Premium perishable produce: how to write a compliant, shippable RFQ

Premium fruit with its own pages on this site — cherries, avocados, berries, mangoes, table grapes and citrus — plus premium vegetables sourced through the fresh produce category. All are perishable, regulated plant goods in most destinations, and all depend on time and temperature from harvest to your warehouse.

• Commodity and cultivar (or the cultivars you accept), and the end use: retail, ripening, food service or processing.
• Grade or class, size, count or calibre, and the reference standard your customers use.
• Packaging: pack format, net weight, labelling language, pallet configuration.
• Quantity: volume per shipment, per season and per year, and the programme length.
• Origin preference, and whether you accept alternate origins.
• Destination country and entry point — the port, airport or border post where the goods are cleared.
• Required arrival dates: first and last arrival and the cadence in between.
• Temperature and handling needs as your specification or customer sets them — we do not set them for you.
• Certificates and market-access status your destination requires, and any you already hold.
• Inspection and traceability needs: pre-shipment inspection, samples, lot coding, records you need to receive.
• Preferred Incoterms® rule and named place, and the HS code if you know it (your customs broker confirms it).

• Sea reefer or air freight: weigh shelf life, value per kilo, volume, the arrival window and the cost of a missed week, and ask for both options when you are unsure.
• Pre-cooling: agree how soon after harvest fruit is cooled and how pulp temperature is checked before loading.
• Packaging: cartons, liners and pallet build must suit the route and the ventilation of the equipment.
• Handling: who loads, who seals, and how the temperature set-point and loggers are recorded at each handover.
• Route and transit buffers: plan time for inspections at origin and at the border, transhipment and port congestion. Ask for a route-specific proposal instead of relying on a published transit time.
• Port or airport handoff: the cold store at arrival, the dwell time you can accept and who collects.
• Insurance: match cover to the Incoterms® rule and the point where risk passes.
• Documents: make sure the commercial documents, phytosanitary certificate and pre-notification match each other.
• Contingency: agree in advance what happens if a shipment is held, rejected or arrives outside the specification.

We do not publish commodity temperatures, freight rates, transit times or supplier capacity. Send origin, destination, product, pack, volume, temperature requirement, Incoterm and arrival date, and we request a route-specific proposal.

Exact requirements depend on the commodity, its HS code, the origin, the destination and the date — and they change. Treat this section as a map of the document categories, then confirm with the destination authority and your customs broker.

• Phytosanitary certificate: issued by the exporting country's plant protection organisation for regulated plant goods, under the IPPC framework.
• Official certificates and traceability: some destinations require additional official certification, registered orchards or packhouses, treatments, and lot-level traceability.
• Border inspection: documentary, identity and physical checks at a designated border post, as the destination's rules require.
• Pre-notification: many destinations require advance notice of arrival. In the EU, official controls apply at border control posts and the common health entry document (CHED) is lodged in TRACES where required.
• Origin procedures: for South African exports, the Department of Agriculture publishes export procedures, special export protocols and phytosanitary registration information.

South Africa's Department of Agriculture announced on 8 September 2026 that a protocol opening China to South African cherries has been signed. A protocol sets the conditions; whether a particular shipment is eligible depends on the protocol in force and on the approved requirements — such as registered orchards and packhouses and any treatment — being met for that consignment.

We do not promise Chinese clearance. When you request South African cherries for China, ask the exporter for its registration status and the required treatment, and confirm with your importer or customs broker in China.

• Our team reviews the request for fit, completeness and the USD 250,000 minimum per year or season.
• We ask for anything missing, then approach suppliers that may fit and ask them to quote on your specification.
• Offers come back on the same basis, with every price labelled as a supplier quote or a dated estimate.
• Supplier identities and any introduction require your approval; the contract is between you and the supplier.