BATCH & DOCUMENT REFERENCES
Food Batch Traceability: Connect the Records
Prepare a focused traceability enquiry covering lot identification, product records and shipment references for your supplier review.
BATCH & DOCUMENT REFERENCES
Ask how the proposed supply is identified
Food batch traceability enquiries should begin with the product and its identifying reference. If your team needs to review a lot-code format, production reference or supporting record, specify that requirement before the order is agreed.
A commercial product name identifies an item in the catalogue. A batch reference identifies a particular production or supply grouping. Your records may need both, together with the pack and purchase reference.
The connections worth reviewing
- Product to lot: ask where the lot identifier appears and how it is read.
- Lot to documents: name the quality or production information your assessment needs.
- Pack to shipment: specify carton, pallet or dispatch references required by your receiving system.
- Shipment to buyer record: agree the references your team will use when raising a question.
These are questions for an order-specific review. They do not imply a particular digital system, retention period or response-time commitment.
Make a traceability request usable
For an existing supply enquiry, provide the product name, lot marking, pack description and purchase or shipment reference. Clear photographs of the relevant marking can help explain the question; keep sensitive commercial records within direct correspondence.
For a new supplier assessment, send your required record fields and any example form. Ask what information can be reviewed for the proposed product and how the records relate to the supply being evaluated.
Keep the origin question distinct
Growing origin, processing location and dispatch references describe different parts of a product journey. If your purchasing policy requires source information, name that separately rather than treating the batch code as a complete origin declaration.
Our Farms & Sourcing page covers agricultural questions. Use Contact for a lot-specific document request, including the exact references your team needs assessed.
Buyer answers
Questions about traceability & quality control
What should I send for a batch enquiry?
Provide product name, lot marking, pack description and the relevant purchase or shipment reference.
Does a lot code establish growing origin?
Not by itself. Request the specific source information required for your assessment.
Can I request a record format before buying?
Yes. Describe your required fields and ask what information is available for the proposed supply.
Discuss Traceability Records
Prepare a focused traceability enquiry covering lot identification, product records and shipment references for your supplier review.
