If your job is to place orders and plan inventory for your raw ingredients, you’ve got a lot of information to juggle at one time. Your most important job is to make sure that the raw ingredients your company needs for production get there on time, so that you manufacturing can go off as planned, without a hitch.

Here’s 5 best practices to keep in mind when you’re placing orders. These tips will help you save money, will help your oil deliver on time and should make your job as simple as possible.

As a bulk oil ingredient supplier, we have an unique vantage point: we get watch food companies grow from their inception into a strong brand name and then, (for the lucky few) become nationally renowned. This is one of the perks of our job: the joy in watching something real and strong grow from just a little seed.

We often work with these manufacturing companies from their start-- as they’re writing their business plan, to comparing how to bring their new ingredients in. And then later, we get to see their finished products flourish. We have the privilege to help them transition from small to large, and watch them grow. Many manufacturers we’ve worked with go on to sell to Whole Foods, UNFI, and other natural grocery chains.

But, most food manufacturers start their journey along the same path. To be able to build a solid foundation, we’ve noticed that they all need to need to learn the same things about the industry and make some key decisions about their new business. These decisions will allow them to really get their feet underneath them and begin growing their brand.

So as a way of paying it forward, here’s what you should keep in mind as you’re starting your new food brand. We hope others’ experiences can help you flourish!

The debate about GMOs is a big one right now. The natural foods industry is seeing a swift and strong movement towards GMO avoidance in food products. This change, many would say, has been a long time coming.

Canola oil is at the center of this debate. It is among the top 5 crops that are genetically modified in the US, along with sugar beets, soy, cotton and corn. Canola oil that has been genetically modified has become the norm in the food industry; around 90% of the current canola harvested comes from genetically modified seed.

Where The Misunderstanding Lies

In the storm of the non-GMO movement, some people are (incorrectly) claiming that canola seeds, at their genetic foundation are a genetically modified plant and Non-GMO options cannot, therefore, exist. This misled claim comes from a misunderstanding about why genetic modification has come into play, and what it’s purpose was. Let us begin with with the growing of the canola plant.

Imported olive oil versus its domestic counterpart seems to be an ever growing debate in the olive oil industry here in the US.  

Many manufacturers wonder if they should be using a US-grown olive oil, or if they will need to rely on imported olive oil to fulfill their needs.  The answer lies in looking closely at domestic olive oil-- both the wonderful traits of the oil itself and the US olive oil industry as a whole.  

With the rise of gourmet olive oil retailers and the growing concern about oil adulteration, a turn towards domestic sources (read: high quality oil, from trusted suppliers close to home) is a natural one.  But for the manufacturing industry specifically, there are inherent challenges that would emerge by relying on only US sources for oil.

As a food manufacturer, you probably already know that demand for Non-GMO foods is on the rise in the US. In fact, “Non-GMO” is now the fastest growing store brand claim¹. That’s because consumers are increasingly caring about what they’re putting in their bodies, and they’re calling for change through their grocery stores and legislation.

As a food manufacturer, you should be increasingly aware of this trend, and begin researching whether changing your ingredients to their non-GMO counterpart is a smart move.

If you’re using conventional Soybean or Canola Oil, you could make the switch to Non-GMO Expeller Pressed Canola Oil instead. Here are 5 basic reasons to make the change.

This last spring has been a good time to need olive oil.  Spain had a great harvest this past winter (even better than originally expected), with talk of record production levels.  It looks like production has finally returned to normal after the decrease in 2012/13.  

Prices are lower than they were last year at this time.  However, prices aren't falling quite in line with where they were 2-3 years ago (at the all-time 9 year low), though production is nearing those same levels again.  It could be quite some time before rates reach similar record lows the future.

Have you ever tried to buy something, only to realize when you’re 

about to pay that there’s a whole bunch of extra fees that you didn’t know about before?

Like when you join a new gym only to find out that there’s a $50 new member fee.

Or when you buy concert tickets online and there is a $5 “convenience fee” shown at the end of check out.

Or when you sign up for a new cell phone plan, and there’s a list of a bunch fees you’ve never even heard of, listed in small print at the of your contract. To top it off, most of the time you can’t even figure out what you’re supposed to be paying extra for!

These kinds of extra fees and hidden charges still happen all the time, in all different industries. And the customer response is almost always the same: disgruntled compliance.

Most often, we there’s no way around these fees. And it’s not that we don’t want to pay them. We just want to know what they are, outright and in full, before we pull out our credit card to pay. We want to know the final cost that’s going to be charged. Total price, delivered cost, all-in. Common sellers, just be straightforward!

In other words, we all just want to be informed buyers.

One of the best ways to buy bulk olive oil for less is to change the way that it’s packaged. Packaging can affect your landed price substantially. The standard rule is, the more packaging there is, the more you’ll pay for your bulk ingredient.

If you’re a large manufacturer using a substantial amount of drums or totes, it may be time to consider if moving to a larger storage size is right for your business. The next size up is large in-house storage tank installed in your facility, with deliveries of olive coming in flexitanks or tanker trucks depending on the type of oil. Putting storage tanks into your facility allows you to store the oil in it’s largest bulk form and save as much money as absolutely possible.

If your job is to purchase ingredients for a manufacturing company, we know much of your day revolves around money. Well, money and planning, that is.

It’s every purchasing managers’ job to keep the cost of ingredients down to a reasonable rate so that the business can continue to profit. It’s also your job to make sure these ingredients show up on time, that they can be easily used by production, and that they meet all of the requirements set forth by QA and R&D.

That’s a tough job! You’re responsible for finding lower prices all the time, but you can’t change the ingredients. And as you know: you get what you pay for, and sometimes things just cost what they cost.

Olive oil in bulk is a commodity. It’s actually only sort of a commodity.

This means that the price of bulk olive oil changes by the day, and that quality with a particular quality is normally standard across many different suppliers (when you’re buying oil in large bulk volumes). However, there are exceptions to this rule (like premium or super premium Extra Virgin Olive Oils that are made in smaller farms or with particular monovarieties).

Olive oil is a commodity. Well, kind of…

Let’s start at the beginning. I’ll first explain what a commodity is, and how olive oil fits into that. And then… how it doesn’t.

A Commodity Is A Standardized Product

A commodity is a bulk, raw ingredient that is the same no matter where it’s come from. Sugar, wheat and soybean oil are great examples. Across the board, Soybean Oil is Soybean Oil, no matter where it’s come from. Many manufacturers opt not even to put a new Soybean Oil supplier through product testing, because the oil will be the same as what they’re already getting.

Once you've selected the type of oil that you'll need, the next step is to choose your packaging.  

If you're a manufacturer, your selection will be dictated by your production line.  If you're a distributor, you will bring in that packaging that will work best in your customer's kitchen.

We spend a lot of time focusing on the packaging you choose, and for good reason.  Packaging is one of the simplest ways to save money.  In the end, your selection can save you (or cost you) quite a bit.

Every olive oil supplier will have their own standard for how long their olive oil should last. Centra Foods’ olive oil has a shelf life of 2 years from the date of manufacture.

Why Olive Oil Has A Shelf Life

Olive oil is a natural product, and like most natural food products they are best used when fresh. Especially Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which is really just a fresh fruit juice. After pressing, the oil will be at it’s utmost freshness and ideal flavor. After that, the oil will slowly begin to lessen in color and flavor strength. Under proper storage conditions, this is a very slow process.

You can expect to use your olive oil for up to two years after the date of manufacture. Want the freshest and strongest flavor? Give yourself a little bit of leeway and plan to use it within 10 months to one year.

As a manufacturer, you may debate whether it’s better to receive your ingredients in LTL (Less Than Truckload) shipments, or if it’s better to order a full truckload at a time. This is an important question, because it will affect the total delivered cost of your ingredients.

This discussion will help you compare each option and come to a good conclusion about which you should choose for your business.

As you probably know by now, Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a natural product. In fact, it’s more like a fruit juice than a typical seed oil. It’s squeezed directly from olives which have been picked and crushed into a paste. 

In fact, it’s not unlike how apple cider or other fruit juices are made. If you’ve ever been to an apple orchard, the growing and extraction process is quite similar. Fruit is slow grown throughout the season and harvested at the ideal time of the year. Any farmer would agree, the growing anything is more of an art than a science. And there’s many factors that can affect the the fruit as it develops. On top of that, the cider is going to taste like the apples that it came from.