Red cabbage wholesale turns on colour as much as on tightness: the buyer wants a dense head in a vivid purple-red. Hatipoğlu Tarım, an exporter of fresh fruit and vegetables founded in 2002 and based in Antalya, lists red cabbage in all twelve months of its calendar. The pages below are meant for importers, wholesalers and retail buyers, and they follow the questions such buyers usually ask: when the colour is strongest, how the heads are chosen, what they are packed in, how they travel and how a quotation is requested.
The product: dense, tight and purple-red
Red cabbage stands out for a tight head, a dense texture and a vivid purple-red colour. Its handling is close to that of white cabbage and the two can be ordered side by side. What separates them is that colour is a selection criterion here and not there.
When red cabbage from Turkey shows its deepest colour
The product calendar marks all twelve months. The company’s own observation is that cool nights help the colour to darken, so the strongest tones are seen in winter production. A buyer whose customers judge the product by colour may therefore want to weight the programme towards the winter months. How those months fit with other crops can be read in the Türkiye fresh produce season calendar.
How the heads are chosen
As a red cabbage supplier, Hatipoğlu Tarım selects the heads on:
- Weight: heads are sized, and the class is agreed in the order.
- Head tightness: a closed, dense head.
- Leaf integrity: sound leaves, without tearing.
- Colour: a vivid purple-red.
UC Davis, in its published data for cabbage, measures maturity by compactness: a compact head can be only slightly compressed with moderate hand pressure, while a very loose head is immature. The same source describes good quality as a head that is firm, heavy for its size and of the colour typical for the type once the wrapper leaves are off, with crisp, turgid leaves and no insect damage, decay or seed stalk.
Cleaned, sized and packed on the day of harvest
The heads are cleaned, sized and packed on the day they are harvested. For the buyer this shortens the distance between the field and the crate; it does not replace refrigeration on the road.
Temperature, humidity and ethylene: the published figures
The figures in this section come from UC Davis and are research data, not the company’s storage rules. Cabbage is held at 0 °C with relative humidity over 95%. Early cabbage lasts 3–6 weeks; late varieties last up to 6 months. Some benefit is reported from a controlled atmosphere of 2.5–5% O2 and 2.5–6% CO2 at 0–5 °C. Heads that have been stored for a long time are re-trimmed, because the outer leaves deteriorate first.
Ethylene causes cabbage leaves to yellow and to detach, which is why ventilation in the store matters. On the road, red cabbage fits with broccoli, cauliflower, radish, carrot and sweet corn, all carried near 0 °C in humid air. Apples, pears, melons and tomatoes give off ethylene, and loading them in the same vehicle is not recommended. See also the cold chain in fresh produce export.
Two crates for red cabbage bulk supply
Two formats are listed for this product: a wooden crate of 40 × 50 × 22 cm and a plastic crate of 30 × 50 × 22 cm. Both are loaded on euro pallets measuring 80 × 120 cm. For red cabbage bulk supply, tell us which of the two your warehouse handles better; the formats are compared in packaging and case sizes in export.
Red cabbage is declared under HS 0704.90 at six digits. Ask your customs broker to confirm the full tariff line before the goods move.
Paperwork behind each lot
ISO 9001, ISO 22000, ISO 10002, GLOBALG.A.P. IFA and GRASP are in place. Residue analysis is carried out on every lot that leaves for Europe. If your quality department wants to check limits before the first order, start with our note on EU pesticide MRLs.
Import process in six steps
Harvest, cooling, grading, packing, cold storage and dispatch are the six steps, and with this product cleaning, sizing and packing all take place on harvest day. The shipment unit is the truck: 33 euro pallets fit a standard 13.60 m refrigerated trailer.
Requesting a quotation
Buyers who import red cabbage need to give six pieces of information: the type, the size, the crate, the quantity per week, the week of delivery and the country of destination. Our telephone is +90 242 339 55 25, WhatsApp is +90 534 260 07 25, and e-mails go 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 crate choice, weekly quantity and the months you want covered, and let us prepare the season plan and the price quotation for red cabbage.
