Validation Cycle — service terms
In effect from 6 September 2026
These terms apply to every validation cycle we run, whether it is the free first cycle or a paid one. They are short on purpose. If something here is a problem for your material or your project, say so before you ship and we will tell you what we can do.
1. What we undertake
We undertake to run the cycle competently and to report what we measure. We do not undertake a result. Yield, residual moisture, water activity, colour, aroma, texture and enzymatic activity all depend on the material you send us, and none of them is guaranteed.
The report describes what your material did in our chamber on that occasion. It is a decision aid for choosing a machine, not a specification, a certificate of analysis, or a basis for a food-safety or regulatory claim.
2. The free cycle: acceptance and capacity
The first cycle is supplied free of charge for the work, limited to one material, up to 4 kg fresh weight and one chamber load, one report per customer.
It is a request, not a booking. We confirm in writing that we can run your material and when. We may decline a material we cannot run safely or usefully, and we schedule free cycles around paid customer work, so the date we give you is the date we can actually hold.
The free cycle carries no credit against a machine.
The service is offered to businesses and professionals only, and is invoiced to a company with a VAT number. We do not run cycles for private individuals.
3. How the material must arrive
The condition your material has to arrive in depends on what it is, and we tell you which applies to yours when we accept the job. Perishable material must arrive frozen, with the cold chain documented. Dry and shelf-stable goods do not.
We are not responsible for material that arrives thawed, damaged or deteriorated where the stated condition was not met, nor for the minor loss inherent in handling, weighing and sampling.
You pay carriage in both directions, or arrange your own collection. Risk in transit is yours. Material is not returned unless you ask for it at booking, at cost.
4. Liability
On paid cycles, our total liability is limited to the amount invoiced for the service.
The free cycle is supplied without payment and without any financial liability on our part. If a free cycle cannot be completed, or its result is compromised through our fault, the sole remedy is that we repeat it where that is possible.
In every case we exclude the value of the material you supply and all indirect loss, including loss of project, missed deadlines, lost grants or subsidies, and lost profit.
If a breakdown or a power failure prevents a paid cycle being completed, the remedy is that we repeat it, or discount the corresponding part of the fee.
Nothing in these terms limits our liability for wilful misconduct or gross negligence, or for death or personal injury (Article 1102 of the Spanish Civil Code). That liability cannot be waived in advance, and we do not attempt to.
5. Claims
Claims must reach us in writing within 7 calendar days of collection or delivery of the material and the report. After that the service is taken as accepted.
Where material is held for return, storage charges may apply from 30 days after we notify you that it is available.
6. Confidentiality
We treat the composition and the intended purpose of your material as confidential. We will sign an NDA before you ship if you ask for one on the form, or sign yours.
The cycle parameters and the method are ours, and we may publish them in anonymised form. Naming you, your company or your product in anything public requires your written permission.
7. Machine credit, on paid cycles only
Half of what you pay in validation fees is credited against a freeze dryer bought from us, up to €1.000 in total against any one machine, where the order is placed within 12 months of the report date.
The credit is not redeemable for cash, is not transferable, and applies to a single purchase. Cycles supplied free of charge earn no credit.
8. What we do not accept
Vegetal material and dry goods only. No raw meat, fish, dairy or eggs. EU-origin shipments only. No pharmaceutical, GMP or controlled-substance work: our equipment is food-grade and we do not position it otherwise.
The validation cycle is a decision aid, not a drying service. Requests whose purpose is to produce finished stock are not accepted under these terms.
Prices exclude VAT. Where these terms and a signed offer disagree, the signed offer governs.