What do Costco, Sprouts, and Thrive Market ask supplement suppliers for?

The comparison

Each cell reflects only what the retailer's own public page states, fetched for this article. A blank or "not named" cell means the public page was silent, not that the retailer has no such requirement: buyer conversations and supplier portals routinely go further than what is published.

Costco: a food-safety framework, not a supplements page

Costco's public supplier documentation is written for food safety broadly, and nothing found in it singles out dietary supplements. Suppliers are asked to hold one of two things: an annual third-party audit against a GFSI-recognized scheme (SQF Edition 9, BRCGS, FSSC 22000, IFS, Primus GFS, CanadaGAP, or GlobalGAP) performed by a Costco-approved certification body, or a Costco-specific GMP audit, or a Costco Addendum performed alongside a GFSI audit. Underneath that, Costco's framework asks for HACCP or Preventive Controls plans, a Supplier Approval Program, foreign-material and allergen control, microbiological testing, traceability, and personnel-hygiene policies. None of this is phrased around a COA or a supplement-specific specification sheet on the pages found. The audit is the evidence Costco's framework is built around.

Sprouts: new-item mechanics first, certification later

Sprouts' new-item submission process is the most procedurally specific of the three: an ingredient statement, a nutrition facts panel built to its 2020 standard, and an allergen statement, plus two retail-ready samples for a vitamin-department submission. Sprouts is explicit that this is a floor, not the whole list: "there may be additional certifications and documentation requirements required later on, as part of our new vendor setup and onboarding process." Its food-safety page separately states that supplier requirements "include third-party certifications, product specifications, and regulatory compliance," and that Sprouts monitors GFSI-standard compliance across its supply chain, without naming which certification a supplement supplier specifically needs.

Thrive Market: the most supplement-specific public language

Thrive Market states plainly that lab testing is part of the bar for a supplement to be listed: "We require our vendors to lab-test the pills, powders, lozenges, and other supplements we carry for potency, so you can be sure they contain exactly what they're supposed to and that they really work, too." Products are also checked against a restricted-ingredient list Thrive describes as covering more than 1,000 items: hydrogenated fats, synthetic pill coatings, artificial sweeteners and colors, and chemical preservatives among them. Any health claim is expected to carry supplier or scientific documentation behind it. What Thrive's pages do not name is a required facility-level GMP certification standard.

What "not named" does and doesn't mean

A blank cell in the comparison above is a statement about the public page, not about the retailer's actual requirements. Costco's audit framework, for example, is written for food safety broadly and is enforced through an approved certification body's audit program rather than a published document list. A brand won't find a line reading "submit a Certificate of Analysis" on Costco's public pages, but the GFSI audit and product-traceability requirements it does name are checked, in practice, against exactly the kind of identity and specification evidence a COA and spec sheet provide. Sprouts is explicit that its new-item submission list is a floor, not the ceiling. Treat every blank cell in the table as "ask the buyer," not "not required."

What this means for the document set

Across all three, the underlying evidence a supplement brand needs on hand is the same small set regardless of which retailer is asking: a current COA per product (the document a potency lab-test or a "product specifications" line item eventually cashes out as), a cGMP certificate for the manufacturing facility, a specification sheet, and proof of insurance. A retailer onboarding pack in Compliant Always assembles that set once so it's ready whichever retailer's buyer asks next; see pricing for what's included on paid plans. The free check shows which of those documents are already on file and current.

Related: what Whole Foods asks supplement suppliers for, how to read a Certificate of Analysis, and what your contract manufacturer is responsible for.