How We Qualify a Real International Trade Opportunity: 12 Checks Before We Source

A Real RFQ Is Not Just a Request for Price — It Must Be Executable.

At FORWARD GROUP, we receive international sourcing requests for very different products: Spanish olive oil, Brazilian ICUMSA 45 sugar, sunflower and rapeseed oil, fertilizers, frozen food and industrial commodities.

Some requests are small. Others can represent millions of dollars.

And one thing we have learned from experience is that the size of an RFQ, the quality of its documents or the promise of an LC does not necessarily tell us whether there is a real transaction behind it.

Before we activate suppliers and start requesting prices, we try to answer a more important question:

Is this opportunity actually executable?

Over time, our approach to RFQ verification has developed around one simple sequence:

Company → Product → Volume → Financial / Commercial Terms

These four elements need to make sense individually — but, more importantly, they need to make sense together.

Here are the 12 checks we use before deciding whether an international trade opportunity is worth pursuing.

1. WHO IS THE BUYER?

Our first step is basic buyer verification.

Can we identify the company? Does it have a credible website, corporate domain, address and business presence? Can the person contacting us reasonably be connected to that company?

We do not conduct full due diligence on every initial inquiry. But before involving serious suppliers, we need to understand who is actually behind the request.

2. DOES THE PRODUCT FIT THE COMPANY?

A company can be completely legitimate and the RFQ can still make little sense.

If a food importer approaches us for Spanish extra virgin olive oil, there is an obvious commercial connection.

If the same company suddenly requests 25,000 MT of a specialized mining commodity, we need to understand why.

This is one of the most important lessons we have learned in international trade due diligence:

Verifying the company is only the beginning.

The company's activity should also make sense in relation to the product it wants to buy.

3. DOES THE VOLUME MAKE SENSE?

Volume tells us a lot.

A distributor requesting one container of food products is very different from a newly established company requesting 20 containers every month.

Likewise, an RFQ for Brazilian ICUMSA 45 sugar involving a major bulk program requires a buyer whose commercial and financial profile can reasonably support that volume.

Large numbers do not automatically make an opportunity more attractive.

Often, they mean we need to verify more.

4. IS THERE EVIDENCE OF COMMERCIAL CAPACITY?

A buyer does not necessarily need previous experience with exactly the same product.

Companies enter new markets all the time.

But for a large commodity transaction, we want to see a reasonable explanation for the buyer's ability to execute: existing imports, distribution activity, manufacturing capacity, customers, financing or another credible commercial reason.

This is especially important in commodity buyer verification, where a single RFQ may represent several million dollars.

5. IS THE RFQ ACTUALLY COMPLETE?

We regularly see inquiries such as:

“Need sunflower oil urgently. Send best price.”

That is not yet a sourcing-ready RFQ.

Before approaching suppliers, we normally need to understand the product, specification, quantity, destination, Incoterm and key commercial requirements.

For some products we need much more.

A request for olive oil, for example, may need bottle size, packaging and private-label requirements. A Urea RFQ may require grade, granular or prilled specification, packaging and shipment program.

Good sourcing starts with a good requirement.

6. ARE THE PAYMENT TERMS REALISTIC?

One phrase appears frequently in international commodity inquiries:

“Payment by LC.”

An LC can be an excellent payment mechanism. But LC payment in international trade is not proof that a transaction is real.

The same applies to an SBLC.

What matters is whether the proposed financial structure is appropriate for that product, supplier, volume and transaction.

A payment structure that transfers virtually all risk to the supplier may simply be unacceptable, regardless of how impressive the RFQ looks.

7. IS THE TARGET PRICE CONNECTED TO THE MARKET?

A target price can help us source efficiently.

An unrealistic target can tell us something else.

Perhaps the buyer is using an old market price. Perhaps freight has not been included. Perhaps an RFQ has circulated through several intermediaries without anyone checking whether the price is still achievable.

We do not automatically reject such requests.

But before asking suppliers to quote, we clarify the commercial reality.

8. BUYER, MANDATE OR BROKER?

Intermediaries are a normal part of international trade. The problem is not the existence of a broker.

The problem is an endless chain:

Broker → Broker → Mandate → Broker → Unknown Buyer

The further we are from the actual buyer, the harder it becomes to verify specifications, negotiate terms and eventually execute.

We therefore want to understand where the RFQ originated and who has access to the decision-maker.

9. DO THE DOCUMENTS MATCH?

As an opportunity progresses, we compare the information.

Does the company name on the KYC match the LOI or ICPO? Do the address, website and email domain make sense together? Is the person negotiating actually associated with the company?

No single discrepancy necessarily means there is a problem.

But several inconsistencies deserve attention.

Effective international trade due diligence is often about checking whether all the pieces tell the same story.

10. IS THERE COMMERCIAL RECIPROCITY?

We do not believe in demanding extensive documentation from every new lead before having a conversation.

But transparency should increase as a transaction progresses.

If a buyer requests supplier certificates, corporate documents, specifications and sensitive information while refusing to provide basic information about itself, the relationship becomes commercially asymmetric.

Serious transactions normally become more transparent as both sides move closer to execution.

11. IS THE TRANSACTION ACTUALLY MOVING?

We have seen international opportunities generate months of LOIs, offers, revised offers and other documents without reaching a meaningful commercial step.

Documentation has a purpose.

It should move a transaction forward.

At some point, there should be a logical progression toward an offer, buyer confirmation, PO or ICPO, contract or PI, payment arrangement and shipment.

When documents continue circulating but nothing brings the parties closer to execution, we reassess the opportunity.

12. CAN FORWARD ACTUALLY ADD VALUE?

This is our final check — and an important one.

A legitimate RFQ is not automatically the right opportunity for us.

We ask whether FORWARD has a realistic sourcing route: existing suppliers, market relationships, product knowledge or the ability to develop the required supply chain.

When we receive requirements for products where we already have sourcing experience — such as Spanish olive oil, edible oils, Brazilian sugar or other agricultural commodities — that existing knowledge can make qualification and sourcing considerably more effective.

Our objective is not to collect RFQs.

It is to work on transactions where we can genuinely contribute to execution.

A REAL RFQ MUST CONNECT THE DOTS

After reviewing many international sourcing requests, our most useful qualification rule remains remarkably simple:

Company → Product → Volume → Financial / Commercial Terms

A real company is not enough.

A professional LOI is not enough.

A large volume is not proof of demand.

And an LC or SBLC is not proof of financial capability by itself.

The complete transaction needs to make commercial sense.

That is why at FORWARD GROUP we see RFQ verification, buyer verification and commercial due diligence as part of sourcing itself.

Before asking our supplier network for another price, we first try to establish whether there is a transaction worth sourcing.

Because ultimately, a real international trade opportunity is not an RFQ that looks impressive. It is one that has a credible path to execution.

FORWARD GROUP works with international buyers, suppliers and commercial partners across food products, agricultural commodities and international sourcing requirements.

Learn more about our International Commodity Trading & Sourcing activities, or submit a defined requirement through our Product Sourcing Request / RFQ.