Lemon is the citrus line most often left out of a mixed Egyptian container, and it is usually a mistake. Demand for it is steady rather than seasonal, it holds well in transit, and it fits a half pallet cleanly. Lime is a smaller category but suits the same buyer. This note covers what a mid-size importer should know before putting either on an RFQ.
Varieties and windows
Adalia. The Egyptian commercial lemon, oval with a pronounced neck, thin to medium rind, high juice content. This is the volume variety and what you will be offered unless you ask for something else.
Eureka. Smoother rind, fewer seeds, familiar to buyers used to Spanish and South African supply. Volumes are smaller than Adalia but available.
Baladi lime. Small, round, thin-skinned, sold by weight rather than count. Mainly a Gulf, Levant and specialist-retail item rather than a mainstream European one.
Lemon is not a single-window crop in Egypt. The main harvest runs from roughly August through to February, and a second summer crop, sometimes sold as the off-season or Verna-type flush, comes in around May through July. For a part-load buyer this is the useful part: lemon is one of the few Egyptian fruit lines you can put in a container for most of the year, which makes it a good filler alongside seasonal products.
Sizes and pack formats
Lemon is sold on count per carton. On a 15 kg carton the common bands run from around 75 fruit at the largest size to 180 at the smallest, with 100 to 140 being the usual retail range. Ten kilogram cartons are also standard, and some programmes take 4 kg or 5 kg cartons for lighter handling. Retail nets of 500 g or 1 kg are available but carry a minimum print run, which matters on small volumes.
Lime is generally packed in 4 kg or 10 kg cartons and specified by size class rather than exact count.
For part-load purposes, a half Euro pallet of 15 kg lemon cartons is broadly 20 to 25 cartons, around 300 to 375 kg. A full 1000 x 1200 mm pallet runs to roughly 60 to 80 cartons depending on carton footprint and height limit. If you are buying one pallet, state whether you want it as a full pallet or half pallets of two different sizes, because the packhouse will build it differently.
Temperature and shared loads
Lemon carries at 10 to 13 degrees Celsius, which is warmer than orange and mandarin and notably warmer than pomegranate. That is the single most important planning fact for a mixed container. Lemon held at a citrus set point of 4 to 5 degrees for three weeks arrives with rind pitting and no way to prove when it happened.
In practice this means lemon shares a container comfortably with lime, grapefruit at the upper end of its range, and warm-temperature vegetables, but sits awkwardly with orange, mandarin and pomegranate. If lemon has to travel with cold-set citrus, the compromise set point should be agreed in writing and you should accept a shorter usable shelf life on the lemon. The full compatibility picture is in our note on reefer set point conflicts in mixed containers.
Lemon is also a heavy ethylene responder in the wrong direction. Keep it away from ripening fruit in the same box.
What to put on the RFQ
Variety, Adalia or Eureka, and whether substitution is acceptable. Count per carton and carton net weight. Whether you want degreened or naturally coloured fruit, since early-season Egyptian lemon can be green and some markets do not mind. Juice content or Brix if your customer cares. Set point. Number of pallets and whether full or half. Incoterm under Incoterms 2020 with the named place written out. Delivery week rather than sailing week.
If this is a first order, a single pallet alongside a product you already buy is the sensible way to test it. Our note on what a supplier needs to quote a part-load the same day lists the eight lines that turn an enquiry into a price.
Peivana supplies Egyptian lemon and lime in part-load quantities from a single pallet, in mixed containers with other Egyptian products, from GLOBALG.A.P and BRC certified supply. Send your delivery town, count, carton format, pallet quantity and target week on WhatsApp to +20 10 9911 1918 and we will quote the same day.