The six things pharma customers always ask

We sell to a handful of regional pharma customers (mostly nutraceuticals and excipient manufacturers) and the conversation always covers the same six topics. Sharing them here because every food and beverage customer should be asking the same questions.

1. Can I see the wash log? Yes. Every batch has one, with operator initials, prior contents, wash protocol, leak test, and inspection notes. We keep them for two years.

2. Is the bottle virgin or reconditioned? Different audits have different answers. For pharma we usually go with rebottled (new bottle, reconditioned cage). The bottle is virgin HDPE with a vendor cert; the cage is metal and audited as such.

3. What's the validation pack? We provide: bottle COA from the manufacturer, our internal wash and inspection log, photos of the inbound and outbound condition, and our 90-day functional warranty. Pharma usually adds: their own incoming-receipt protocol on top.

4. Can you do dedicated lots? Yes. For a price. A dedicated wash run means we drain the wash water, run an empty cycle, and then run your fleet — no risk of cross-batch contamination. Adds about $25/tote.

5. Do you ever export bottles overseas? No. We don't buy from or sell to international brokers, and our regrind doesn't leave North America. The Reclaim Pledge has the wording.

6. What do you say no to? We say no to: any tote whose prior contents we can't document; any chemistry our wash protocol can't fully address; any audit that requires us to put a virgin bottle through an industrial-only wash (it makes no sense and we won't pretend it does).

The same questions work for any food or beverage customer who's serious about traceability. If you're a soap maker who wants the same documentation a pharma buyer gets, ask for it. We have it for every tote we sell, regardless of who's buying.