Most coconut sugar specification sheets are marketing documents with a table stapled to the back. They list “100% natural” and “no additives”, give you a moisture figure, and stop. If you are a QA manager approving a new supplier, or an R&D formulator trying to predict how an ingredient will behave, that is not enough to work with.

This is what a complete organic coconut sugar specification should contain, what each parameter actually tells you, and the gaps that should make you ask a second question.

Organoleptic parameters

The subjective section, which still needs to be written down because “tastes right” is not a rejection criterion you can defend to a supplier.

Parameter	Typical specification	What it tells you
Colour & appearance	Brown granular powder; clumps easily broken apart	Soft clumping is normal in an unrefined sugar. Hard caking that will not break is a moisture-control failure in transit
Flavour & aroma	Sweet, typical nutty caramel aftertaste, no off-odour	Sour or fermented notes indicate sap held too long before boiling; bitterness or smoke means over-heated evaporation
ICUMSA or Lovibond	Ask for colour to be specified numerically if colour consistency matters in your application	Word descriptions do not survive a dispute

One point worth understanding about coconut sugar specifically: “clumps easily broken apart” is the correct specification, not a defect. Unrefined palm sugars retain enough moisture and molasses content to form soft agglomerates. What you are checking for on arrival is whether those clumps yield under light pressure. If they do not, the problem happened in the container, not in the facility.

Physical and chemical parameters

This is the section that predicts how the ingredient will behave in your process.

Parameter	Our specification	Why it matters
Moisture	≤ 3%	The most important number on the sheet. See below
Sucrose	≥ 75%	The dominant fraction; drives baseline sweetness
Reducing sugars (glucose + fructose)	≤ 5%	Drives Maillard browning rate. High values brown faster and can scorch
Ash	≤ 3%	Mineral content. Elevated ash can carry a faint metallic or soapy note
Particle size / mesh	14, 16, 18, 30 or 50 mesh	Dissolution rate, flow through dosing equipment, mouthfeel
Insect parts & other organic matter	≤ 0.5%	Cleanliness of filtration and handling at the tapping stage

Moisture: the number that causes the most rejected containers

Coconut sugar is hygroscopic. It actively pulls moisture from the surrounding air, and once it does, it cakes into a solid block that your dosing equipment cannot handle.

Two products with identical moisture on the COA can arrive in completely different condition, because moisture at the point of packing is only half the story. The other half is what happened in the container. A 40ft container crossing from Jakarta to Rotterdam passes through large temperature swings, and warm humid air trapped at loading will condense on the container roof and rain onto the cargo.

So ask two questions, not one:

1. What is the moisture specification at packing?
2. What container preparation is used – desiccant quantity, liner type, and is the container inspected for leaks before loading?

A supplier who can only answer the first has not shipped enough containers to have learned the second.

Our own answer: maximum 3% moisture at packing, a food-grade 0.12 mm PE inner bag within every carton, and a published storage window of 20–32°C at below 65% relative humidity. Reseal opened bags without delay – an opened bag left in a humid warehouse will take up moisture faster than most buyers expect.

Particle size: specify it or inherit it

“Granulated” is not a specification. It covers everything from a fine powder to a coarse demerara-sized crystal, and the difference changes dissolution time, mouthfeel and flow behaviour.

Specify mesh explicitly, with a distribution rather than a single number – for example, minimum 90% passing a given mesh with a stated retention on the next size down. If you are dosing volumetrically rather than by weight, also specify bulk density, because particle size and density together determine whether your filler delivers the mass you think it does.

Microbiological parameters

Non-negotiable for food manufacturing. Any supplier who cannot produce these routinely is not ready to supply you.

Parameter	Typical limit
Total plate count	Issued on the batch Certificate of Analysis by an independent third-party laboratory. Request the current COA.
Yeast and mould	Issued on the batch Certificate of Analysis by an independent third-party laboratory. Request the current COA.
Coliforms	Issued on the batch Certificate of Analysis by an independent third-party laboratory. Request the current COA.
E. coli	Issued on the batch Certificate of Analysis by an independent third-party laboratory. Request the current COA.
Salmonella	Issued on the batch Certificate of Analysis by an independent third-party laboratory. Request the current COA.
Staphylococcus aureus	Issued on the batch Certificate of Analysis by an independent third-party laboratory. Request the current COA.

A note on how this is usually structured, because it confuses first-time buyers: a product specification states the standard parameters a product is manufactured to, while a Certificate of Analysis reports the measured values for one specific consignment. Microbiological and pesticide results generally sit on the COA rather than the specification, because they are measured per batch. Ask for both. A supplier who offers only the specification cannot show you what actually shipped.

Contaminants

Heavy metals and pesticide residues. For organic certified product, pesticide screening should be routine – organic certification governs the production method, while a residue test verifies the outcome. Serious buyers want both.

Parameter	Typical limit
Lead (Pb)	≤ 0.10 ppm
Cadmium (Cd)	≤ 0.20 ppm
Arsenic (As)	≤ 0.95 ppm
Mercury (Hg)	≤ 0.03 ppm
Pesticide residues	Compliant with EU Reg. 396/2005 and US NOP; reported on the batch COA

Packaging, loading and export terms

Half the questions a procurement team asks are not about the sugar at all. They are about whether it fits in the container and what the payment terms are. Publishing these figures saves a week of email.

Parameter	25 kg carton	20 kg carton
Primary packaging	Food-grade 0.12 mm PE bag, 12.5 kg net per bag	Food-grade 0.12 mm PE bag, 10 kg net per bag
Net weight per box	2 × 12.5 kg = 25 kg net	2 × 10 kg = 20 kg net
Carton dimensions (L x W x H)	54 x 35.5 x 22 cm	45 x 34 x 19.3 cm
Pallet	110 x 110 cm Expendable wood	Not palletised – floor loaded only
Boxes per pallet	48 (6 per layer x 8 layers) = 1,200 kg net	N/A

Container loading:

Carton	Container	Loading	Net weight	Boxes
25 kg	20 ft	Palletised	12 MT	480
25 kg	20 ft	Floor loaded	14 MT	560
25 kg	40 ft	Palletised	24 MT	960
25 kg	40 ft	Floor loaded	26 MT	1,040
20 kg	20 ft	Floor loaded	16 MT	800
20 kg	40 ft	Floor loaded	27 MT	1,350

Floor loading gains you roughly 2 MT in a 20 ft and 2 MT in a 40 ft container over palletised loading – worth having in mind when you are costing freight per tonne. The trade-off is slower discharge at your warehouse and slightly higher handling damage risk.

Export term	Our standard
Incoterms	FOB (Free On Board)
Port of loading	Tanjung Emas, Semarang (IDSRG)
Alternative port	Tanjung Priok, Jakarta (IDTPP)
Payment terms	30% advance, 70% against copy of shipping documents
Minimum order quantity	12 MT (one 20 ft container, palletised)
Shelf life	24 months from production in unopened original packaging
Storage	20–32 °C, relative humidity below 65%, out of direct sunlight
Country of origin	Indonesia

Documentation the spec sheet should point to

A specification is a promise. These documents are the evidence behind it, and you should be able to get all of them before placing a first order:

• Certificate of Analysis – batch-specific, not a generic template with the date changed
• Organic certificate – check the scope covers the specific product and that the expiry date is in the future
• Organic Transaction Certificate – issued per shipment; without it your consignment is not organic on arrival
• Food safety certification – FSSC 22000, BRCGS or equivalent, with the certificate number and scope
• Allergen statement – coconut is a tree nut under US FDA labelling rules even though it is botanically a drupe. This catches out first-time importers
• Kosher and Halal certificates – where your market needs them
• Nutritional analysis – for your own label declarations
• Shelf life and storage conditions – with the stability study behind them, not just an assertion

Five red flags in a supplier’s specification

1. Round numbers everywhere. A real COA has figures like 2.87%. A sheet full of clean round values was written, not measured.
2. No batch number or production date. A COA without them is a template, and templates cannot be traced.
3. The lab is not named. Third-party analysis from an accredited laboratory carries weight. An unattributed in-house result does not.
4. Missing particle size or bulk density. Suggests the supplier has not dealt with industrial buyers who dose by equipment.
5. An organic certificate whose scope does not list your product. A certificate covering coconut sugar does not automatically cover coconut sugar syrup. Read the scope, not the logo.

Getting our specifications

We publish full specifications and issue batch-specific COAs for every shipment of organic coconut sugar, arenga sugar, coconut water and coconut milk from our FSSC 22000 facility in Citeureup, West Java. Our certifications include USDA Organic and EU Organic via CERES, Kosher, Sedex SMETA, and FDA facility registration.

Request the full specification pack – tell us the product and your application and we will send the relevant spec sheet, a recent COA, and our certificates within one business day.

See also: coconut sugar, packaging and MOQ, certifications.