Canners judge a white beans supplier by one thing: what the bean looks like after retorting. A lot that soaks unevenly, splits in the blancher or clouds the brine costs a factory far more than the price difference to a proper canning-grade alubia. Egypt has become a serious origin for white beans — alubia-type, bright white, thin-skinned — grown on Delta and Nubaria rotations and processed through modern cleaning, size-grading and optical-sorting lines.
This guide is written for canners, soakers and retail packers: what alubia grade actually specifies, the caliber table, the soak and cook tests you should demand before contracting, packing in 25/50 kg PP bags, and how white beans ride in mixed legume containers. Baseline specs are on the dry white beans product page. PEIVANA — the flexible Egyptian exporter — quotes canning programmes the same day.
Types and Grades
Alubia type: medium-large, elongated-oval white bean, thin transparent skin, bright white colour — the Mediterranean canning standard (comparable to great northern / cannellini family).
Canning grade (Grade 1): purity 99%+, uniform caliber within a declared band, max 1% broken/split, max 0.5% discoloured or yellow bean, virtually free of wrinkled and immature seed. Uniformity is the defining spec — mixed sizes soak unevenly and split.
Standard grade (Grade 2): purity 98%+, wider size band, up to 3% broken — for milling, flour and low-spec wholesale, not recommended for canning.
Sizes & Calibers
| Caliber | Count per 100 g | Seed length | Best use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large | ≤ 210 | 12–15 mm | Premium retail jars |
| Medium | 210–260 | 10–12 mm | Canning workhorse |
| Small | 260–320 | 8–10 mm | Soups, baked-bean styles |
Contract on count per 100 g with a tolerance (e.g. 230 ± 20) rather than words like “medium”. Uniformity within the band matters more to line yield than the band itself.
Packing Formats
| Format | Net weight | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PP woven bag | 25 kg | Export standard, printed or neutral |
| PP woven bag | 50 kg | Industrial canners |
| Poly bags in carton | 10 × 1 kg | Retail private label |
| Big bag | 1,000 kg | High-volume processing lines |
Container loading: ~24–25 t per 20′, kraft-lined, fumigated, moisture max 12–13%. Lot traceability printed on every bag — essential when a canner needs to isolate a soak problem to one production day.
Season
Egyptian white beans come off two windows — spring crop harvested June–July and autumn (nili) crop October–November — giving two new-crop moments per year, with cleaned stock shipping year-round. Cross-reference with the rest of your programme on the Egyptian produce seasons calendar.
QC Checkpoints: the Soak and Cook Tests
- Soak test (hydration coefficient) — 12–16 h soak at 20 °C: target water uptake ≥ 1.8× dry weight with ≤97–98% of beans fully hydrated; hard-shell (non-soakers) above 2–3% is a rejection-level defect for canners.
- Cook / retort simulation — after soak, boil 30–40 min: splits and butterflied beans ≤5%, skin intact, no mushiness, brine stays clear (starch cloud indicates old or heat-damaged stock).
- Uniformity audit — screen analysis showing ≥95% within the declared caliber band.
- Colour & defect count — yellow/stained beans ≤0.5%, broken ≤1%, foreign matter ≤0.5% with stones itemised.
- Moisture & crop year — max 13% and declared crop year on the contract; beans older than 18 months harden and stretch cook times.
- Fumigation & sample — phosphine certificate; sealed pre-shipment sample big enough to run your own soak test (2 kg recommended).
Mixed-Container Fit
White beans slot straight into a mixed legumes container from Egypt — a classic 20′ build is 8 t alubia + 8 t chickpeas + 9 t red split lentils, one bill of lading, one inspection visit. For canners trialling Egyptian origin, that structure lets you test 8 t of alubia without committing a full solo box; the broader consolidation logic is in our mixed produce containers guide.
FAQ
What makes a white bean “canning grade”?
Three things: caliber uniformity (≥95% in band), soakability (≥97% hydration, minimal hard-shell) and retort survival (splits ≤5%). Purity and colour matter, but those three drive line yield.
How should I trial a new origin before a season contract?
Run our sealed 2 kg sample through your own soak/cook protocol, then take a mixed-container quantity (5–8 t) inside a legume load before scaling to dedicated containers.
Do you declare crop year?
Yes — crop year and lot codes on every bag and every certificate; new-crop and carry-over stock are quoted separately and never blended.
Request a Quotation
Send caliber band, grade, bag format and destination — PEIVANA returns a firm canning-grade offer, usually the same day. Use the contact form or WhatsApp.