Dairy Cultures: export from Canada to ASEAN

Cultures are living organisms, and the difference between a good delivery and a poor one is measured in viable count rather than in weight. Activity declines with time and temperature, so the practical commercial terms are viable count at delivery and the cold chain that preserves it.

The specification points are strain composition, viable count, the target application, and whether the culture is direct-vat-set or requires bulk propagation. Direct-vat-set is the practical choice for most operations and the one to specify unless you have propagation capability.

Strain composition determines flavour, acidification rate and texture in the finished product, so it is functionally decisive rather than a technicality: two yoghurt cultures produce recognisably different products.

Destination approval applies to cultures as it does to enzymes, and permitted strain lists differ. Confirm before designing a process, and confirm the frozen or refrigerated handling capability at destination.

Cultures classify as microorganism preparations rather than as dairy products, and as with enzymes the permitted-strain list at the destination matters far more than the tariff. Confirm approval first.