Every peach supplier Turkey has to offer faces the same two problems: the peach is a delicate fruit, and the distance is long. The answer lies in three things a supplier controls: maturity at harvest, speed of cooling and the way the fruit sits in the box. Hatipoğlu Tarım is a fresh produce exporter based in Antalya, in business since 2002, and it ships peaches throughout the summer. This guide is for importers, wholesalers and retail buyers who want to import peaches from Turkey: season, quality criteria, cooling and storage, packaging, HS code, documents and quotation.
The Turkish peach: what buyers are looking for
The peach is a summer fruit with lively colour, a pronounced aroma and a delicate texture, and it has to be harvested at the right maturity. Consumer acceptance is driven by soluble solids content (SSC), acidity and the ratio between the two, so eating quality is worth raising with your supplier alongside size and colour.
Peach season in Turkey: June to September
The season runs from June to September. As the summer advances, production moves to higher-altitude growing areas. For a programme buyer this means continuity from a single supplier as the origin changes within Turkey. See our season calendar for Turkish fresh produce for other crops.
Quality criteria for export peaches
Peaches are sized by hand and selected against these criteria:
- Colour: lively and even. The maturity index is the change of ground colour from green to yellow.
- Firmness: in varieties where red blush covers the ground colour, flesh firmness is measured instead.
- Surface: skin free of cuts, pressure marks and bruises. Susceptibility to bruising varies with the variety.
- Size: uniform in the pack; the size range is fixed in the order.
- Fitness for transport: fruit is assessed against the journey it has to make.
Hydrocooling and storage: why 5 °C is the wrong temperature
Within a few hours of harvest the peaches are cooled with water. Hydrocooling removes field heat quickly.
The optimum storage temperature for peaches is −1 to 0 °C at 90–95% relative humidity. According to postharvest research from UC Davis, the longest market life is reached at about 0 °C and is 1–5 weeks for peaches, depending on the variety. The main limit is internal breakdown, a chilling disorder that shows as mealy or browning flesh, fruit that fails to ripen and loss of flavour. Market life is shortest at 5 °C. A store or vehicle set “a little warmer to be safe” is therefore the most damaging choice. Controlled atmosphere (6% O₂ + 17% CO₂) is recommended to reduce internal breakdown in shipment. The same research notes that small fruit grown on the outside of the tree has a longer market life than large fruit from inside the canopy, which is worth knowing when you set a size specification for a long route. See our guide to the cold chain in fresh produce export.
Packaging: single-layer packs with moulded liners
Peaches are placed in single-layer packs with moulded liners. Each fruit sits in its own cup, so it does not press against its neighbour and carries no weight from above. The available formats are cartons of 30 × 40 × 12.5 cm, 30 × 50 × 12.5 cm and 60 × 40 × 10 cm, and a 30 × 50 × 15 cm pack. The format is fixed in the order, whether you buy for retail or for peach wholesale. Four 60 × 40 cm boxes fill one layer of an 80 × 120 cm euro pallet. Details are in packaging and case sizes in export.
Shipments are planned by the truck: a standard 13.60 m refrigerated truck takes 33 euro pallets of 80 × 120 cm. Because peaches travel at −1 to 0 °C, they can be loaded together with nectarines and black plums, and with other 0 °C products such as cherries, apricots and grapes.
Peaches, including nectarines, are classified under HS code 0809.30. Please confirm the full tariff line 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 compared with European Union limits. See our articles on EU pesticide MRLs and on which certificates European buyers require.
Import process with a peach exporter: six steps
The process has six steps: harvest at the right maturity, hydrocooling within a few hours, hand sizing and grading, packing into single-layer packs, cold storage and dispatch by refrigerated truck. All six are carried out in house, with no handover between companies from orchard to truck.
How to get a quote
We need six details to quote: 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.
Send us your size, packaging and weekly volume for peaches, and we will reply with a loading plan and a quotation.
