Ask a broccoli supplier one question before any other: how long does the head wait between the knife and the cold? Broccoli is a delicate vegetable, and its dark green colour depends on that answer. Hatipoğlu Tarım is an Antalya-based exporter of fresh fruit and vegetables, in business since 2002, and it offers broccoli throughout the year. This guide addresses importers, wholesalers and retail buyers and covers the calendar, selection, cooling, the published temperature data, packaging, customs code, documents and the enquiry.
Broccoli from Turkey: what is assessed
Broccoli is valued for a tight head, a dark green colour and a fresh appearance. Botanically the head is an immature flower cluster, which explains its behaviour after harvest: once the beads begin to open or turn yellow, the head is past its market life.
Season: possible all year, strongest in the cool months
Supply is possible in every month, and the company names the cool months as the strongest period. Buyers who import broccoli from Turkey in the warm months should raise it early in the conversation. The wider picture is in the Türkiye fresh produce season calendar.
Quality criteria
Four points decide whether a head is prepared for export:
- Head tightness: beads closed and firm at harvest.
- Colour: dark green across the whole head.
- Stem: sound, cleanly cut.
- General quality: fresh appearance overall.
Research published by UC Davis puts it in similar terms: all beads closed, a dark or bright green typical of the variety, a compact head, a cleanly cut stem of the required length and no yellow beads. Yellowing of the beads is usually what marks the end of market life.
Cutting and cooling: ice or forced cold air
Broccoli is cut while the beads on the head are tight and dark, and it is cooled quickly after cutting. Field heat is taken out in a short time with ice or with forced cold air, which helps to protect colour and freshness. This is the company’s own statement about the product, and it is the point to ask about when you compare offers.
Shelf life by temperature: UC Davis data
The following figures are research data from UC Davis, not a company specification. At 0 °C and a relative humidity above 95%, broccoli keeps for at least 1 month. At 5 °C the figure falls to about 14 days, and at 10 °C to about 5 days; the values vary with variety and growing season. Read together, the three figures show how much a few degrees on the road matter.
Broccoli is extremely sensitive to ethylene. According to the same data, 2 ppm of ethylene at 10 °C cuts shelf life by 50%. Loading broccoli with apples, pears, melons or tomatoes is therefore not recommended. It can travel with white cabbage, cauliflower, radish, carrot and sweet corn, which are all carried at around 0 °C in high humidity. Our article on the cold chain in fresh produce export explains why an unbroken chain matters.
Pack size and HS code
Broccoli is prepared in packs measuring 50 × 40 × 23 cm. The packs are palletised on 80 × 120 cm euro pallets. State the head size you need in the enquiry.
Broccoli falls under HS 0704.10, the six-digit heading it shares with cauliflower. Have your customs broker confirm the full tariff line ahead of shipment.
What broccoli wholesale suppliers should document
When you compare broccoli wholesale suppliers, ask each for two things: certification and residue results. Hatipoğlu Tarım holds ISO 9001, ISO 22000, ISO 10002, GLOBALG.A.P. IFA and GRASP, and each lot going to Europe is analysed for residues. Read more in which certificates European buyers require and in our guide to EU pesticide MRLs.
Six steps from cutting to dispatch
As a broccoli exporter in Turkey, Hatipoğlu Tarım handles six steps in house: harvest, cooling, grading, packing, cold storage, dispatch. With broccoli the second step follows the first closely. Loads are planned per truck, and one standard 13.60 m refrigerated truck holds 33 euro pallets.
How to ask for a quote
Begin the enquiry with six facts: type, head size, packaging, weekly quantity, delivery week and destination country. Call +90 242 339 55 25, message us on WhatsApp at +90 534 260 07 25, or e-mail 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 weekly broccoli volume and the months you need, and let us prepare the season plan and the price quotation.
