Ingredient directory
Source ingredients with the specs in hand
Practical sourcing guides for the ingredients supplement, food and cosmetic brands buy most: the forms and grades on offer, what the COA should show, how to store it, and suppliers whose own websites say they sell it.
Browse by category
Each guide covers forms and grades, the COA, storage, lots and expiry, regulatory status and suppliers.
The first guides are in review
We check every regulatory fact and supplier claim against its source before a guide goes live. The supplier checklist below is ready today.
How to vet an ingredient supplier
Five checks before the first purchase order.
Step 1
Write the spec before you ask for quotes
Name the form, grade, assay or standardization, particle size, carrier and allergen status you need. Suppliers quote different products under the same ingredient name.
Step 2
Ask for a COA from a recent lot
Check that it reports identity, assay, heavy metals and microbiology with the method for each, and that the limits match your spec. A COA from an old lot says little about the next one.
Step 3
Ask who made it
Distributors resell from manufacturers. Ask for the manufacturer name and country of origin, and whether the supplier can share audit or certification documents for that site.
Step 4
Test the first lots yourself
Under 21 CFR 111, supplement brands verify identity on every lot of a dietary ingredient. Many brands also send the first few lots of any ingredient to a third-party lab.
Step 5
Record lot, expiry and COA at receiving
The supplier lot number, expiry or retest date and COA should be tied to the stock you receive, so you can trace any lot into the batches made with it.
Frequently asked questions
How are suppliers chosen for this directory?
We list B2B ingredient manufacturers and distributors whose own websites say they sell the ingredient. Each claim on a listing links to the page that states it. Suppliers do not pay to be listed, and the order is alphabetical.
Is this a marketplace?
No. We do not sell introductions or take a cut of orders. Contact suppliers directly through their websites.
Why do the guides not say what the ingredients do?
These pages are for buying and handling ingredients: forms, specs, testing, storage and regulatory status. What a product may claim on its label is a regulatory question for your own team and advisors.
What is a COA?
A certificate of analysis is the supplier’s test report for one lot. It lists each test, the method, the specification and the result. Brands compare it with their own spec when the lot arrives.
Do I need software to track ingredient lots?
Supplement brands under 21 CFR 111, and food brands that must trace ingredients, need records that tie each supplier lot to the batches made with it. Spreadsheets work until a recall or audit. Inventory software keeps those links as you receive, make and ship.
Sell ingredients to brands?
Request a free listing for the ingredients you make or distribute. No paid placement.