Multiple retailers who produce product under their own labels or brands will be interested in assessing a supplier’s ability to be developed. Most retailers will have a supply base that includes suppliers at different stages of development within their portfolio. Some will be relatively new, undergoing trial orders. Others will have completed their trial orders successfully and the volume of their orders will be increasing, or they might be being asked to supply a greater variety of product for the retailer. Other suppliers will be very well established, perhaps having grown with the retail business, and may be supplying a wide variety of products to many different buying departments. The concept of a portfolio of different types of supplier in terms of their relationship with a retailer. Suppliers that fall into the top two categories , the core suppliers and supply partners, are sometimes referred to as preferred suppliers as they would be the first choice for a retailer to place orders with; they are likely to have established accreditation for their processing methods and so less risk is involved when using them.