A Washington navel orange supplier sells an eating orange, and an eating orange is judged fruit by fruit, on its size and its skin. That is why so much of the work on this variety goes into grading and presentation. Hatipoğlu Tarım is a fresh produce exporter based in Antalya, in business since 2002, and it ships the Washington orange from November to February. This guide sets out what importers, wholesalers and retail buyers need to know before they import navel oranges from Turkey.
What the Washington orange is and why retail asks for it
The Washington orange is an early navel variety for the table. It is seedless, its skin peels easily and its aroma is balanced. Those are the traits of fruit meant to be eaten out of hand, and they are what a retail buyer is looking for in a winter orange. Turkish navel oranges of this variety go to retail programmes and to the navel orange wholesale trade alike.
Season: an early variety, November to February
Washington is harvested from November to February. It is the early part of the orange programme; from March the late variety takes over, as explained in our guide for buyers looking for a Valencia orange supplier. The programme as a whole, including how the harvest date is decided by measuring the sugar-acid balance, is described on our page about choosing an orange supplier from Turkey. The fresh produce season calendar shows what else is loading in the same months.
With an early variety, maturity deserves a second look. The UC Davis maturity index for oranges is a soluble solids to acid ratio of at least 8 with yellow-orange colour on at least 25% of the fruit surface, or a ratio of at least 10 with green-yellow colour on 25% of the surface. Colour and ratio are read together.
Narrow size bands
This is the detail specific to Washington in our programme: the fruit is graded into narrow size bands. A wide band puts visibly different oranges side by side in one pack; a narrow band gives a pack of fruit that looks alike. State the band you need in your enquiry, so that the quotation is made for the right grade.
Loose or single-layer packs
Fruit suitable for direct consumption is prepared, at the buyer’s request, either loose in the pack or in a single-layer arrangement. A single layer keeps every fruit visible and free of the weight of fruit above it. Both are available in plastic crates or cartons of 30 × 50 × 22 cm, palletised on 80 × 120 cm euro pallets. For footprints and pallet patterns, see packaging and case sizes in export.
Quality criteria
- Size: within the narrow band agreed in the order.
- Colour: intensity and uniformity of skin colour within the pack.
- Skin integrity: smooth skin, free of cuts, punctures and pressure marks.
- Maturity: harvest maturity as described above.
- Firmness and shape: firm, well-formed fruit.
- Freedom from decay: no green or blue mould, no stem-end rot.
Storage, transport and mixed loads
Oranges are held and carried at 3–8 °C and 90–95% relative humidity; storage life is up to three months, depending on variety, maturity at harvest and growing area. Temperatures that are too low cause chilling injury, which appears as pitting and brown staining of the skin and leads to more decay. Waxing reduces water loss and with it the severity of those symptoms.
Shipments are planned by the truck, and a standard 13.60 m refrigerated truck takes 33 euro pallets. Because Washington and mandarins share most of their season and travel in a similar temperature range, they can be loaded together. Lemons need 12–14 °C, so a truck that also carries lemons is set to the lemon temperature. Oranges are kept out of vehicles running at 0 °C.
HS code, documents and residue analysis
Fresh oranges are classified under HS code 0805.10; please confirm the full tariff line with your customs broker before shipment.
Hatipoğlu Tarım holds ISO 9001, ISO 22000, ISO 10002, GLOBALG.A.P. IFA and GRASP certification, and every lot bound for Europe goes through residue analysis. Our guide to Turkish fruit and vegetable suppliers lists the questions worth putting to any supplier.
Import process in six steps
Harvest, cooling, grading into size bands, packing loose or in a single layer, cold storage, dispatch by refrigerated truck: the six steps are carried out by one company, in house.
How to get a quote
Send us six details: variety, size band, packaging, weekly volume, delivery week and destination country. We can be reached by phone on +90 242 339 55 25, by WhatsApp on +90 534 260 07 25 and 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.
For a winter navel programme, write to us with your size band, pack type and weekly volume.
