Ingredient Supplier Role Classification

Ingredient suppliers occupy distinct roles in the supply chain, each with different capabilities and evidence ceilings. Manufacturer: produces the ingredient from raw materials, can provide complete provenance documentation, process validation, and lot-specific COAs from their own or contracted labs. Processor/Extractor: transforms raw materials into ingredient form (e.g., botanical extraction), provides processing documentation and extraction parameters. Distributor with QA: resells ingredients with in-house or contracted quality testing, provides their own COAs but relies on upstream manufacturers for provenance. Pure Broker: transactional intermediary with minimal quality oversight, limited ability to provide lot-specific documentation. FDA issued warning letters in 2017 to distributors fabricating COAs — the intermediary layer is where documentation integrity risks concentrate.