The technical sheet in English. The fields the buyer really asks for.
It is the document that decides whether the conversation continues. And the reason it stops almost never concerns the product: it concerns three lines of measurements nobody wrote down.
Three different people read the technical sheet, and each looks for different things in the same sheet: the purchasing office, the quality manager, the freight forwarder. If the block for one of the three is missing, the enquiry doesn't come back with a question. It stops.
The block almost always missing is the logistics one: pieces per carton, cartons per layer, layers per pallet, weight and dimensions. Without those numbers the buyer can't calculate the transport cost per unit, so they don't know what they will resell at, so they don't decide.
Below you will find the fields one by one and an English template to copy. No design is needed: what is needed is for all the fields to be there and for a single valid version to exist, with the update date at the top.
This piece is part of the guide to export operations for the small food producer, and covers the third of its eight steps: the one that comes right after working out whether the buyer is serious.
Why an incomplete sheet stops the negotiation in silence
The buyer doesn't read the sheet alone. They pass it on internally, and from that moment your document is opened by three people who don't talk to each other:
- The purchasing office looks at what it is, how much it costs to move and whether it fits their range.
- The quality manager looks at whether the product passes the rules of their country and their chain: allergens, nutritional values, storage, plant.
- The freight forwarder looks only at numbers: how many pieces fit on a pallet, how much it weighs, what customs code it has.
If one of the three is missing their part, that person doesn't write to you. They tell their colleague «the data is missing», and the colleague moves on to the next supplier who has already written that data down. You only see the silence, and read it as a no on price.
Silence after sending the sheet is almost always missing data, not a rejection.
The fields, one by one
Divided by who reads them. The right-hand column says why that field exists, which is how to understand which can be left out and which can't.
| Field | What goes in | Why they ask for it |
|---|---|---|
| Nameproduct name | The legal name of the product, not the trade name. «Extra virgin olive oil», not just the name of the line. |
It is the name that will end up at customs and on the label. A brand name alone isn't enough to classify the goods. |
| Ingredientsingredients | All of them, in descending order of weight, with the percentage where required. |
The quality manager needs it to check that the product is allowed in the destination country. |
| Allergensallergens | Highlighted, according to the list in Annex II of Regulation EU 1169/2011. Also state any cross-contamination. |
It is the first field checked and the only one that can get the product rejected for safety reasons, not commercial ones. |
| Nutritional valuesnutrition | Per 100 g or 100 ml: energy, fat, of which saturates, carbohydrate, of which sugars, protein, salt. |
These are the seven values made mandatory on labels since 2016. If they aren't in the sheet, the buyer can't prepare their own label. |
| Shelf lifetotal and residual | Total life of the product and residual life guaranteed at the time of shipping. |
Many importers impose a minimum residual life on arrival. Without this field they can't accept you as a supplier. |
| Storagestorage | Temperature and conditions of storage and transport. |
It decides what means of transport it can travel by and how much it costs to move. |
| Format and net weightunit | Content of the single piece and type of pack. |
It is the unit on which the buyer works out the shelf price. |
| BarcodeGTIN / EAN | The code of the unit and, if there is one, that of the carton. |
Without a code the product doesn't get into large retailers' systems. |
| Logistics datathe missing block | Pieces per carton, carton dimensions and gross weight, cartons per layer, layers per pallet, pallet type and height, weight of the complete pallet. |
These are the numbers used to calculate the transport cost per unit. Without them, the buyer can't close the sums and the enquiry dies here. |
| Customs codeHS code | The first six digits are international. Also state the origin of the goods. |
It determines the duty the buyer will pay, so it enters their profit and loss before the order. |
| Plantand certifications | Production plant details and certifications with body and number: organic, PDO, PGI, kosher, halal, food safety standards. |
Some markets and some chains accept only registered or certified plants. It is a binary filter, not a sales argument. |
The template, to download or copy
The same thirty-three fields exist in two forms. The file, if you want to start from a document already laid out. The block of text below, if you prefer to copy it into a template of your own.
| File | When you need it | Link |
|---|---|---|
| EnglishWord, to fill in | The copy kept up to date in the company, from which the one that goes out is made. |
|
| EnglishPDF, to attach | The copy you send to the buyer when the sheet is closed and must not change again. |
|
| ItalianWord and PDF | The Italian version, to keep aligned with the first: same fields, same order, so they can be compared at a glance. |
The files are free. There is no form in front of them, we don't ask for an address and we receive no notification when someone downloads them. The page that collects all four, with an explanation of what changes between Word and PDF, is the technical sheet template to download.
If you prefer to copy the fields into a document of your own, this is the skeleton. Fill it in with your data and keep it to a single page: whoever receives it must be able to pass it on without attaching anything else.
PRODUCT TECHNICAL DATA SHEET Last updated: DD/MM/YYYY Version: 1.0 1. PRODUCT Legal name .............. Brand / line ............ Country of origin ....... Italy HS code ................. Net weight / volume ..... Packaging type .......... Units per case .......... GTIN (unit) ............. GTIN (case) ............. 2. INGREDIENTS AND ALLERGENS Ingredients ............. (descending order by weight) Allergens ............... (per Annex II, Reg. EU 1169/2011) May contain ............. (cross-contamination, if any) GMO status .............. 3. NUTRITION (per 100 g / 100 ml) Energy .................. kJ / kcal Fat ..................... g of which saturates .... g Carbohydrate ............ g of which sugars ....... g Protein ................. g Salt .................... g 4. SHELF LIFE AND STORAGE Total shelf life ........ months Minimum residual life ... months guaranteed on despatch Storage conditions ...... Transport conditions .... 5. LOGISTICS Case dimensions ......... L x W x H cm Case gross weight ....... kg Cases per layer ......... Layers per pallet ....... Cases per pallet ........ Pallet type ............. EUR / other Pallet height ........... cm Pallet gross weight ..... kg 6. PRODUCER Company ................. Production site ......... Certifications .......... (body and number) Contact .................
Two notes on use. The Last updated line at the top is worth more than it seems: it is what lets you and the buyer know whether you are looking at the same document. And the logistics section should be filled in even when it seems obvious, because it is the only one the buyer can't work out on their own.
The five mistakes that stop an enquiry
- Sending the sales leaflet instead of the sheet. Photos and awards won answer none of the three readers' questions. They can sit alongside, not in place of it.
- Leaving out the residual shelf life. Stating only the total duration forces the buyer to ask, and asking is the step where negotiations get lost.
- Leaving the palletisation data «to be defined». It is like asking the buyer for a quote without them knowing how much the goods weigh.
- Letting several versions of the same sheet circulate. Three different files in the same inbox mean that sooner or later someone sends the old data, and old data on an order that has left becomes a dispute.
- Translating only the headings. A sheet with headings in English and content in Italian wastes the time of exactly the person who has to approve you.
This list covers what the commercial negotiation needs. It doesn't replace the compliance of the product label, which is a separate and mandatory matter: Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 requires mandatory information to appear «in a language easily understood by the consumers of the Member States where a food is marketed».
In other words: the technical sheet in English gets you chosen, the label in the country's language lets you sell. They are two documents, two purposes and two different moments, and confusing them is a mistake that costs a supply held up at customs.
When the sheet stops being a file and becomes a problem
As long as there are five products and one market, the sheet is updated by hand and that is perfectly fine. The problem arises later, and always in the same way: twelve products, four languages, two certifications to renew, and a recipe change that should be carried over to forty-eight documents.
At that point the work is no longer writing a sheet but keeping versions aligned, and misaligned versions are how a serious company sends wrong data to a serious customer. Where that work becomes repetitive, assisted preparation of the language versions saves hours, on one condition that matters more than the technology: that the approved version stays a single one, and that a person approves it.
Questions and answers
What should the technical sheet of a food product in English contain?
Three blocks, because three different people read it. For the purchasing office: name, description, format, net weight, GTIN code, certifications. For the quality manager: ingredients in order of weight, allergens highlighted according to Annex II of Regulation EU 1169/2011, nutritional values per 100 g or 100 ml, total and residual shelf life, storage, plant details. For the freight forwarder: pieces per carton, dimensions and weight, cartons per pallet, customs code, origin.
The third block is the one most often missing, and it is the one that stalls the negotiation.
Why does the buyer stop replying after receiving the technical sheet?
In most cases because they can't do the final sum. Without palletisation data they can't calculate the transport cost per unit, so they don't know what they will resell at, so they can't decide.
And they don't come back to ask: they move on to the supplier who has already written it down. Silence after sending the sheet is almost always missing data, not a no on price.
Is the sheet in English enough, or is German needed too?
English is the minimum and in most cases it is enough for the negotiation. German is a concrete competitive advantage: Germany is one of the largest markets for Italian food, and receiving the sheet already in their own language takes work off whoever has to assess it.
Not to be confused: the language of the technical sheet is a commercial choice, the language of the label on the product is a legal obligation.
What is the difference between a technical sheet and a product specification?
In commercial practice the two terms are used as synonyms, and in English you meet them as product specification, technical data sheet or product sheet.
The useful distinction concerns the recipient, not the name: there is a document that serves to sell (photos, format, sales arguments) and one that serves to get the product through the buyer's checks (allergens, values, plant). The best document holds them together on a single page, because whoever receives it passes it to three people.
How often should it be updated?
Every time something written in it changes: a recipe, an ingredient supplier, a format, a pack, a renewed certification.
The rule that prevents damage is another, though: there must be a single valid version, with the last-updated date visible at the top. When three versions of the same sheet start circulating, sooner or later someone sends an old shelf life, and on an order that has already left that becomes a dispute.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011: Annex II for the list of substances causing allergies or intolerances; Articles 30 onwards for the values of the nutrition declaration, mandatory per 100 g or 100 ml; Article 15 for the language of mandatory information.
- The logistics fields and residual shelf life practices don't come from a rule: they are recurring commercial requirements, reported here as practice and not as obligation.
A single sheet, up to date, in every language you need.
It is one of the moments the Cruscotto holds together, along with buyers' enquiries and the dates nobody looks at. With Itria we start from the outside to build custom digital systems for exporters. For you that translates into more requests, fewer losses and less manual work. Write us a line about what weighs on you. We take the first step: what a buyer sees when they look you up, and what we found there. Even if we don't end up working together.