Find names from several sources, then verify each one before you pay anything. A genuine exporter can show valid registrations, a working plant you can see, recent lab reports from an accredited lab and references from other overseas buyers.
Finding names is easy. Online directories list thousands of Gujarat agri suppliers. The work is in removing the ones that are not what they claim.
Where to find names
- Referrals from your freight forwarder, your lab or other importers. These tend to be the most reliable.
- Trade fairs in India and abroad, where you can meet several suppliers in a day and judge how they answer questions.
- The market towns themselves, such as Unjha, Rajkot and Gondal, where processors cluster around the APMC yards.
- Official bodies. Spice exporters must hold CRES from the Spices Board of India, and exporters of APEDA scheduled products hold an APEDA RCMC. Ask for the number and check it with the issuing body.
- Online B2B directories, which are useful for names but verify nothing.
First checks from your desk
- Ask for the IEC, the CRES or APEDA RCMC as relevant, the FSSAI licence and the GST number. Check that the names and addresses match each other.
- Look up the plant address on a map and satellite view. A residential flat is not a processing plant.
- Ask for a recent lab report on your product, and confirm it with the issuing lab. See how to read a lab certificate.
- Ask for a live video walk-through of the plant, starting at the gate.
- Ask for two references from buyers in your region, and contact them yourself.
- Find out early whether you are talking to a processor or a trader. See how to tell an Indian agri trader from a processor.
Warning signs
- A price well below every other quote for the same spec.
- Pressure for a large advance before samples are approved.
- A bank account in a different name from the company on the invoice.
- Free email only, no landline and no fixed address.
- One supplier claiming to make every product from every state.
- Reluctance to let you or your inspector visit.
- Lab reports from a lab you cannot find or contact.
Then test with a small order
Desk checks remove the worst. They do not prove that a supplier can ship your spec. Approve a sample, write the spec into the contract and place a trial order sized to limit your exposure. Have the lot tested before shipment by a lab you choose, and have someone you trust watch the loading.
Keep the payment exposure low on the first order. A large advance to an unverified supplier is one of the most common ways buyers lose money. See whether a 30% advance is safe.
Once a supplier has passed the checks and shipped a good first lot, keep checking. Quality often slips when attention moves on, so test every lot and keep the approved sample as the reference.
How we help
Creston & Co finds and audits Gujarat processors for buyers and is paid only by the buyer. We share real factory names and original lab reports, so you can check everything yourself. Ask for a free sourcing review.