This guide is about buying food packages, the baskets of commodities a programme gives to a household or a person, not about manufacturing food packaging. The short answer to "what should a food package contain?" is: what your programme's specification says. There is no universal NGO food basket. Composition, quantities and acceptance criteria come from the programme, its donor and the coordination it takes part in, and a supplier's job is to source, inspect, pack and deliver exactly that.
What a buyer can control is how clearly the specification is written, how goods are checked before they are packed, and what evidence comes back from each drop point. The two templates below, a commodity matrix and an inspection and acceptance checklist, do most of that work.
Start from the programme's specification
In Afghanistan, food assistance partners coordinate through the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster (opens in a new tab), co-led by WFP and FAO. The package a supplier is asked to quote is still your programme's own: the commodities, the quantities per package and the number of packages follow your assessment, your donor's rules and your agreement with the cluster where it applies. Write it down as a specification before you ask for prices, and do not ask a supplier to propose the composition unless that is what you are buying.
Two decisions belong in the specification rather than in a conversation later:
- What may change, and what may not. If a commodity can be substituted, say with what and with whose written approval. If it cannot, say so.
- What a package is for. A package for households in one district, a staff or community package, or a ration set by a cluster guideline: each changes the labelling, the visibility rules and the records you need back.
Write the package as a commodity matrix
A matrix gives every supplier the same lines to price and gives the inspector the same lines to check. One row per commodity:
| Column | What to write |
|---|---|
| Commodity and specification | What to writeThe commodity and the grade or standard your programme requires, in words a supplier can quote on |
| Net weight or volume per unit | What to writeThe pack size bought (a 50 kg bag, a 5 litre tin) and its tolerance |
| Units per package | What to writeHow many of those units go into one food package |
| Packages | What to writeHow many packages, by delivery location if they differ |
| Total quantity | What to writeUnits per package × packages, so the arithmetic is checked once |
| Primary packaging | What to writeBag, tin, carton; material and closure |
| Origin or source, if required | What to writeOnly where your donor or programme rules restrict it |
| Minimum shelf life left | What to writeAt delivery, or at distribution: say which |
| Labelling | What to writeProduct name, net weight, batch or lot and dates, in the language your contract requires |
The specification's wording is yours to set. If your programme fortifies, grades or sources a commodity in a particular way, state it, and state how a supplier proves it, so nobody quotes a cheaper grade in good faith.
Samples, batches and dates
Ask for samples of every line before award, sealed and labelled with the supplier's name and the date, and keep one of each as the reference against which deliveries are checked. Agree the batch or lot number, the production date and the expiry date as things recorded for every line at receipt, so a problem found later can be traced to the goods it affects.
Remaining shelf life is set by your contract, not by a general rule, because it depends on how long the package will be stored and when it will be eaten. The Logistics Cluster's physical storage guidelines (opens in a new tab) advise warehouses, under normal circumstances, not to accept goods with less than six months of expiry left, and to dispatch first-expired, first-out. Use that as a starting point and set your own minimum for each commodity at delivery or at distribution. If your programme requires laboratory analysis, name the analyses, the laboratory and who pays; WFP, for example, sets food specifications and compulsory analyses for the foods it buys.
Inspect count, weight and condition before packing
Inspection happens at two points: when goods are received from the supplier, and again as packages are assembled. At receipt, for every line:
Count
Bags, tins or cartons received against the delivery note and the order, with any difference written on the goods received note.
Weight
A sample of units weighed against the stated net weight. The sampling rule and the tolerance belong in the contract: how many units per batch, and how far below the stated weight is acceptable.
Condition
Torn or wet bags, damaged or swollen tins, signs of pests, mould or a smell that should not be there, and goods stored or carried beside fuel or chemicals.
Labels and dates
Product name, net weight, batch or lot and dates present and legible, and the remaining shelf life at or above your minimum.
Against the sample
The delivered goods compared with the retained sample and the specification.
Anything that fails, or that the inspector is unsure about, is set apart in quarantine, labelled and photographed where your rules allow, and reported to the supplier in writing the same day. WFP's own practice is to withdraw food suspected of falling below its standard from distribution and to quarantine it until it is shown to be safe; a programme of any size can apply the same rule.
Assembly and labelling of packages
Assemble packages line by line against the matrix, from inspected and accepted stock only. Check a sample of finished packages: open them, count and weigh the contents, and record the result. Each package carries the label your programme requires, which may include a contents list in Dari or Pashto and your donor's visibility marking, applied under the donor's rules. Never print recipients' names or any personal data on a package.
Storage, packing and transport
Store food dry, off the floor on pallets, away from walls, fuel and chemicals, and dispatch first-expired, first-out. Pack and load so that heavy bags do not crush tins, and load food only in clean, covered vehicles that are not also carrying fuel or chemicals. The warehouse management guide covers stock records and counts, and the road transport guide covers loading records and the waybill.
Loss and damage in transit should be settled in the contract. The Logistics Cluster's transport assessment (opens in a new tab) records that insurance services were suspended in March 2022; check the current position and say who bears a loss rather than assuming cover.
Handover evidence at every drop point
Agree the evidence before dispatch: a delivery note signed by the authorised receiver at each drop point, with any shortfall or damage written on it; the distribution list with each recipient's acknowledgement where the supplier distributes; and photographs where your rules allow. Every document carries the same consignment reference and counts in the same unit, packages or units, so dispatched, delivered and distributed quantities can be reconciled line by line. The proof-of-delivery templates give the three documents in a form you can adapt.
Rejection, replacement and exceptions
Write the rules into the contract rather than negotiating them at the warehouse door:
- what fails a line, by the inspection points above, and who confirms the result;
- how soon rejected goods are replaced, as the supplier commits in its quotation, and who pays for re-inspection;
- what happens to rejected or expired food, under your donor's rules and local regulation;
- that no commodity is substituted, and no package assembled short, without your written approval;
- how a partial delivery is recorded and invoiced.
What to send for a quotation
A supplier can price a food package when it has the commodity matrix, the number of packages by delivery location, the delivery or distribution window, the inspection points and tolerances, the minimum remaining shelf life, the labelling and visibility rules, and the evidence required at each drop point.
Template: commodity matrix
Food package commodity matrix
Completed by the requesting organisation; one row per commodity. Suppliers quote against these lines.
The package
Programme and package name
Packages requiredIn total, and by delivery location
SubstitutionsNot allowed, or allowed with written approval from …
Commodities
| Line | Commodity and specification | Net weight per unit | Tolerance | Units per package | Total units | Packaging | Origin, if required | Minimum shelf life left |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labelling and packing
Label on each unitProduct, net weight, batch or lot, dates, language
Label on each packageContents list, language, donor visibility
Outer packing and palletising
Samples and analysis
Sealed samples of every line before award, one kept as reference
- Laboratory analysis required: …, by …, paid by …
Template: inspection and acceptance checklist
Food package inspection and acceptance checklist
Completed by the inspector at receipt and again on a sample of assembled packages.
Inspection
Order and consignment reference
Supplier and delivery note number
Place and date of inspection
InspectorName and role
At receipt, line by line
| Line | Batch or lot | Expiry date | Units expected | Units counted | Units weighed | Average net weight | Within tolerance? | Condition | Accept or reject |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Checks
- Goods match the retained sample and the specification
Labels present and legible: product, net weight, batch or lot, dates
- Remaining shelf life at or above the contract's minimum
No torn, wet or swollen packs; no sign of pests, mould or odour
- Not stored or carried beside fuel or chemicals
Rejected or doubtful goods set apart, labelled and reported in writing
Assembled packages (sample)
| Package checked | Lines present | Units counted | Weights correct? | Label correct? | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Result and signatures
AcceptedLines and quantities
Rejected or heldLines, quantities and reason
| Name | Signature | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inspector | |||
| Supplier's representative | |||
| Storekeeper receiving the goods |
From the record
The food assignment Zhikal's corporate profile sets out as a case study is a five-province food supply for ZALA in 2021: food packages sourced, packed and delivered across Helmand, Nimroz, Farah, Zabul and Uruzgan under a time-bound agreement, with six commodity lines, each inspected before packing, more than 71,000 line-item units and delivery evidence captured at every drop point. The record does not name the commodities, which is why this guide does not either. Zhikal has also supplied food across four eastern provinces for ARADA and across five provinces for Women for Women International. The case study sets out what the record states.
Food packages are part of Zhikal's food, NFI and hygiene-kit supply and distribution, bought through its procurement cycle. To have a package priced, send the commodity matrix, the number of packages and the delivery locations to the team in Kabul.
Sources
- Food safety and quality (opens in a new tab)
World Food Programme. Food specifications, supplier screening, inspection of premises and warehouses, and withdrawal and quarantine of food suspected of falling below standard.
- Afghanistan (opens in a new tab)
Food Security Cluster. The Food Security and Agriculture Cluster in Afghanistan, co-led by WFP and FAO, where food assistance partners coordinate.
- Physical Storage Guidelines (opens in a new tab)
Logistics Cluster, Logistics Operational Guide. Stock kept off the ground, first-expired-first-out dispatch, the six-month remaining-expiry rule of thumb and disposal of expired food.
- 3.2 Afghanistan Transporters (opens in a new tab)
Logistics Cluster, Logistics Capacity Assessment. How the domestic trucking market, transport slips and tariffs work, and the 2022 suspension of insurance services.
External sources are cited for the facts they report and were checked when this guide was last updated. Citing them implies no relationship with, or endorsement by, their publishers.