While importing seems so easy for long-term players, it can be a challenging task to accomplish for beginner importers in the industry. There is a situation where the quality of the briquettes is rapidly changing, and it is totally daunting for a beginner wholesale briquette importer.
Let’s talk about the most common case first. Different batches of coconut bring different qualities. The drying technique and burning process also bring different outcomes. This condition turns most wholesale briquette buyers facing the risk of quality inconsistency when purchasing coconut charcoal bulk. Typically, the first batch of your order comes perfectly and the second batch is totally different.
The scarcity of high-quality coconut shells makes unreliable briquette manufacturers sugar-coat a fraudulent blend of coconut shell and wood as pure coconut charcoal. While reliable coconut charcoal suppliers might hold their production until they receive another batch of high-quality coconut shells. In fact, supply and demand fluctuate. Come to think of it, the possibility is only either you get low-quality coconut charcoal bulk or pay your briquette manufacturers at higher prices.
If you do not know the tricks, it will be hard to play it right. The key to solve this substantial issue is as simple as choosing the right briquette supplier. While you are busy listing your potential briquette manufacturers, there are 6 considerations to take into account before deciding the best coconut charcoal supplier.
Choose a Reliable Briquette Supplier or Coconut Charcoal Factory
Whether it is coconut charcoal or wood charcoal, it is the most crucial consideration if you are expecting a persistent quality and supply of charcoal briquette. Today, it is convenient to find bbq charcoal suppliers, briquette manufacturers, and coconut shell charcoal briquettes suppliers that claim ownership of factories. But are they trustworthy? Now, it is your task to check their claims.
Beware of middlemen and make sure you partner only with a reliable briquette supplier. Most of the time, middlemen will do anything just to fulfill the demand, including supplying low-quality charcoal briquettes from random briquette manufacturers.
Check the Reviews
The first thing you can do is check the reviews of your listed coconut charcoal suppliers through Google Business. You can take these reviews into your consideration to move forward or backward before reaching out to them. If you are already set your eye on a specific briquette supplier, just move forward by contacting them.
Ask the Legal Documentation
It is wise to ask for the legal documents of your suppliers. This includes Certificate of Incorporation, Certificate of Company Registration, or other company permit certificates. Check the information in the documents, if it is not in line with the one you received, it is highly possible that it is only a middleman.
Coconut Charcoal Factory Verification
Most Indonesian coconut charcoal factories are spread throughout the Java, Sulawesi, and Kalimantan islands. If possible, you are able to schedule a factory visit and directly inspect the charcoal briquette condition inside the factory. This way, it is crucial to check:
- The packaging of coconut shells or wood: Check the label outside the packaging. If you are in the coconut charcoal factory, beware of the wood. The outcome might not be pure coconut charcoal. But a fraudulent blend of coconut shells and wood
- Factory’s cleanliness: Remember that you can rely on the color. Because black is the actual color of charcoal briquette. Instead, check from the rust on the equipment.
- Workers’ personal hygiene: Be careful to not hurt your business’ reputation through poor working conditions. Check if the workers are well-equipped with decent health protection like masks.
If you are not able to travel to the factory’s location, just ask them to shoot a video of their factories or write your name on a piece of paper to stick on their equipment to verify the factory’s ownership.
The Storage & Packaging of Coconut Charcoal Bulk
Charcoal briquette is prone to quality deterioration when it is exposed to excessive moisture or direct contact with liquids. For this reason, proper storage is mandatory. It should be stored in a dry and cool place, typically a factory’s warehouse.
For the packaging, place the coconut charcoal bulk only in waterproof packaging. Most of the time, coconut shell charcoal briquettes suppliers pack the coconut charcoal bulk in a plastic bag packaging or plastic package and stack it inside a box. Some coconut charcoal suppliers even provide moisture absorbers inside the coconut charcoal bulk packaging.
Shipping & Inspection Process of Wholesale Briquettes Order
If it is your first time importing coconut charcoal bulk, it is worth considering hiring a liaison person that works closely with you to inspect the entire shipping process. Most of the time, a reliable briquette supplier is able to provide this service and help you check the documentation eligibility for the coconut charcoal bulk shipping. This way, you can rest assured that all the mandatory shipping documents are handled in good hands.
But if you are confident enough to handle all on your own, it is wise to start with making a purchase agreement prior to importing. You can ask your coconut shell charcoal briquettes suppliers for a written agreement that includes a penalty rule if you are receiving low-quality briquettes. But you are able to eliminate this consideration if your coconut shell charcoal briquettes suppliers already provide a product guarantee.
Once your order arrives, checking in bulk is necessary. Carefully examine the quality of your coconut charcoal bulk. Is it the same as promised? Is there any quality deterioration? If you are not trained in this process or do not have a specialized inspection team, just send it for 3rd party certification. SGS certificate can be a perfect fit for a top-notch certification that provides you transparency regarding the quality of your coconut charcoal bulk.
Payment Terms Used in the Transactions
Oftentimes, you already find bbq charcoal suppliers that match your expectation but you cannot move forward to the transaction process because of payment term differences. While a payment term can be a key that benefits both parties and secures the transaction process, it might fail the transaction process. Based on this reason, it is crucial to know the agreed payment terms of your briquette supplier. If it turns out that the payment terms between both parties are different, feel free to negotiate to look for the agreed payment terms.
If it is your first wholesale briquettes import and you are not familiar with these payment terms, just look for coconut shell charcoal briquettes suppliers that provide flexible payment terms. A reliable briquette supplier gives you the freedom to transfer a DP (Down Payment) first and let you pay the rest when they have issued the required documents.
The Quality of the Wholesale Briquettes
There are ways to tell the quality of the wholesale briquettes you purchased from either bbq charcoal suppliers or a coconut charcoal factory. One of them is through a set of proximate analyses. According to Leigh, J. (2023) on All the Science, proximate analysis is scientific inquiry done to determine the quantity of substances within a material. So check the determiner factors below:
- Smell: The briquettes should be free from any odd smell.
- Cracks: While it is normal for wood charcoal to crack, it is the reverse situation for coconut charcoal. Because the coconut charcoal should not have cracks on its surface.
- Ash content: Based on FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), the ash content for wood charcoal might depend on the wood varieties, typically around 0.5% to 5%. On the other hand, the tolerable ash content for coconut charcoal is only a maximum of 4% for standard to low-quality coconut charcoal. Premium-quality charcoal reveals around 1.5% to 2% ash content, while good-quality one reveals around 2% to 2.5% ash content. So the less ash content, the better its quality.
- Burning time: The average burning time for coconut briquettes and wood briquettes is different. Coconut briquettes have around 1.5 to 2 hours, while wood briquettes at 4 to 5 hours.
- Flame glow: The flame glows should persistently show orange or red colors throughout the burning process. For the coconut charcoal, there should not be black spots because it signifies that it is a fraudulent blend with wood.
- Moisture content: The ideal moisture content is around 6% to 8% for coconut charcoal, while wood charcoal ranges below 8%. The higher moisture content results in less ash content. So be careful of unreliable briquette manufacturers that manipulate the moisture content. Feel free to ask your bbq charcoal supplier or coconut charcoal factory about how the testing process in their facilities works.
The Pricing of Wholesale Briquettes
Last but not least, the pricing of wholesale briquettes. Stay within your budget gives you more capability to compete with the rest of the competitors in the long run. So it is wise to build a direct partnership with a coconut charcoal factory or a direct-trade briquette supplier.
When you purchase from middlemen, typically you only get low-quality briquettes and pay a higher price. For example, it might be a case where a coconut charcoal factory works with middlemen. These middlemen regularly charge around $20 to $50 per M/T. However, most factories refuse to cut their margin for the middlemen. For a better deal with their middlemen, they degrade the briquette’s quality so that the middlemen are able to fulfill the demand without cutting the factory’s margin. Well… why not try importing from direct-trade coconut shell charcoal briquettes suppliers?
A direct-trade bbq charcoal supplier has simplified their supply chain. No middlemen, it is literally only between you and wholesale briquettes producers only. In other words, you do not need to pay extra fees for middlemen again.
About PT. Jaffarindo International Indonesia - Coconut Charcoal Factory & BBQ Charcoal Supplier of Wholesale Briquettes
Be careful of extremely low-priced wholesale briquettes that sacrifice quality. Trust only a reliable coconut charcoal supplier.
Jaffarindo Palm Mas is a verified bbq charcoal supplier that privately owns a coconut charcoal factory and briquette warehouse under our name. We ensure our briquettes are stored only in an ideal condition before being exported to the destination country. Based on this solid reason, we are capable of protecting the highest quality of our wholesale briquettes.
For over 20 years of experience, we help countless beginner briquette importers to success through a solid partnership and high-quality briquettes. We have shortened our supply chain by cutting out the middlemen. Partner with us today and let us help you to source the highest quality briquettes. To place your order, reach us at ptjaffarindo@gmail.com.
