A green almond supplier works against the clock, because the window is short twice over: on the tree, before the shell hardens, and after picking, before freshness is lost. Hatipoğlu Tarım is a fresh produce exporter based in Antalya, established in 2002, and it supplies green almonds for export each spring. This guide is for importers and wholesalers whose customers have asked for the product. It explains what it is, who buys it, when it is available, how quality is judged, why speed matters and what we need from you to quote.
What fresh green almonds are
Green almond, çağla in Turkish, is the almond picked before its shell hardens and eaten whole. At this stage the fruit has a soft green outer skin, a crisp texture and a fresh, sour taste, and the inside is still soft. Nothing is cracked or shelled; the whole fruit is the product. It belongs in the fresh produce department, not with nuts, and it should be bought, stored and sold as a perishable spring fruit. Buyers often meet the product first as a customer request under its Turkish name, çağla; the English trade name is green almond.
Who buys Turkish green almonds
Green almonds are little known outside Turkey. They are sought mainly by retailers and greengrocers whose customers know Turkish, Middle Eastern and Iranian cooking, and by the green almond wholesale traders who supply those shops. For a buyer new to it, it is a short-season speciality sold on freshness.
Green almond season: February to April
Turkish green almonds are supplied from February to April. The window is set by the fruit itself. Once the shell begins to harden, the almond can no longer be eaten whole and the product ends. Volumes and delivery weeks should therefore be agreed before the season, not in the middle of it. The same months bring can eriği, the Turkish green plum, which is sold to the same customers, and Papaz plums follow from March. The place of these products in the year is shown in our season calendar for Turkish fresh produce.
Quality criteria: the stage of youth
With most fruit the buyer specifies maturity. With green almonds the buyer specifies youth. Fruit is selected against four criteria:
- Stage: harvested while the inside is still soft and the fruit can be eaten whole. This is the criterion that defines the product.
- Size: uniform within the carton; the range is agreed in the order.
- Colour: fresh green outer skin.
- Skin: whole and undamaged, without cuts or pressure marks.
If you have not bought the product before, agree the stage on photographs of cut fruit before the first load.
Why speed matters: cooling and dispatch
Green almonds have a short keeping time. For that reason the fruit is cooled immediately after harvest and dispatched without delay; it is not a product to be held in store while an order is put together. We do not publish a general storage temperature or shelf-life figure for green almonds here. The set point, the transport conditions and the transit time are agreed with you for each order. Confirm the order and the delivery week in advance, so that harvest and loading can be planned together. How we keep the chain unbroken is described in our guide to the cold chain in fresh produce export.
Packaging and customs classification
Green almonds are packed in cartons of two sizes: 30 × 40 × 12.5 cm and 30 × 50 × 12.5 cm. Cartons are stacked on 80 × 120 cm euro pallets. Shipments are planned by the truck; a standard 13.60 m refrigerated truck takes 33 euro pallets. Carton footprints and pallet patterns are explained in packaging and case sizes in export.
We do not quote an HS code for green almonds here. Please confirm the tariff classification with your customs broker before shipment.
Documents and residue analysis
Hatipoğlu Tarım holds ISO 9001, ISO 22000, ISO 10002, GLOBALG.A.P. IFA and GRASP certification. Every lot is analysed for pesticide residues and the results are compared with European Union limits. This deserves attention with a product that is eaten whole, skin included. See our articles on EU pesticide MRLs and on which certificates European buyers require.
Import process when you import green almonds from Turkey
The process has six steps: harvest at the soft stage, immediate cooling, grading by stage, size, colour and skin, packing into cartons, a short period in cold storage and dispatch by refrigerated truck. All six are handled in house, with no handover between separate companies between the tree and the truck.
How to get a quote
To quote we need six details: variety, size, packaging, weekly volume, delivery week and destination country. You can reach us by phone on +90 242 339 55 25, by WhatsApp on +90 534 260 07 25 or by email at info@hatipoglutarim.com.
Hatipoğlu Tarım has exported fresh fruit and vegetables from Antalya since 2002. Under the FİNİKE brand it ships 128 product lines to 42 countries, with harvest, grading, cold storage and dispatch handled in house across five facilities in Serik, Kepez, Mavikent, Yenişehir and Alaşehir.
Write to us before the season with your weekly volume and delivery week for green almonds, and we will prepare a quotation.
