Buyers who need a cocktail tomato supplier are usually filling a specific gap in their range: a tomato larger than a cherry, smaller than a standard round, and regular in shape. Hatipoğlu Tarım is an Antalya-based exporter of fresh fruit and vegetables, established in 2002, and it supplies cocktail tomatoes from glasshouses in all twelve months. This guide is for importers, wholesalers and buyers who supply restaurants. It covers the product, the calendar, quality criteria, the single-layer pack, temperature by ripeness, ethylene, the HS code, documents and how to get a quote.
What Turkish cocktail tomatoes are and who buys them
The cocktail tomato sits between the cherry tomato and the standard tomato in size. It has full, firm flesh and a balanced flavour, and it is preferred above all in restaurant supply. Professional buyers expect every fruit in the case to match, which is why Turkish cocktail tomatoes are selected on size and ripeness as strictly as on appearance. The smaller class is described in our guide for buyers looking for a cherry tomato supplier from Turkey; the full range is in the tomato export guide.
Season: greenhouse cocktail tomatoes in every month
The crop is grown in glasshouses, which is what allows supply throughout the year; our article on protected cultivation explains how Antalya keeps loading in winter. Winter quantities are more limited. A buyer who gives the weekly requirement in advance has the programme planned around it.
Quality criteria
Cocktail tomatoes are selected for export on:
- Size: uniform within the carton; the size you need is stated in the order.
- Colour: even across each fruit and across the carton.
- Skin integrity: no cracks, splits or pressure marks.
- Ripeness: one agreed stage for the whole lot.
The fruit is harvested by hand, and only once it has coloured evenly.
Packed in a single layer
This is the detail that sets the cocktail tomato pack apart. The tomatoes are packed in a single layer, in cartons of 30 × 40 × 13 cm. With one layer there is no fruit resting on other fruit, so pressure on the surface is reduced and the regular appearance is kept. For a product bought for its regular appearance, that matters more than fitting extra weight into the case. For cocktail tomato wholesale the same carton is used; it is arranged on 80 × 120 cm euro pallets according to the loading plan. Case formats across the range are compared in packaging and case sizes in export.
Transport temperature by ripeness, and chilling injury
Tomato temperature depends on ripeness: 10–12.5 °C for light red fruit, and 7–10 °C for firm-ripe fruit, which can be kept there for 3–5 days. Relative humidity should be 90–95%. At a suitable temperature the typical shelf life after the firm-ripe stage is 8–10 days.
Setting the truck colder does not extend that. Tomatoes kept below 10 °C for longer than two weeks, or at 5 °C for longer than 6–8 days, show chilling injury in the form of uneven colouring, premature softening, pitting of the skin, browning of the seeds and more decay. Tell us your transit time, and we will discuss the ripeness stage at loading with you.
Ethylene and mixed loads
Ripening tomatoes produce a moderate amount of ethylene and should not be stored or loaded with sensitive products such as lettuce and cucumbers. Tomatoes therefore do not share a vehicle with cucumbers or aubergines, and none of these products travels with fruit carried at 0 °C. Cocktail and cherry tomatoes follow the same temperature rules. More background is in our article on the cold chain in fresh produce export.
HS code and documents when you import cocktail tomatoes from Turkey
Cocktail tomatoes are classified as fresh tomatoes under HS code 0702.00. Your customs broker should confirm the classification before shipment.
Certification at Hatipoğlu Tarım comprises ISO 9001, ISO 22000, ISO 10002, GLOBALG.A.P. IFA and GRASP. Cocktail tomato lots bound for Europe all go through residue analysis. How the limits apply is explained in our article on EU pesticide MRLs, and the usual paperwork is listed in which certificates European buyers require.
Import process: six steps to the truck
Cocktail tomatoes move in six steps: harvest, cooling, grading, packing, cold storage and dispatch, all carried out in house. Shipments are planned by the truck, each standard 13.60 m refrigerated truck taking 33 euro pallets.
How to get a quote
To quote we need six details from you, namely type, size, packaging, weekly volume, delivery week and destination country. These are the basis for the loading plan and the quotation. Phone +90 242 339 55 25, WhatsApp +90 534 260 07 25 and info@hatipoglutarim.com are the ways to reach us.
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, weekly volume and delivery week for your cocktail tomato programme, and we will prepare a loading plan and a quotation.
