When buying packaged food, the label sometimes shows more than one statement connected with origin. It is often easy to confuse who packed the product, where it was packed, and the country of origin of the material itself.
The packer is the party that placed the material in its final pack and put its name and details on the label. This party may be the original manufacturer, or a company that bought the product ready-made and then re-packed it.
Country of origin refers to the country in which the material was made or produced, and not necessarily to the country in which re-packing took place. Re-packing in Homs does not mean that the material was made in Syria, if it was produced in another country and then packed here.
This distinction matters to the trader and the consumer: it makes clear who is responsible for the packing and the label, and avoids confusion about the product’s source. It is therefore advisable that the pack show the name of the company that packed it, the country of origin, and the place of packing if it differs from the country of origin.
At Tottibone Food Industries & Packaging we re-pack ready products in Homs, and we separate these details in the wording of the label: the packer’s name in Homs, and the country of origin as it comes from the source of the material, without describing an imported material that has been re-packed as made in Syria.