Buyer guide Egy Berries Team · 6 November 2026

How to Qualify a Frozen Fruit Supplier in Egypt

Three kinds of supplier, three kinds of risk

A grower-processor controls the crop and the freezing line. Variety, harvest timing and spray programme are decisions it makes itself, so specification and residue control trace back to a named field. The constraint is range: no grower farms everything.

A processor buys raw material from farms and freezes it. Range is wider and volumes are larger, but control over what happened before the crop reached the gate depends entirely on how that supplier manages its growers.

A trader owns neither field nor freezer and books production wherever it is available. It can be the fastest route to a difficult product, but the specification you agreed and the specification that ships are only as reliable as the trader’s own supervision.

Egy Berries farms 200 acres in Egypt and freezes through its own IQF production in Sadat City, so the crop behind an order is ours and the freezing is supervised by our own quality team.

The eight checks before a first order

Certificate scope. A certificate number means little on its own. Ask which site and which product categories it covers, and confirm it is current.

Raw material origin. For every lot, the supplier should be able to name the farm or the growing area the crop came from.

Residue control. Ask how the spray programme is managed and how often finished product is tested against the MRLs of your destination, not only against Egyptian limits.

Lot coding. One code should tie a carton back to a production day, a line and a raw material intake.

Cold chain records. Core temperature at freezing, storage temperature and the loading temperature of the reefer should all be recorded and available on request.

Sample parity. A sample should be drawn from production, not hand picked. Ask for it to be taken against a stated lot code.

Continuity. Egyptian crops are seasonal. Ask how much of your annual volume the supplier intends to hold in cold store, and from which harvest.

References. Ask for buyers in your own market who have taken repeat shipments, not a list of countries.

Certificates and what each one actually covers

Egy Berries holds FSSC 22000, ISO 22000, ISO 9001, GLOBALG.A.P. and HACCP, and is registered with both China GACC and the US FDA. Production follows BRCGS practices. Farm level and site level certificates answer different questions, so a supplier holding only one of the two leaves a gap somewhere.

Capacity, cold chain and continuity

The Egyptian advantage is the harvest window, not year round growing. Strawberries are picked from December to June, and most vegetables have one or two windows of their own. Continuity for a buyer therefore depends on how much a supplier freezes in season and holds in cold store, not on how long the field keeps producing.

A 40 foot reefer holds roughly 24 to 26 tonnes of frozen product in 10 kg cartons. Planning backwards from that figure and from your own drawdown rate is usually a more useful conversation with a supplier than asking for a price alone.

Specifications, samples and pre-shipment approval

A workable specification names the calibre or cut, the Brix or colour where it matters, the defect and foreign matter limits, the microbiological limits, the packing and the temperature at loading. Anything left out of the specification is left to the supplier’s judgement.

Ask for the specification sheet before the sample, not after. A sample is only evidence if you already know what it is meant to prove.

Packing, private label and retail

Bulk is normally 10 kg cartons for food service and food manufacturing. Egy Berries also packs 400 g retail bags under its own brand, and produces private label to a buyer’s own artwork and specification.

Documents and terms

Expect a commercial invoice and packing list with every shipment, a certificate of origin, a phytosanitary certificate, and EUR.1 where the destination and the trade agreement call for it. Health certificates are issued where the destination requires them.

HS classification matters before the order, not at the border. Frozen fruit normally falls under heading 0811 and frozen vegetables under 0710; the full list is in our HS code guide.

What Egy Berries is

An Egyptian manufacturer and exporter of IQF frozen fruits and vegetables, farming 200 acres of its own and freezing through its IQF production in Sadat City. We supply importers, wholesalers, food service and food manufacturers in Europe, Brazil, China, Canada, the United States, Turkey, the Gulf and wider Asia.

Frequently asked questions

Is Egy Berries a grower or a trader?

Both ends of the chain. We farm 200 acres in Egypt and freeze through our own IQF production, so the crop behind an order and the freezing of it are ours.

Which certifications does Egy Berries hold?

FSSC 22000, ISO 22000, ISO 9001, GLOBALG.A.P. and HACCP, with active registrations at China GACC and the US FDA. Production follows BRCGS practices.

How is frozen fruit from Egypt packed and shipped?

Bulk in 10 kg cartons, roughly 24 to 26 tonnes in a 40 foot reefer. Retail is 400 g bags under our own brand, and private label is available.

Can I get a sample before placing an order?

Yes. Tell us the product, the cut and the destination, and we will send a specification sheet first so the sample can be judged against it.

Information as of November 2026. HS headings follow the Harmonized System nomenclature: they are given for orientation and are not a binding customs ruling. Certification scope is as held at the date above.

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