Photo: Acabashi, CC BY-SA 4.0
For buyers
Buyer guides
Short, sourced answers to the questions buyers ask before a season opens.
Brix, acid and ratio: how sweetness is specified
How grape and blueberry sweetness is measured: °Brix, titratable acidity and the sugar:acid ratio, the minimums each standard sets, and what to write in a contract.
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Seedless grape varieties, from early to late
A buyer’s guide to the seedless table grape varieties shipped from Peru, Chile and South Africa: colour, taste, berry size, sugar, timing in the season and which are growing.
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Checking grapes and blueberries on arrival
How to inspect table grapes and blueberries on arrival: how many boxes to sample, which defects to count, the tolerances in the EU, UNECE and US standards, and what a QC report should contain.
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How long the fruit takes, and why it goes by sea or air
How long table grapes and blueberries take to reach Europe, the US, Asia and Israel from Peru, Chile, South Africa and Argentina, which go by sea and which by air, and how cold treatment and shelf life shape the journey.
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Raspberries from pick to shelf
Why fresh raspberries travel by air or by road: 2 to 5 days of storage life at 0 °C, modified-atmosphere packs, grey mould, punnet sizes, UNECE FFV-57 classes, the U.S. No. 1 mould tolerance, which origin supplies which market, and what to check on arrival.
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Pineapples: ripeness, size and the cold chain
How fresh pineapples are specified and shipped: MD2 and the other varieties, shell colour stages C0 to C6, Codex CXS 182-1993 classes, the 12 °Brix minimum and size codes A to H, crowns, counts per 12 kg box, why the fruit does not sweeten after harvest, chilling injury and why reefers run at 7 to 12 °C.
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Blueberry varieties: what ships from where
A buyer’s guide to the main export blueberry varieties, from Ventura, Sekoya Pop and Biloxi to Legacy and Duke: breeder, size, firmness and shelf life as the breeders describe them, which origins ship which, and variety shares.
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Market access by destination, for all four fruits
What the EU, the UK, the US and Israel require for fresh table grapes, blueberries, raspberries and pineapples: phytosanitary certificates, cold treatment and methyl bromide, declarations, permits, ports and headline duty, and what is and is not confirmed for China and the Gulf.
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