Logistics
Air and sea carriage, planned around your shelf life.
We load out of Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Chennai, Tuticorin and Cochin, and fly perishables from Chennai, Cochin, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi.
Air Carriage
Used for fresh vegetables, curry leaf and coriander bunches, sample consignments and any urgent replenishment. Produce is harvested, pre-cooled and palletised the same day, with temperature-controlled build-up at the airport and cool-chain handover to the carrier.
- · 100 kg to 5,000 kg per consignment; charter for larger volumes.
- · Ventilated 5 kg cartons, punnets or buyer-branded retail packs.
- · Booking cut-off 24 hours before departure; AWB shared on uplift.
- · Phytosanitary certificate issued at origin airport for perishables.
Sea Carriage
The default mode for spices, herbal powders, essential oils and long-keeping vegetables. We ship FCL in 20' and 40' units, reefer containers at set temperature and humidity, and LCL consolidation for trial orders.
- · 20' GP ≈ 18–22 MT; 40' HC ≈ 24–26 MT depending on density.
- · Reefer settings from +2°C to +13°C with humidity control and data logger.
- · Dry-container stuffing with liners, dunnage bags and moisture absorbers.
- · Fumigation, container inspection photos and seal number shared pre-sailing.
Indicative sea transit times
Port-to-port sailing days, excluding customs clearance at destination. Actual schedules are confirmed at the time of booking.
| Destination port | Loading port | Transit time | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jebel Ali, UAE | Nhava Sheva / Mundra | 5 – 8 days | Weekly direct |
| Dammam, Saudi Arabia | Nhava Sheva | 7 – 10 days | Weekly direct |
| Singapore | Chennai | 8 – 11 days | 2 sailings / week |
| Port Klang, Malaysia | Chennai / Tuticorin | 9 – 12 days | Weekly direct |
| Colombo, Sri Lanka | Tuticorin | 2 – 4 days | Multiple weekly |
| Rotterdam, Netherlands | Nhava Sheva | 22 – 28 days | Weekly, 1 transhipment |
| Felixstowe, United Kingdom | Nhava Sheva | 24 – 30 days | Weekly |
| Hamburg, Germany | Mundra | 24 – 30 days | Weekly |
| New York / Newark, USA | Nhava Sheva | 30 – 38 days | Weekly via Suez |
| Los Angeles, USA | Chennai | 32 – 40 days | Fortnightly |
| Mombasa, Kenya | Mundra | 12 – 16 days | Weekly |
| Durban, South Africa | Nhava Sheva | 18 – 24 days | Fortnightly |
| Sydney, Australia | Chennai | 22 – 28 days | Weekly, 1 transhipment |
| Yokohama, Japan | Chennai | 18 – 24 days | Weekly transhipment |
Indicative air transit times
| Destination | Origin airport | Door-to-airport transit |
|---|---|---|
| Dubai / Sharjah | Chennai, Cochin, Mumbai | 12 – 24 hours |
| Doha, Muscat, Kuwait | Chennai, Cochin | 18 – 30 hours |
| Singapore, Kuala Lumpur | Chennai, Bengaluru | 24 – 36 hours |
| London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam | Mumbai, Chennai | 36 – 48 hours |
| New York, Toronto | Delhi, Mumbai | 48 – 72 hours |
| Nairobi, Johannesburg | Mumbai | 36 – 60 hours |
Packing & palletisation
Jute or PP bags of 25/50 kg, food-grade liners, vacuum packs for powders, HDPE and epoxy drums for oils, and heat-treated ISPM-15 pallets with stretch wrap and corner boards.
Shipping documents
Commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading or AWB, certificate of origin, phytosanitary certificate, fumigation certificate, COA, MSDS and any buyer-specific attestation — couriered and emailed within 48 hours of sailing.
Container planning
Choosing the right equipment and load
Freight per kilogram falls sharply once a container is loaded to its weight limit rather than its volume. We plan the pack size, pallet pattern and bag weight around the equipment before quoting, so you are not paying to ship air.
| Equipment | Internal capacity | Typical payload | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20' GP dry | 33 CBM · 10 pallets | 18 – 22 MT | Spices in bags, dehydrated onion, herbal powders |
| 40' GP dry | 67 CBM · 20 pallets | 22 – 24 MT | Cartoned and light-density spice lines |
| 40' HC dry | 76 CBM · 20 pallets | 24 – 26 MT | Mixed-SKU loads, retail cartons, drums of oil |
| 20' reefer | 28 CBM · 9 pallets | 16 – 20 MT | Onion, potato, ginger, gourds, yam |
| 40' HC reefer | 67 CBM · 20 pallets | 22 – 25 MT | Full vegetable programmes, IQF and chilled lines |
| LCL consolidation | 1 – 15 CBM | Up to 8 MT | Trial orders and mixed sample consignments |
Reefer settings by commodity
Temperature, ventilation and relative humidity are set at stuffing and logged for the whole voyage. The data logger download is shared with the arrival documents.
| Commodity | Temperature | Relative humidity | Approx. shelf life |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onion (cured) | 0 – 2°C | 65 – 70% | 60 – 90 days |
| Potato & sweet potato | 7 – 10°C | 90 – 95% | 45 – 70 days |
| Fresh ginger & turmeric | 12 – 13°C | 90 – 95% | 30 – 45 days |
| Gourds, pumpkin, ash gourd | 10 – 12°C | 85 – 90% | 21 – 30 days |
| Okra & green chilli | 8 – 10°C | 90 – 95% | 14 – 21 days |
| Drumstick (moringa pods) | 8 – 10°C | 90% | 14 – 18 days |
| Leafy herbs & coriander | 1 – 4°C | 95% | 5 – 10 days (air preferred) |
| IQF vegetables | -18°C | n/a | 18 – 24 months |
Freight & costing
What sits inside a freight quotation
We show the freight component separately on every CFR and CIF offer, so you can see exactly what is commodity cost and what is carriage. Ocean quotes stay valid for 15 days because of bunker and peak-season surcharges; air rates hold on the booking date.
Ocean freight components
Base ocean rate, BAF/bunker, currency adjustment, terminal handling at both ends, seal, documentation and, in season, peak surcharge or equipment imbalance fee.
Air freight components
Chargeable weight (the greater of actual and volumetric at 1:6,000), fuel and security surcharge, airline terminal handling, AWB fee and cool-chain build-up.
Origin charges
Inland haulage to port, customs clearance, export documentation, phytosanitary and fumigation fees, ISPM-15 pallets and container inspection.
Reefer extras
Genset for inland movement, pre-trip inspection, plug-in charges at terminals and any monitoring or data-logger service you ask for.
Insurance & risk
Marine all-risk at 110% of invoice value on CIF/CIP, including war and strikes clauses; claims supported with our stuffing photographs and lab reports.
Destination costs
Not included on FOB/CFR/CIF: destination THC, customs duty, port storage, demurrage and delivery — we can quote DAP or DDP where our partners cover the lane.
Packing & palletisation
Jute or PP bags of 25/50 kg, food-grade liners, vacuum packs for powders, HDPE and epoxy drums for oils, ventilated cartons for produce, and heat-treated ISPM-15 pallets with stretch wrap and corner boards. Standard pallet patterns are 1000 × 1200 mm for Europe and 1100 × 1100 mm for Asia, shrink-wrapped and edge-protected, with pallet labels carrying lot code, net weight, best-before and barcode.
Shipping documents
Commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading or AWB, certificate of origin (with FTA or GSP forms where applicable), phytosanitary certificate, fumigation certificate, COA, MSDS, health certificate, insurance policy on CIF and any buyer-specific attestation or legalisation — couriered and emailed within 48 hours of sailing, with draft copies sent for your approval before originals are issued.
Incoterms 2020 — who does what
| Term | We arrange | You arrange | Risk passes |
|---|---|---|---|
| FOB | Inland haulage, customs, loading on board | Ocean freight, insurance, destination | On board at the loading port |
| CFR | All of FOB plus ocean freight | Insurance and destination charges | On board at the loading port |
| CIF | All of CFR plus marine insurance at 110% | Destination clearance and delivery | On board at the loading port |
| CIP | Carriage and insurance to a named place | Import clearance and duty | On handover to the first carrier |
| DAP | Everything to your named delivery address | Import duty and taxes | At the named destination |
| DDP | Everything including duty and taxes | Unloading only | At the named destination |