason to stop.

3. Ask for lab results, from an accredited lab

• Fruit: a recent pesticide-residue analysis, checked against the maximum residue levels of your market.
• Peanuts: an aflatoxin analysis per lot. Aflatoxin limits are strict in many markets, and a single lot can differ from the next.

Ask which lab did the analysis and when the sample was taken.

4. Pin down real volumes

"We can do any volume" is not an answer. Ask for volumes per week across the season, not just at the peak, and how much is already committed to other buyers. For frozen products, ask what is in stock today and what will be packed this season.

5. Agree the specification in writing

Variety, calibre, Brix, packaging, labelling, temperature, and for IQF the cut, grading and free-flowing standard. The clearer the specification, the fewer surprises on arrival.

6. Start with a trial

A first order sized to test quality, timing and documents, before a full programme, protects both sides.

How we help: we do steps 1 to 4 on the ground around Larache and send you a verification file before any introduction. Tell us what you are looking for or see what we source.