A cherry tomato supplier from Turkey can load in every month of the year, so the choice between suppliers comes down to colour, truss quality and how the fruit has been handled before it reaches you. Hatipoğlu Tarım is an Antalya-based exporter of fresh fruit and vegetables, established in 2002, and cherry tomatoes are one of its year-round greenhouse lines. This guide is for importers, wholesalers and retail chain buyers. It covers the two presentations, the calendar, quality criteria, temperature by ripeness stage, ethylene and mixed loads, packaging, the HS code, documents and how to get a quote.
Turkish cherry tomato: who buys it and why
The cherry tomato is chosen by retail and by professional kitchens for its vivid colour, small size and balanced flavour. The wider tomato range, including the larger types, is described in our tomato export guide; the size class just above this one is covered in the guide for buyers looking for a cocktail tomato supplier.
Cherry tomatoes on the vine or loose
The product is offered in two presentations, according to the demand of your market: cherry tomatoes on the vine, or loose single fruit. The decision should be made before the order, because it changes the harvest. Fruit is picked by hand, and only when the whole truss has taken on an even colour.
Straight into the sales pack: fewer hands on the fruit
Every time a tomato is tipped, sorted or repacked, it can be marked. For this reason the tomatoes go from the greenhouse straight into the sales packaging, which cuts out unnecessary handling.
Season and availability
Cherry tomatoes are grown under cover in Antalya and can be ordered in all twelve months; see our article on protected cultivation. Winter quantities are more limited. When a buyer gives the weekly requirement in advance, the programme is planned around that figure.
Quality criteria
Cherry tomatoes are selected for export on:
- Colour: vivid and even across the pack, and across the truss for vine fruit.
- Fruit integrity: whole fruit without cracks, splits or soft spots.
- Truss structure: for vine fruit, a regular truss with the fruit firmly attached.
- Freshness: firm fruit with a bright skin.
Transport temperature by ripeness, and chilling injury
The right temperature for tomatoes depends on the ripeness stage. Light red fruit is held at 10–12.5 °C. Firm-ripe fruit can be kept at 7–10 °C for 3–5 days. Relative humidity should be 90–95%. After the firm-ripe stage, the typical shelf life at a suitable temperature is 8–10 days.
Colder is not safer. Tomatoes kept below 10 °C for longer than two weeks, or at 5 °C for longer than 6–8 days, develop chilling injury: uneven colouring, premature softening, pitting of the skin, browning of the seeds and more decay. Agree the ripeness stage at loading with your transit time in mind.
Ethylene: what not to load with tomatoes
Ripening tomatoes produce a moderate amount of ethylene. They should not be stored or loaded with sensitive products such as lettuce and cucumbers. In practice this means tomatoes do not go on the same vehicle as cucumbers or aubergines, and none of these products travels with fruit carried at 0 °C. If your list includes both tomatoes and cucumbers, plan two vehicles. The background is in our article on the cold chain in fresh produce export.
Packaging for retail and cherry tomato wholesale
Cherry tomatoes are packed in cartons of three sizes:
- 30 × 40 × 12.5 cm
- 60 × 40 × 10 cm
- 60 × 40 × 15 cm
For retail programmes and for cherry tomato wholesale alike, state the carton and the presentation in the enquiry. Cartons are stacked on 80 × 120 cm euro pallets; see packaging and case sizes in export.
Fresh tomatoes fall under HS code 0702.00, and the classification should be confirmed with your customs broker before shipment.
Documents when you import cherry tomatoes from Turkey
Hatipoğlu Tarım’s certificates are ISO 9001, ISO 22000, ISO 10002, GLOBALG.A.P. IFA and GRASP. No lot of cherry tomatoes leaves for Europe without residue analysis. See our article on EU pesticide MRLs for how the limits apply.
Import process and how to get a quote
Six steps take cherry tomatoes from the truss to the truck: hand harvest, cooling, grading, packing, cold storage and dispatch, all of them in house. Shipments are planned by the truck, and the standard 13.60 m refrigerated truck holds 33 euro pallets.
To quote we need six details: type and presentation (on the vine or loose), size, packaging, weekly volume, delivery week and destination country. Send the enquiry by phone on +90 242 339 55 25, by WhatsApp on +90 534 260 07 25 or by e-mail to 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 presentation, carton and weekly volume for your cherry tomato programme, and we will prepare a loading plan and a quotation.
