Evaluate a wholesale fruit and veg supplier on evidence, in four steps. Ask for the documents from a shipment already made, write a specification that names a class and a tolerance, compare quotes on landed cost under one delivery term, and agree the claims procedure before any deposit. Then let one container confirm what the papers said. A supplier who passes all four is worth a programme.

What can a supplier prove before you ask for a price?

That it has already exported the product you want. A real exporter keeps the papers from its last shipment on file and can send them the same day, with the customer's name blacked out. Ask for these five.

  • The phytosanitary certificate from a past shipment of the same product.
  • The bill of lading for that shipment, showing who the shipper was.
  • A photo of a packed carton that shows its markings.
  • The product specification sheet: variety, class, sizes, packing, port of loading and season.
  • The most recent pesticide residue analysis for the product.

The first document tells you the most. A phytosanitary certificate is the official plant health document for a consignment. Under ISPM 12, the international standard for these certificates, it can be issued only by a public officer authorised by the plant protection organisation of the exporting country, and it states the exporter's name and address, the place of origin and the declared point of entry. If the exporter named on it is not your supplier, ask who that company is: the supplier's own packhouse, a packer under contract, or a seller it buys from. A supplier that can document the link controls its supply. One that cannot is reselling someone else's fruit.

Gulf buyers have an extra reason to ask. Saudi Arabia's food authority requires an official phytosanitary certificate from the exporting country for fresh fruit and vegetables, and the UAE's Ministry of Climate Change and Environment lists it first among the documents for releasing a consignment.

A specification is the yardstick for everything after

A specification that cannot be measured cannot be enforced. A grade name with no standard behind it means whatever the seller needs it to mean on the day of a claim. A usable specification names the variety, the class under a published standard, the size, the packing and the marking on the carton.

The standard supplies the part buyers forget, which is the tolerance. Take avocado. Under the UNECE standard, Class I allows up to 10 percent of the fruit, by number or weight, to meet only Class II, and no more than 1 percent to fall below that or show decay. A separate tolerance of 10 percent applies to size. So a supplier who promises zero defects has not read the standard, and a buyer who claims for a few lightly marked fruit has no claim.

The same standard says what every package must show: who packed or dispatched it, the variety, the country of origin, the class and the size. That is why the carton photo is on the list above: it shows whether the supplier packs to a standard, and under whose name.

How do you compare two quotes fairly?

Put them on the same delivery term and the same port, then add everything each price leaves out. A unit price with no term attached is not a quote. The three sea terms used for produce split the cost differently, and all three are defined in the Incoterms 2020 rules of the International Chamber of Commerce.

  1. Convert every quote to one term and one destination port. FOB leaves the ocean freight and the insurance to you. CFR includes the freight. CIF includes the freight and a minimum insurance cover.
  2. Add the freight and insurance the term leaves out, using your forwarder's rate for the same week.
  3. Add the destination costs: port and terminal charges, clearance, inspection fees and any duty that applies to the product.
  4. Add refrigerated transport from the port to your cold store.
  5. Divide the total by the weight you expect to sell, not the weight loaded. Fresh produce loses moisture at sea, and a class tolerance means some fruit will be downgraded.

The last line is where the cheapest quote usually loses. Our own claims policy treats a weight loss of 1 to 3 percent on a long sea voyage as normal, so a fair comparison prices it in. Remember too that under FOB, CFR and CIF the risk passes to the buyer at the port of loading, so a CFR or CIF price pays for the voyage without carrying its risk.

What should the first container prove?

That the supplier delivers what it documented, on time and at temperature. Treat the first container as a test with a written checklist, and open it with the specification in your hand.

  • The documents reached you before the vessel did, complete and matching each other.
  • The temperature logger covers the whole voyage, and the pulp temperature on opening agrees with it.
  • A sample of cartons matches the count, the net weight and the marking in the specification.
  • Defects were counted against the tolerance, not judged by eye.
  • Any problem was reported inside the claim window, with photographs.

A supplier who puts a logger in every container and shares the record expects the record to help it. We do that on every shipment.

Agree the claims procedure before the deposit

Every exporter is easy to deal with until a container arrives wrong. Ask each candidate for its claims procedure in writing before you pay anything. A usable one says how long you have to report, what evidence counts and what happens next.

Ours is published, so use it as a yardstick. A claim is opened within 24 to 48 hours of the container's discharge at the destination port. The evidence is an independent survey report, photographs of the intact seals before opening, pulp temperatures taken on opening with the logger download, and photographs of the affected product. A supplier with no written procedure has already told you how its claims are settled.

One scorecard for every candidate

Score every candidate on the same sheet, with the evidence in the second column, so the comparison survives a persuasive salesperson. Give three points for a strong answer, one for a weak answer and none for no answer.

What you are scoringEvidence to ask forStrong answerWeak answer
Exporter identityPast phytosanitary certificate and bill of ladingThe supplier, or a packer it can document, is named as exporter and shipperA name the supplier cannot explain, or nothing is sent
SpecificationProduct specification sheetClass, size and tolerance under a published standardA grade name with no tolerance
ResiduesLatest residue analysisA recent laboratory report for the same product and originA verbal assurance
QuotePrice with term, port and validityFreight and insurance stated under the term you asked forA unit price alone
Cold chainSet temperature and logger recordA logger in every container, and the record is sharedNo figure for the set temperature
ClaimsWritten claims procedureReporting window and accepted evidence in writingA promise to sort it out
ResponseA technical question sent by emailAnswered within a working day, with the document attachedDays of silence, or an answer to another question

Weight the rows by what has cost you money before. A candidate that is strong on price and weak on identity and claims is the one this sheet exists to catch, because those are the two rows you cannot repair after the deposit is paid.

Frequently asked questions

What is a phytosanitary certificate?+
It is the official plant health document that travels with a consignment of fresh produce. The plant protection organisation of the exporting country issues it, after inspection, to attest that the consignment meets the importing country's plant health requirements. Saudi Arabia and the UAE both require one for fresh fruit and vegetables, so ask who will issue it before you order.
Can an inspection company replace a visit to the packhouse?+
For a first order, yes. An independent pre-shipment inspection checks the packed lot against your specification at the packhouse and reports with photographs before the container is sealed. It costs far less than travelling, and it tests your specification as well as the supplier.
What payment terms are reasonable for a first order?+
Two arrangements are common in the produce trade. One is a bank transfer split between an advance and a balance paid against the shipping documents. We work on 50 percent in advance and 50 percent against a copy of the bill of lading. The other is an irrevocable letter of credit at sight, which suits a new relationship because the bank pays against documents.
Why do exporters insist on a full container?+
Because a refrigerated container only protects the fruit if it stays sealed from the packhouse to your port. A part load is opened and handled along the way, and every opening breaks the cold chain. Our own unit is the 40ft high cube reefer for that reason.
Who pays when a container is held at the port?+
The shipping line bills whoever is holding the container, which is normally the consignee. Whether your supplier then compensates you depends on the cause and on your contract. So write a document deadline into the contract: a complete, matching set of copies in your hands a fixed number of days before the vessel arrives.

Score our quote on the same sheet

Send us your product, volume and port. We will answer with a quote that states the delivery term, the port and the specification, so you can score it against any other.

Request a quote

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