Table eggs

Sizes and grading

Grading is by weight, not by eye: S is under 53 g, M is 53–63 g, L is 63–73 g and XL is 73 g and above. Most Gulf demand sits in M and L; XL is seasonal and carries a real premium. We have the farm fix the size by weight in the purchase order rather than by trade name, because one farm's "large" is not another's. Shell colour — white or brown — has no bearing on the egg itself, but it decides who the end customer is, and it has to be settled before booking because white and brown flocks are separate houses on the farm.

Packing and shipment format

The trade unit is a 30-egg tray, in either moulded pulp or clear plastic. Pulp is cheaper and absorbs shock better; plastic looks cleaner and is what retail chains ask for. The common export case holds 12 trays — 360 eggs — stacked on treated wooden pallets. How many cases fit a container is calculated from the case dimensions and the stacking height, not from a general figure, and we fix it in the packing list before loading. Trays printed with the importer's own brand are available at most farms above an agreed minimum quantity.

Cold chain and transport

Eggs are neither frozen nor left at ambient. They travel chilled within a steady range at high humidity, and the real risk is not heat on its own but swings. Every time the temperature drops and rises again, condensation forms on the shell, and condensation is what lets contamination through the pores. So we fix the container temperature in writing on the shipping order and ask for the data-logger record at discharge rather than a verbal promise of one. For nearer destinations a refrigerated truck beats sea freight by a margin that matters on an item with a finite life.

Certificates and conformity

Every egg shipment needs a veterinary health certificate from the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry carrying the approved establishment number, together with a salmonella analysis under the national control programme. For Saudi Arabia specifically, the exporting establishment must be registered with the Saudi Food and Drug Authority before shipment, not after — this is the single most common reason a new importer's container stops. The label must be in Arabic and carry the lay date, expiry date, origin, producer and storage conditions, per GSO 9 on the labelling of prepackaged foodstuffs. The share of shelf life that must remain on arrival is checked before the loading date is fixed, because it varies by product and destination.