China is one of the world's largest pet food production bases, and for good reason: mature supply chains, full category coverage from kibble to freeze-dried, and OEM experience serving brands in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. But "China sourcing" is not one homogeneous market — it is thousands of factories with very different quality ceilings. The factory that works for a bulk commodity buyer is not the factory that should print your brand name on a bag.
This guide gives you a practical checklist: 15 questions, grouped into five areas, that separate export-grade manufacturers from workshop-style operations. Bring this list to your first call, and you will save months of trial and error.
Why the screening process matters
A pet food brand's worst-case scenario is rarely "the price was too high". It is a shipment rejected at destination customs, a labeling violation that triggers a recall, or a quality gap between the sample you approved and the container that arrived. Each of these starts with a sourcing decision made too fast. The 15 questions below are designed to surface those risks before money moves.
Area 1 — Certification and compliance (questions 1–4)
Certifications are not decoration. They are the difference between "we export" and "we export successfully and repeatedly". Ask for documents, not logos on a website.
1. Is your facility registered with the US FDA?
For exports to the United States, the manufacturing facility must hold a valid FDA food facility registration (under the FSMA-era rules of 21 CFR Part 507). Ask for the registration number and its renewal date. A number that expired last year is a number that will stop your shipment.
2. Do you hold EU establishment approval?
For the European market, the factory must be an approved establishment able to issue the documents required for entry. Ask which EU market they currently supply and which official approval they hold.
3. Which management-system certificates are current?
BRCGS, FSSC 22000, IFS, ISO 22000 and HACCP are the common ones in pet food. "Current" is the key word — certificates expire and get re-audited. Ask for the audit body name and the last audit date, and ideally the most recent audit report.
4. Can you share audit reports or host an audit?
Export-grade manufacturers are used to customer audits, on-site or remote. A factory that hesitates here is telling you something. For a private-label program, budget for at least one remote audit in year one.
Area 2 — Product and formula (questions 5–8)
5. Who owns the formula?
In OEM, you bring the formula; in ODM, the factory develops it. Get the ownership and confidentiality terms in writing. If the factory insists your recipe must go through their systems, clarify who holds the final formulation record.
6. Is there in-house nutrition or product development support?
For ODM projects you want a development team — not just a salesperson forwarding your email. Ask how many development staff they have and how a new recipe is validated before mass production.
7. How is allergen control managed?
Cross-contact between chicken, fish, beef and grain lines is a real risk in pet food. Ask about dedicated lines, cleaning validation and how allergen information is declared on labels.
8. Who handles label compliance for my target market?
US labels follow AAFCO model regulations; EU labels follow EU feed labeling rules; other markets have their own. Clarify whether the factory reviews labels for your destination market or expects you to handle it. This division of labor must be explicit — it is a common source of customs surprises.
Area 3 — Production and quality control (questions 9–12)
9. What is the real MOQ?
Published MOQs and actual MOQs differ. Ask the MOQ by product form — freeze-dried, kibble, cans and jerky have very different economics. Also ask whether they allow mixed-SKU containers during the trial phase.
10. What is the sample policy?
How many samples, at what cost, and how long? A serious manufacturer ships samples in days, attaches a COA, and treats sample quality as the first impression of mass production — because it is.
11. Do you provide COAs and third-party testing?
Every batch should come with a Certificate of Analysis: nutritional values, moisture, heavy metals, microbiology. Ask which third-party labs they use and whether you can add destination-market-specific tests (for example, US FDA or EU requirements) to the batch protocol.
12. How is traceability and recall handled?
Ask for their traceability system: can they trace a finished bag back to raw material lots? Do they have a written recall procedure, and has it ever been tested? These questions sound uncomfortable; the answers are extremely informative.
Area 4 — Commercial terms (questions 13–15)
13. What payment terms do you offer?
Common terms for first orders are T/T with deposit, or L/C at sight for larger programs. Be wary of the reverse: a factory that only offers generous open-account terms to new customers may be financing itself through your risk.
14. What are realistic lead times and capacity?
Ask lead time from PO to ready-for-shipment, and their production capacity per month. Compare it against your forecast — a factory quoting capacity 10× your order is fine; one quoting exactly your order may be overcommitted.
15. Do you have a documented recall and incident procedure?
Yes, this repeats question 12 deliberately. A written, rehearsed recall plan is the single strongest signal of an export-grade operation. If they cannot describe it in one minute, your brand is carrying the risk.
Red flags to walk away from
- Price dramatically below the market — pet food margins are thin but not magical; the gap comes from somewhere.
- Refusal to share audit reports or host a call with the QC team — the salesperson is the only person you ever meet.
- Sample and mass production inconsistency — samples made on a pilot line, production on a different one, with no written handover.
- No English-speaking export staff — your order will be managed through translation apps, and disputes will be harder.
- Certification logos without documentation — a website badge is a design choice; a certificate PDF is evidence.
What a serious manufacturer does differently
Export-grade manufacturers behave consistently: they answer certification questions with documents within a day, they put you in touch with QC staff directly, they send samples with COAs, and they write everything — formula, specs, payment, timelines — into a contract. They are not the cheapest, and they are not the fastest to reply with a quote. They are the ones whose second and third containers arrive without surprises, which is what your brand actually depends on.