Choosing a strawberry supplier in Turkey comes down to one question: how little time and handling lie between the plant and the cold room. Hatipoğlu Tarım, a fresh produce exporter based in Antalya since 2002, picks strawberries straight into the container they will be sold in and cools them with forced cold air within the first hour after harvest. This guide takes importers, wholesalers and retail buyers through the season, the selection criteria, the published research on temperature, the cartons and the details needed for a quotation.
A fruit that does not forgive delay
The company describes the strawberry as a fruit with a bright red colour, a balanced aroma and a delicate texture, one that calls for fast and careful handling in export. The fruit comes from greenhouses in Antalya.
December to May: the supply window
Strawberries are supplied from December to May, and the product calendar marks the same six months. Buyers who import strawberries from Turkey are therefore looking at a winter and spring line, not a summer one. Tell us the first and the last week you want to receive fruit, so that the programme can be discussed for the whole window. The neighbouring products of those months are shown in the season calendar.
What the fruit is selected on
When you compare strawberry wholesale suppliers, start with colour and firmness. Hatipoğlu Tarım selects the fruit for shipment on four criteria:
- Colour: the bright red named in the product description.
- Size: berries are selected by size; state the size you need in your enquiry.
- Firmness: a delicate fruit has to be firm enough for the journey.
- Surface integrity: the skin of the berry is whole.
Research explains why colour at picking matters. According to data published by the UC Davis Postharvest Center, strawberries do not ripen in response to ethylene and should be harvested near full ripeness; maturity is judged on the surface colour of the fruit. For acceptable flavour the same source recommends at least 7% soluble solids and/or at most 0.8% titratable acidity. These are research values, not a specification issued by the company.
Picked into the sales pack, cooled within the hour
Two statements in the company’s product text set this line apart. First, the berries are picked directly into the container in which they will be sold, which avoids unnecessary transfers. Second, the fruit is cooled with forced cold air within the first hour after harvest and then kept at 0–2 °C until dispatch.
The published research sits close to that range: UC Davis gives an optimum of 0 ± 0.5 °C at 90–95% relative humidity. It also reports that a modified atmosphere with 10–15% CO2 during transport reduces grey mould (Botrytis cinerea) and respiration, the most common method being a cover over the whole pallet, and that removing ethylene from the storage air may reduce disease development. Because strawberries are marketed quickly and stored very briefly, the source does not regard physiological disorders as a major problem. Our article on the cold chain in fresh produce export covers the general principles.
Cartons and the customs code
Strawberries from Turkey are prepared in two carton formats: 30 × 40 × 14 cm and 40 × 60 × 10 cm. They are packed according to the shipment plan. Both footprints are set against the euro pallet in our guide to packaging and case sizes in export. At six digits, fresh strawberries fall under HS 0810.10; please confirm the full tariff line with your customs broker before shipment.
Sharing a truck with other berries
Strawberries, blueberries and kiwifruit are all carried at around 0 °C. Buyers building a berry range can read our notes for a blueberry supplier programme and for physalis, which is a different fruit altogether: an orange berry in a papery husk. Chilling-sensitive lines such as bananas, pineapples, dragon fruit and unripe avocados do not belong in a 0 °C load.
Certificates and residue analysis
A strawberry exporter in Turkey is judged first on its paperwork. The certificates held are ISO 9001, ISO 22000, ISO 10002, GLOBALG.A.P. IFA and GRASP. Every lot bound for Europe passes a residue analysis before it leaves. What European customers usually ask to see is summarised in which certificates European buyers require.
From greenhouse to truck
The company keeps the six steps in its own hands: harvest into the sales pack, forced-air cooling within the first hour, grading by colour, size and firmness, packing into cartons, cold storage at 0–2 °C and refrigerated dispatch. Road shipments are planned by the truck. A standard 13.60 m refrigerated truck takes 33 euro pallets of 80 × 120 cm.
What to send for a quotation
Six details let us answer properly: the variety or type, the size, the carton format, the weekly volume, the delivery week and the destination country. Call +90 242 339 55 25, message us on WhatsApp at +90 534 260 07 25 or write 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.
Contact us with your carton format, your weekly volume and the weeks between December and May that matter to you, and we will draw up the season plan and the price quotation for strawberries.
