Fresh Food & Vendor Quality Policy

Last Updated: 12 September 2026

This Fresh Food & Vendor Quality Policy establishes minimum quality, freshness, handling, packaging, and fulfillment standards for Vendors offering fresh food and other perishable products through the Palenque marketplace operated by PALENQUE PH OPC (“PalenquePH” or “Palenque”).

Vendors remain responsible for complying with all food-safety, sanitation, licensing, labeling, storage, handling, and other requirements applicable to their products and business under Philippine law. PalenquePH’s review or monitoring does not transfer that responsibility to PalenquePH.

1. Freshness and Product Quality

Vendors must ensure that products offered and supplied through Palenque are fit for their intended sale and use. As applicable:

• Fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood, and other perishables must be fresh, clean, and suitable for sale and consumption.
• Expired, spoiled, contaminated, adulterated, unsafe, decomposing, or foul-smelling products must not be listed, packed, or supplied.
• Products with material deterioration, unacceptable damage, or quality inconsistent with the listing must not be supplied as normal-quality goods.
• Frozen goods must be maintained under appropriate frozen conditions until handoff, subject to applicable product and food-safety requirements.
• Chilled goods must be kept under appropriate chilled conditions where required.
• Vendors must use appropriate stock rotation and must not knowingly supply products beyond applicable expiry or use-by limits.

2. Food Safety, Hygiene and Sanitation

Vendors handling food must maintain appropriate hygiene and sanitation practices, including as applicable:

• Clean food-preparation, storage, packing, and handoff areas.
• Protection against pests, dirt, chemicals, waste, cross-contamination, and other contamination risks.
• Clean and appropriate utensils, containers, surfaces, and equipment.
• Appropriate personal hygiene by persons handling food.
• Separation or controls appropriate to raw and ready-to-eat or cooked products.
• Compliance with applicable national and local food-safety and sanitation requirements.

A Vendor must not offer or release a product that it knows, or reasonably should know, is unsafe or unfit for consumption.

3. Storage and Temperature Control

Vendors must store products under conditions appropriate to the product and must take reasonable measures to preserve safety and quality before Rider or Customer handoff.

• Chilled and frozen products must be stored at temperatures appropriate to the product and applicable requirements.
• Products requiring temperature control must not be left unnecessarily exposed to conditions likely to compromise safety or quality.
• Raw meat, poultry, seafood, cooked food, produce, chemicals, and other products must be separated where reasonably necessary to prevent contamination.
• Vendors must follow applicable manufacturer storage instructions and legally required food-handling controls.

4. Standardized Pack Sizes, Weight and Quantity

Products must be offered according to the size, quantity, unit, pack, standardized weight option, variant, or other specification stated in the product listing.

For products commonly sold by weight, Vendors must use the standardized weight or pack-size options made available or approved for the applicable listing, such as 250 g, 500 g, 1 kg, or another clearly stated option where appropriate.

PalenquePH does not use a post-order variable-weight price adjustment merely because the actual weight of a fresh product differs slightly from the nominal standardized pack weight selected by the Customer.

Vendors must not intentionally underfill products or provide a materially smaller quantity than the confirmed order. Material shortages, incorrect quantities, wrong packs, or other fulfillment discrepancies may result in a refund, replacement, correction, Vendor charge, or other action under applicable Palenque policies.

5. Packaging Requirements

Vendors must use packaging appropriate to the product and delivery conditions. As applicable:

• Packaging that comes into direct contact with food must be suitable and safe for that use.
• Products must be securely packed to reduce leakage, spillage, contamination, crushing, or other reasonably preventable damage.
• Liquids and wet products must use secure leak-resistant packaging appropriate to the product.
• Raw meat, poultry, and seafood should be securely contained and separated where necessary to prevent leakage or cross-contamination.
• Hot, chilled, and frozen products must use packaging and handling appropriate to preserving their condition during the expected handoff and delivery process.
• Packaging must be sufficiently closed or secured before Rider pickup where appropriate.

Environmentally preferable packaging is encouraged where it is safe, suitable, commercially reasonable, and consistent with applicable requirements.

6. Labeling and Order Identification

Vendors must provide labels, product information, warnings, dates, declarations, or other information required by applicable law for the relevant product.

Where Palenque provides an order label, reference number, receipt, or other order identification mechanism, the Vendor must use it as reasonably required to help ensure that the correct package is released for the correct order.

Allergen, ingredient, preparation, storage, expiry, or other safety information must be provided where legally required or materially necessary for safe use of the product.

7. Product Listings and Representations

Vendor listings must accurately and fairly describe the product being offered, including material information such as:

• Product name and type.
• Size, pack, unit, quantity, or standardized weight option.
• Price and other required pricing information.
• Relevant product condition or variant.
• Material warnings, restrictions, or legally required disclosures.
• Other information reasonably necessary for a Customer to make an informed purchasing decision.

Product photographs and descriptions must not materially misrepresent the product. Natural variations in fresh goods may occur, but they do not permit intentional or material substitution or misdescription.

8. Product Substitutions

Vendors must not substitute a materially different product, size, pack, quantity, or variant without authorization through the applicable Palenque order or support process.

If an ordered item is unavailable, the Vendor should follow the Platform’s applicable out-of-stock or substitution process rather than unilaterally supplying a materially different item.

9. Handoff to Riders

Before releasing an order, the Vendor should:

• Verify that the package corresponds to the correct order.
• Ensure the order is reasonably complete and securely packaged.
• Maintain required temperature or handling conditions until handoff.
• Provide any necessary handling or safety information.
• Release the order only through the applicable Palenque fulfillment process.

A Rider may report or decline to transport a package where there is a reasonable safety concern, serious leakage, obvious contamination, materially inadequate packaging, or another condition that makes transport unsafe or inconsistent with applicable Palenque procedures.

10. Complaints, Refunds and Quality Investigations

Vendors must reasonably cooperate with PalenquePH in investigating complaints involving freshness, spoilage, contamination, shortages, incorrect products, packaging failures, or other quality concerns.

PalenquePH may request relevant order records, photographs, packaging information, product details, preparation or handoff information, and other reasonably necessary evidence.

Where a Vendor-attributable quality or fulfillment problem is established, the applicable refund, replacement, adjustment, offset, corrective action, or other remedy will be handled under the Vendor Agreement, Refund, Replacement & Cancellation Policy, and applicable law.

11. Unsafe Products, Withdrawals and Recalls

If a Vendor becomes aware that a listed or supplied food product may be unsafe, contaminated, prohibited, recalled, improperly labeled in a safety-relevant manner, or otherwise presents a material health risk, the Vendor must promptly take appropriate action and notify PalenquePH where Palenque orders or Customers may be affected.

PalenquePH may temporarily restrict or remove affected listings, suspend sale of the relevant product, contact affected marketplace participants where appropriate, preserve relevant records, and cooperate with competent authorities as required by law.

Vendors remain responsible for complying with any legally applicable product withdrawal, recall, notification, traceability, or regulatory requirements applicable to their products.

12. Compliance Reviews

PalenquePH may conduct reasonable documentary or operational compliance reviews relating to products offered through the marketplace, including requesting updated permits, licenses, product information, photographs, or other evidence reasonably necessary to assess compliance with Palenque policies or applicable law.

Any physical inspection or site visit should be conducted only where lawful, reasonably necessary, and appropriately coordinated with the Vendor.

13. Enforcement Measures

Failure to comply with this Policy may result in proportionate action depending on the nature, severity, frequency, and risk of the violation. PalenquePH may:

• Issue a warning or require corrective action.
• Temporarily restrict or remove an affected product listing.
• Require additional quality, safety, or compliance information.
• Temporarily restrict Vendor functionality or visibility.
• Suspend the Vendor account.
• Apply a refund, deduction, charge, or other monetary consequence only where expressly authorized by the Vendor Agreement or an applicable accepted policy.
• Terminate Vendor participation where permitted under the Vendor Agreement.
• Take other action reasonably necessary to protect Customers, marketplace participants, public safety, or comply with applicable law.

Where appropriate and reasonably practicable, PalenquePH may provide the Vendor an opportunity to correct a violation before suspension or termination. Immediate action may be taken where reasonably necessary because of suspected contamination, unsafe food, fraud, unlawful activity, material regulatory risk, or other serious safety concerns.

14. Relationship With Other Palenque Policies

This Policy should be read together with the PalenquePH Vendor Agreement, Vendor Compliance Guidelines, Product Quality & Packaging Standards, Customer Ordering Disclaimer – Standardized Pack Sizes & Fresh Product Variations, and Refund, Replacement & Cancellation Policy.

Where this Policy conflicts with a mandatory requirement of applicable Philippine law, the mandatory legal requirement will prevail.

15. Policy Updates

PalenquePH may update this Policy where reasonably necessary for food safety, operational, commercial, legal, regulatory, or marketplace-quality reasons.

Material changes affecting Vendor obligations will be communicated through the Platform, registered email address, or another reasonable electronic means. Where required by law or reasonably appropriate, PalenquePH may require renewed affirmative acceptance.

16. Contact Us

For quality, food-safety, Vendor compliance, or product concerns:

Support Email: support@palenqueph.com
Corporate/Legal Notices: corporate@palenqueph.com
Website: palenqueph.com