Where the spice comes from
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Sourcing is where most of your product quality is decided, and it is decided before you have touched anything.
The chain you are buying through
Between a field and your bench there is typically a grower, a local aggregator, an exporter, an importer, and a distributor. Each step is an opportunity for blending of lots, for substitution, and for the material to age.
Shorter chains are better for quality and for traceability, and how short yours is is a question you can simply ask. A supplier who can tell you the country, the season and the lot is a different proposition from one who can tell you the price.
Four questions to ask every supplier
Is it certified to ASTA cleanliness? Those specifications are written to meet or exceed FDA defect action levels, so the answer places the material relative to a published limit.
What is the volatile oil figure? The graded quality measure, with a published minimum per spice.
How was it treated? Steam, irradiation or oxide. It decides what you may claim and it is invisible in the product.
What is the lot and the origin? Because a recall upstream is survivable only if you can say which of your jars it reached.
Importer, distributor or grower
Buying from a distributor is easy, small-quantity friendly and expensive per unit, and you are several steps from the field. Buying from an importer means larger minimums, better prices and a real conversation about lots. Buying from a grower is possible for domestic herbs and chilies, gives you the best story and the most work, and puts the drying step on you.
Most small producers start with a distributor and move upstream on their best-selling lines only.
Buying your first quantities
Buy small and often until you know your sell-through. Ground spice you have bought a year's worth of is ground spice that will be stale before it sells, and the money is tied up in the meantime.
Buy whole wherever you can grind it. It keeps for years rather than months, it protects you against adulteration, and it is the one advantage you hold over a larger competitor.