Home / How we work
Enquiry to arrival
Eight steps, in order.
Written out so you can see where your shipment is at any point, and so nobody has to ask what happens next.
Enquiry
Send the product, quantity, packing and destination port, plus any specification you work to. If you do not have one, tell us the end use. A biscuit manufacturer and an oleoresin extractor want very different cumin.
Typical turnaround: same working day.
Quotation
Priced off the day's mandi rate plus cleaning, packing and freight. The quote states a validity, the incoterm and the assumptions behind it. When the market is jumpy we say so.
Samples
Courier samples drawn from stock we can actually buy. For new buyers we send two options side by side, because the difference on paper is smaller than the difference in the hand.
Sample dispatch: [ lead time ]. Courier account or prepaid, your choice.
Contract
Specification, tolerance, packing, marking, shipment window, payment terms and inspection rights in one document. Read the tolerance line carefully. It is the line that decides every future argument.
Buying and processing
Purchased against the contract, then cleaned in stages until it meets the number. Every lot carries an internal lot number from this point, and the counter sample is filed under it.
Testing and approval
In house results first, external laboratory next if the contract needs it. A sealed pre shipment sample goes to you for approval. Nothing loads until that comes back or you waive it in writing.
Packing and stuffing
Bags marked to your artwork, container inspected before loading, photographs of empty and loaded container sent with the seal number on the day of stuffing.
Documents and transit
Draft documents to you for checking before they are finalised. Scans on sailing, originals by courier, and transit updates until the container is discharged at your port.
Indicative timeline
How long each
part usually takes.
In season this compresses. Off season, or when a crop is short, it stretches. We would rather quote a longer window and beat it.
| Stage | Typical duration | What can delay it |
|---|---|---|
| Quotation | Same day to 2 days | Unusual specification or new product |
| Sample dispatch and approval | [ days ] | Courier customs at your end |
| Buying and cleaning | [ days ] | Thin arrivals, short crop |
| External laboratory | 5 to 10 days | Residue panels take longest |
| Packing and stuffing | 2 to 4 days | Container availability |
| Documentation | 3 to 7 days after sailing | Certificate of origin and phyto |
| Transit | By destination | Transhipment, port congestion |