How to Read a Restaurant Packaging Supplier's Certification: BPI, OK Compost, FSC Explained
A certification logo is useful only when you know what question it answers, who is responsible for it, and whether it covers the finished SKU you are buying.
2026-09-09 - 7 min read
Summary
A certification logo is useful only when you know what question it answers, who is responsible for it, and whether it covers the finished SKU you are buying. BPI and OK compost marks concern compostability under defined conditions; FSC concerns the sourcing and controlled flow of forest-based material. None should be treated as a blanket approval of a supplier, a whole catalogue, food-contact suitability, or the disposal options in a particular city. The practical test is to verify the issuer or programme, certificate holder, current status, product scope, and the exact claim proposed for the order.
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
What do BPI, OK compost, and FSC actually certify?
Q: Is BPI a supplier certificate or a product certification?
Answer: BPI certification is tied to certified products, packages, or materials and the BPI Certification Mark. It is not a general-purpose “green supplier” badge. The mark identifies a finished item as certified under the BPI programme and helps distinguish it from non-compostable items in an organics stream.
For a buyer, the important names are not always the same. The certificate holder or licensee may be the manufacturer. A private-label seller may be a sublicensee. That can be legitimate, but the product list must connect the supplier’s title and the buyer-facing SKU to the underlying certified item. A material supplier’s certificate, or a component bearing a BPI claim, does not by itself certify the final cup, lid, box, bag, or assembled set.
BPI is normally relevant when the intended claim is commercial compostability in the North American market. It does not automatically establish a home-compostability claim or prove that every local composter will accept the item.
Q: What is the difference between OK compost INDUSTRIAL and OK compost HOME?
Answer: These are different compostability claims. OK compost INDUSTRIAL concerns conditions in a professionally managed composting environment. OK compost HOME addresses home-composting conditions, which are generally cooler and less controlled. An INDUSTRIAL certificate is not evidence for a HOME claim.
Read the exact version of the mark, not just the words “OK compost.” Ask which finished components are in scope: the base, coating, ink, adhesive, lid, sleeve, label, and any other attached part. If the product is printed, coated, laminated, or supplied as a set, the certificate must cover that final construction rather than only a raw substrate.
Q: What does FSC mean on paper-based restaurant packaging?
Answer: FSC addresses the responsible sourcing and controlled flow of forest-based material. The relevant business-system certification is chain of custody: it tracks eligible material through the supply chain to a finished product. It is different from a compostability certification.
FSC itself sets the framework and standards; an independent FSC-accredited certification body audits and certifies an organization’s chain of custody. This distinction matters when reading a document. A certificate should identify the certificate holder and the issuing certification body. An FSC label on a finished item signals a chain-of-custody claim for the materials in that labelled product; it does not prove that every product in the seller’s catalogue has the same status.
The label wording also matters:
- FSC 100% identifies a product made with material from FSC-certified forests.
- FSC Recycled identifies a product made with 100% recycled material.
- FSC Mix identifies a product made with a mixture of FSC-certified material, recycled material, and/or FSC-controlled wood.
An FSC claim says nothing by itself about whether a package is compostable, recyclable in a particular place, food-contact suitable, PFAS-free, leak-resistant, or suitable for a particular menu item. Those are separate questions that need their own evidence.
Which of these labels is legally required?
Q: Are BPI, OK compost, or FSC mandatory by law?
Answer: None is a universal legal pass for restaurant packaging. They are third-party certification or traceability programmes. Whether a particular label, claim, test, or wording is required depends on the destination market, the finished package, the way the claim is presented, and any customer or compost-facility requirement.
Do not replace a market-specific review with a logo check. A jurisdiction can regulate the wording of a compostability claim even when it does not require a particular label for every package. For example, BPI’s guidance notes that California connects a “home compostable” product claim to OK compost HOME certification. That is a narrow example, not a rule for every market or every environmental statement.
For a multi-site restaurant group, keep the legal and operational questions separate:
- What does the law or customer specification require in each market?
- What does the certification actually cover for this SKU?
- Can the intended disposal route accept the item?
- What wording will appear on the product, pack, menu, website, or sales sheet?
A certificate may answer the second question well and still leave the others open.
How do you verify that a certificate is real?
Q: What should I request before approving a supplier’s claim?
Answer: Request a short evidence pack for the exact finished item, then verify it before the artwork or purchase order is approved. At minimum, ask for:
- the certificate or current programme record;
- the certificate holder’s legal name and the issuing body or programme;
- certificate, licence, or listing number;
- a clear mapping to the supplier’s quoted SKU and your own item description;
- product construction: material, coating or barrier, colour, printing, thickness or grammage, and all attached components;
- current status and expiry information where the programme provides it; and
- the target market and the precise claim the supplier proposes to print or make.
A logo on a quotation is not a substitute for this mapping. The mapping is what exposes common gaps: a certificate for a plain tray rather than a printed tray, a resin rather than a finished cup, one factory rather than the factory that will make the order, or an old document rather than an active record.
Q: How should I check a BPI claim?
Answer: Start with BPI’s public product information and the certificate holder’s record. Confirm that the named product family and the specific version you are buying are covered. Then match the commercial details: SKU, material, construction, print status, and any accessories. If a seller uses private-label branding, ask for the sublicense or product mapping that connects the seller’s SKU to the BPI-certified product.
Treat the BPI mark as product-specific. BPI warns against using the mark to refer generally to the organization or to suggest that a certified component makes an uncertified finished item certified. The same logic applies when reviewing a catalogue, a sales presentation, or a mixed-SKU quotation.
Q: How should I check an OK compost claim?
Answer: First, identify whether the claim is OK compost INDUSTRIAL or OK compost HOME. Next, obtain the certificate number, holder, product family, current status, and permission to use the relevant mark. Verify the record through the issuer’s certified-product or certificate-check route when available.
Do not allow a supplier to shorten the claim in a way that changes its meaning. “Compostable” without the disposal condition can be too broad. An INDUSTRIAL document must not be used to market the product as home compostable. If the actual construction differs from the documented one, request written confirmation or refreshed evidence before using the claim.
Q: How should I check an FSC claim?
Answer: Confirm the supplier’s current chain-of-custody certificate in the FSC certificate search, then ask the seller to identify the FSC claim associated with the finished order on the sales or delivery documentation. If an on-product FSC label is proposed, make sure the supplier has approval to apply that label to the final item.
Check the label category—FSC 100%, FSC Recycled, or FSC Mix—rather than writing “FSC certified” as if all categories meant the same thing. Also verify the scope. A chain-of-custody certificate can show that a company has a controlled process; it does not automatically turn every non-forest-based component, every product family, or every marketing claim into an FSC claim.
What should you not infer from one certificate?
Q: Can one certificate cover an entire restaurant packaging range?
Answer: Do not assume so. A certificate may be limited by product family, factory, material formula, colour, coating, printing, thickness, size, or final assembly. The relevant unit of review is the finished package as sold, including the parts that affect the claim.
This is especially important for combinations such as a fibre base with a coating, a clear lid, a printed sleeve, or a label. The buyer should know whether the certificate covers the complete configuration. If it does not, use narrower wording, request new documentation, or withhold the claim.
Q: Does compostability certification prove food-contact compliance or local collection?
Answer: No. Compostability, food-contact suitability, chemical restrictions, and local collection acceptance are separate evidence tracks. Ask for the records that apply to the relevant question and market. A compostability mark should not be used as a shortcut for food-contact documentation, and a fibre-sourcing label should not be used as a shortcut for compostability.
A practical approval checklist for restaurant groups
Q: What should go into the approval file before a rollout?
Answer: Use one controlled record per SKU and market. Include the final artwork, supplier identity, factory, product specification, certification evidence, programme verification result, claim wording, destination market, and internal approver. Keep a version date and a change-control rule: if the material, coating, ink, factory, construction, or label wording changes, reopen the review.
This approach makes certification useful in purchasing rather than decorative in a slide deck. It also stops a valid document for one product from being copied across a different format or market without evidence.
Ready to review a packaging document set?
For a restaurant packaging discussion, visit Takeawaypack. Bring the exact SKU, destination market, material, and artwork version so each requested document can be matched to the item you plan to buy.
