Planning a copra sample test before you sign the contract

For a small buyer a sample test is a cost you can feel, so the wish to economise is fair. The sensible saving is not testing less at random but testing the right things. A good plan is made before the sample ships: what is tested, by which method, by whom, and which result makes you carry on or walk away.

Start from the decision, not the parameter list

Ask first: which result could make me cancel this purchase? For some buyers the answer is moisture, because the copra is resold and has to keep. For others it is oil content or free fatty acid (FFA), because that is what a mill pays for. Some must show an aflatoxin result to their own customers. Write down the three or four parameters that really decide the matter, then ask the supplier to name the figure promised for each.

A parameter that would not change your decision does not need testing at this stage. You can add it later, on the first delivery.

The sample must come from the lot that will ship

This rule matters more than the choice of laboratory. A fine sample from some other pile says nothing about your lot. Ask for a sealed bag marked with the lot number and the date drawn, plus photos of the drawing. If the supplier sends only a “sample” with no lot reference, treat the result as information about the supplier’s style, not about the goods that will arrive.

Sample availability from Kora is confirmed by the sales team. If you ask for one, also ask that the sample code stays traceable to the lot that is later offered.

Write down the method and the basis

Two laboratories can report different moisture for the same sample because their method or reporting basis differs. Moisture as received and moisture after a standard drying step are not the same number. So your test plan should state, for each parameter: the method name, the unit and the reporting basis.

If the supplier has already sent a COA, compare it line by line. What you check is not only whether the figures match but whether the method and basis match. A COA with no method is half an answer.

Who runs the test

Three options, with different costs and different evidential weight.

1. Your own or a partner’s laboratory. Cheap and quick, suited to moisture and visual checks. Its weight as evidence is limited if a dispute follows.
2. An independent laboratory. Dearer, but the result can serve as a shared reference if you and the supplier come out with different figures.
3. A laboratory both parties agree on. Used for retests when someone objects. Name it in the contract.

For a large first order it often makes sense to use option 2 for the parameters that set the price and option 1 for the rest.

Two stages of testing

A pre-contract sample answers “is this supplier capable”. A sample drawn when the goods arrive answers “does this lot comply”. You need both, and you need to compare them. If a lot arrives with results far from the first sample, the contract needs a clause saying what follows: rejection, a deduction, or a retest.

So keep part of the first sample somewhere dry and closed, with its seal and notes. Without it you have nothing to compare against when the second result differs.

A one-page test plan

Put it all on one page that can go to the supplier before the sample leaves:

• The parameters to be tested, and why.
• The method, unit and reporting basis for each.
• The laboratory used and its contact.
• The figure the supplier promises, and the figure at which you stop.
• Who pays for the test, and who pays if a retest is needed.
• A deadline: how many days after receipt you will send results back.

A page like this also makes a supplier take you seriously. A supplier who knows you will test in a certain way tends to send an honest sample.

Example: testing a Kora sample the same way

The figures Kora publishes, and the rows that still have no data, are on the copra from Kora page. If you want to test a sample, send your test plan through the contact page with the grade and monthly volume. The Kora sales team replies within two business days and confirms sample availability.