This document specifies a method of sampling a consignment of instant coffee, shipped in ten units or more, for the purpose of examination to determine whether the consignment complies with a contract specification.

The cases used have inner linings of moisture-resistant material, hermetically sealed because of the hygroscopic nature of instant coffee, and are in units greater than 10 kg net mass, typically up to 50 kg. This method is also applicable to units of more than 50 kg, usually named as big bags or supersacks. The cases are generally made of cardboard of appropriate strength and the big bags are made of suitable plastic material.

The method may also be used for the selection and preparation of a sufficiently representative sample of the consignment, intended

• to serve as a basis for an offer for sale,
• for examination to verify that the instant coffee to be offered for sale satisfies the producer's sales specification,
• for examination to determine one or more of the characteristics of the instant coffee for technical, commercial, administrative and arbitration purposes, and
• for retention as a reference sample for use, if required, in litigation.

This document is applicable to spray dried powder and freeze dried instant coffees only, due to the intrinsic fragility of particles of agglomerated instant coffee, which leads to greater breakdown and headspace in the final packed units for the consumer.