A producer or company that supplies raw materials, processed materials, or finished products to a buyer.

• Suppliers can include producers, processors, traders, and manufacturers. For instance, farms or processing mills supply raw or processed materials to traders, while manufacturers supply consumer products to retailers.
• A given company can be both a supplier and a buyer.
• A supplier may either be a direct supplier (selling directly to the buyer) or an indirect supplier (selling to an intermediary that is one or more steps removed from the buyer).