A courgette supplier from Turkey should be able to answer two questions straight away: at what size is the fruit picked, and how soon after picking is it cooled. Those two answers decide most of what arrives at your warehouse. Hatipoğlu Tarım is an Antalya-based exporter of fresh fruit and vegetables, established in 2002, and courgette, known in other markets as zucchini, can be ordered from it in all twelve months. If you are looking for a zucchini exporter in Turkey, this is the same product. This guide is for importers, wholesalers and retail buyers. It covers the product, the calendar, quality criteria, harvest size, transport temperature, packaging, the HS code, documents and how to get a quote.
Turkish courgette: a product bought small
Courgette is a fresh product with a glossy skin, a regular shape and a firm interior. In export it is preferred in small sizes. For the smallest grade, picked at about 10–12 cm with the flower attached, see our separate guide to the mini courgette.
Why size decides quality: daily harvest
As a courgette grows, its seed cavity can widen and its flesh can soften. For that reason the fruit is harvested every day at a suitably small size. It is cooled the same morning. At the buyer’s request the courgettes can also be packed with the flower kept on. If you want the flower, say so in the enquiry.
Season: courgettes from Turkey all year
Courgette is grown under cover in Antalya and can be ordered all year; the article on protected cultivation explains how harvesting continues in winter. Winter quantities are more limited. When a buyer gives the weekly requirement in advance, the programme is planned around it.
Quality criteria
Courgettes are selected for dispatch on:
- Size: small fruit, with the pieces in one case close to one another in length. The range is stated in the order.
- Skin integrity: no cuts, scratches or pitting.
- Colour: even and glossy. On green types, yellowing is a defect.
- Freshness: firm along the whole length.
- Flower: where ordered, present and fresh.
Transport temperature, shelf life and ethylene
The optimum for courgette is 5–10 °C at a relative humidity of 95%. Ideally it is not stored for longer than 10 days; at 5 °C acceptable quality can be kept for up to two weeks. Below 5 °C, chilling injury appears if the fruit stays there for more than 3–4 days, in the form of pitting and discolouration of the skin.
Courgette has low to moderate sensitivity to ethylene; in green types ethylene speeds up yellowing. Cucumbers and aubergines travel at 10–12.5 °C and can be loaded together; courgette sits a little below them, at 5–10 °C. Tomatoes produce ethylene and are kept off trucks carrying cucumbers and aubergines. None of these vegetables shares a vehicle with fruit carried at 0 °C. If your order combines courgettes with these products, tell us at the enquiry stage so that loading can be planned accordingly. Background reading: the cold chain in fresh produce export.
Packaging for retail and courgette wholesale
Courgettes are packed in cartons or plastic crates, according to the packaging your market asks for:
- Carton: three sizes, 30 × 40 × 12.5 cm, 30 × 50 × 12.5 cm and 60 × 40 × 15 cm.
- Plastic crate: two sizes, 30 × 40 × 12.5 cm and 30 × 50 × 12.5 cm.
Whether the order is for retail or for courgette wholesale, state the case you need in the enquiry. The cases go on 80 × 120 cm euro pallets, and the formats are compared in our guide to packaging and case sizes in export.
The HS code for fresh courgettes is 0709.93; have your customs broker confirm the classification before shipment.
Documents when you import courgettes from Turkey
ISO 9001, ISO 22000, ISO 10002, GLOBALG.A.P. IFA and GRASP are the certificates Hatipoğlu Tarım holds. Every courgette lot bound for Europe is analysed for residues. See our articles on EU pesticide MRLs and on which certificates European buyers require.
Import process: six steps
Because courgettes are picked daily, the six steps of harvest, cooling, grading, packing, cold storage and dispatch start again every morning, and all of them stay in house. We plan shipments by the truck; 33 euro pallets fill a standard 13.60 m refrigerated truck.
How to get a quote
For a courgette quotation, send us six details: the type, the size, the packaging, the weekly volume, the delivery week and the destination country. If you want the flower kept on, add that as well. Our phone number is +90 242 339 55 25, our WhatsApp line is +90 534 260 07 25 and our e-mail address is 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.
Tell us the size, packaging and weekly volume for your courgette programme, and we will prepare a loading plan and a quotation.
