No country eats — or understands — fava beans like Egypt, and that expertise runs straight through its export trade. If you are looking for a fava beans supplier in Egypt, you are usually buying for one of three channels: retail packers selling whole beans for foul medames, mills and factories buying split beans for processing, or foodservice distributors covering both. Each channel needs a different spec, and the words whole, split and peeled change the price, the shelf life and the customer.
This guide sets out the sizes, forms, moisture specs and packing formats an importer should fix before contracting — plus the Ramadan demand curve that catches new buyers out every year. PEIVANA supplies fava beans in 25/50 kg PP bags from Alexandria, Damietta and Sokhna, as full dry containers or combined with lentils, chickpeas and white beans in a mixed produce container.
Forms: Whole, Split and Peeled
- Whole fava beans (foul) — dried beans in the skin. The staple form for foul medames; graded by size and uniformity. Broad (large flat) types serve premium retail; medium rounds are the volume trade.
- Split fava beans — skinned and split halves, cooking much faster. The standard for falafel/taameya production, soups and milling. Cheaper input tolerance, but colour uniformity matters.
- Peeled whole — skin removed, bean intact; a niche premium spec for specific processors.
- Double-cleaned bakla — ask what cleaning standard is applied; “machine-cleaned, double-polished, sortex-passed” is the phrase that matters.
Sizes & Grades
| Grade / caliber | Bean size (count or mm) | Form | Typical buyer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extra broad | ≥ 13 mm / ~55–65 beans per 100 g | Whole | Premium retail packs, Gulf markets |
| Broad | 11–13 mm | Whole | Retail and wholesale foul beans |
| Medium | 9–11 mm / ~75–90 per 100 g | Whole | The volume export spec; canneries and repackers |
| Small / mixed | < 9 mm or ungraded | Whole or split feedstock | Milling, falafel industry, price buyers |
| Split — Grade 1 | Uniform halves, ≤ 2–3% broken bits | Split | Food factories, retail split packs |
Write the caliber into the contract as a count-per-100 g or mm screen — “big beans” is not a spec. For canning programs, also specify hydration behaviour (soak test) because canneries live and die by even swelling.
Moisture and Quality Specs
Dried favas are a stored commodity: the spec numbers protect you against weight games and warehouse trouble.
- Moisture: max 13–14% — the single most important number. Above 14% risks mould and heating in the container; suspiciously heavy bags are usually wet bags.
- Purity: min 99–99.5% — foreign matter, stones and other grains excluded by sortex and destoner.
- Defects: max 2–3% combined damaged/broken/insect-bored; max 1% discoloured for premium whole beans.
- Infestation: nil live insects, with fumigation certificate (methyl-bromide-free options available) where destination requires.
- Admixture of other varieties: state a max % — uniform cooking depends on it.
Packing Options
| Format | Net weight | Notes for buyers |
|---|---|---|
| PP woven bag | 25 kg | The standard export unit; printable with your brand |
| PP woven bag | 50 kg | Common for milling and African/Asian wholesale channels |
| Retail packs | 500 g – 1 kg | Private-label pouches in master cartons — MOQ applies for printed film |
| Big bag | 1,000 kg | Factories and repackers |
Favas ship in dry containers; a 20′ takes ~24–25 tonnes in 50 kg bags, a 40′ is usually weight-limited around 26–27 tonnes. Ask for kraft-paper or desiccant protection on humid routings.
Season Timing — and the Ramadan Spike
The Egyptian fava harvest lands in April–May, with cleaned, graded stock shipping year-round from stores (Egypt also processes and re-exports significant volumes, so supply is continuous). The demand event that dominates the trade is Ramadan: foul consumption jumps across the Middle East, North Africa and diaspora markets, and buyers who order in the last six weeks pay peak prices for stretched supply. The professional move is to contract 3–4 months before Ramadan and land stock early — our Ramadan mixed container planning guide maps the exact ordering timeline. For the full crop calendar context, see the Egyptian produce seasons calendar.
QC Checkpoints Buyers Should Demand
- Pre-shipment sample (physical or courier) approved against a retained reference sample.
- Moisture certificate per lot — measured, not declared.
- Sortex/cleaning confirmation with purity and defect percentages on the QC report.
- Cooking / hydration test for canning and foul programs — even softening within a stated time.
- Fumigation certificate and pest-free loading photos.
- Bag marking: origin, crop year, lot, net weight — crop year matters; insist on current-crop or state the blend.
How Fava Beans Fit a Mixed Container
Favas are the anchor of the Egyptian legumes mixed container: one dry box carrying fava beans plus lentils, chickpeas, white beans and rice — a complete grocery-line shipment for a distributor. Because everything is dry and bagged, the combination is simple and the per-product minimums are low. Build sheets are in the legumes mixed container guide and the mixed containers cornerstone.
FAQ
Whole or split — which should I import?
Follow your channel: whole broad/medium beans for retail foul and canning; split Grade 1 for falafel producers, soup and milling. Many distributors take both in one container to cover the range.
What moisture level should I accept?
Maximum 14%, and premium contracts specify 13%. Demand a measured moisture certificate per lot — it protects both shelf life and true net weight.
When should I order for Ramadan?
Contract 3–4 months ahead and ship to arrive at least 4–6 weeks before Ramadan begins. Late buyers face the annual price spike and vessel-space squeeze — see our Ramadan container planning guide.
Get a Same-Day Fava Bean Quotation
Send form (whole/split), caliber, bag size and destination — we will quote the same day, including mixed legume loads. PEIVANA is the flexible Egyptian exporter, shipping from Alexandria, Damietta, Sokhna and Port Said.