An RFQ, or request for quotation, is a structured document sent to several suppliers asking them to price the same defined requirement. In food trade it carries the specification, the volume and call-off pattern, the packaging, the delivery term and the certification requirement, so that the replies can be compared line by line.
Why it works this way
An unstructured enquiry gets unstructured answers. Ask five suppliers for a price on frozen raspberries and you will receive five prices for five different products at five different delivery terms, and the comparison will be arithmetic on top of guesswork.
The RFQ moves the definition work to the front, where it is cheap. It also functions as a filter: a supplier who cannot answer the specification questions in the RFQ is telling you something useful before you have spent time on samples.
What follows in practice
An RFQ is not an order and usually not an offer. It is an invitation to quote, and quotations normally carry a validity period because raw material prices move. Say in the document how long you expect quotes to remain open and by when you will decide.
Keep the reply format fixed. A price table with the same rows for every supplier turns a week of email into an afternoon of comparison. Writing an RFQ for frozen food sets out the sections and a skeleton you can copy.