Hi Padfoot,
I'm not sure if your company is GFSI or not, but I know that for SQF you have to at least have tech specs for all raw materials that you're bringing in. Maybe you could get that from the manufacturer. As for COA, you could always pay to do the testing yourself but seems like it wouldn't be worth it due to the small volume. You'd have to do a risk assessment to determine what lab results you needed. And like Scampi said, criteria like possibility for food fraud and whether the ingredient will be added pre- or post-lethality step will weigh in on what you decide you need for documentation.
What SQF actually requires is as below:
2.3.4
Approved Supplier Program (Mandatory)
2.3.4.1
The responsibility and procedure for selecting, evaluating, approving, and monitoring an approved supplier shall be documented and implemented.
A current record of approved suppliers, receiving inspections, and supplier audits shall be maintained.
2.3.4.2
The approved supplier program shall be based on the past performance of a supplier and the risk level of the raw materials, ingredients, processing aids, packaging, and services supplied, and shall contain at a minimum:
i. Agreed specifications (refer to 2.3.2);
ii. Reference to the level of risk applied to raw materials, ingredients, packaging, and services from the approved supplier;
iii. A summary of the food safety controls implemented by the approved supplier;
iv. Methods for granting approved supplier status;
v. Methods and frequency of monitoring approved suppliers;
vi. Details of the certificates of conformance, if required; and
vii. Methods and frequency of reviewing approved supplier performance and status.
2.3.4.3
Verification of raw materials shall include certificates of conformance, certificates of analysis, or sampling, and testing. The verification frequency shall be identified by the site.
2.3.4.4
The receipt of raw materials, ingredients, processing aids, and packaging from nonapproved suppliers shall be acceptable only in an emergency situation and provided a receiving inspection or analysis is conducted and recorded before use.
2.3.4.5
Raw materials, ingredients, and packaging received from other sites under the same corporate ownership shall be subject to the same specification requirements (refer to 2.3.2), approved supplier requirements, and receiving inspections as all other material providers.
The caveat here is that there is some ambiguity in the language. Since the poster isn't talking about purchasing "raw materials" and is buying an "ingredient" the requirements are not identical. See above
As for the comment about local grocers, if they are NOT part of a large chain they are less likely to require their vendors have a GFSI certificate, Costco requires it from almost all vendors (with very small businesses being the only exception)