Every wholesale market on earth runs on the same three products. Potatoes, onions and garlic are the cargo that never goes out of fashion — no trend cycle, no shelf-life panic, no delicate handling. For wholesalers and foodservice distributors, a combined potato onion container from Egypt is one of the lowest-risk ways to start importing: hardy products, forgiving logistics, and demand you can forecast with a calendar instead of a crystal ball.
PEIVANA loads this exact combination week in, week out. Here is how the staples box works: equipment choice (ventilated vs dry vs reefer), the pallet math behind 25 kg bags, the sweet potato add-on that lifts margin, and the windows that make Egypt a near year-round origin.
Why These Three Travel So Well Together
- Compatible conditions: cured potatoes, dry onions and dry garlic all tolerate ambient or lightly cooled transport — no cold-chain gymnastics.
- Same buyer: the wholesaler who takes your onions takes your potatoes and garlic too; one container serves one customer relationship.
- Complementary value density: potatoes fill weight cheaply, onions balance the load, garlic packs high value into little space — together they optimise the payout per container.
- Staggered but overlapping seasons: Egypt’s harvest windows interlock so the same box ships most of the year (details below).
It is the classic application of the mixed produce container from Egypt: three products, one booking, one document set.
Ventilated, Dry or Reefer? Choosing the Equipment
The biggest technical decision in a staples load is the container type — and the honest answer depends on lane, season and duration:
| Equipment | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Ventilated (“coffee”) container | Onions and garlic on short-to-medium lanes; classic choice for Gulf onion trade — continuous passive airflow keeps bulbs dry | Limited availability with some lines; no temperature control in extreme heat |
| Standard dry container | Short transits (Red Sea, East Mediterranean) in mild months; cheapest option | Condensation (“container rain”) on long voyages or big day–night temperature swings; never for summer Gulf transits of onions |
| Reefer, vents open / set +5 to +10 °C | Long lanes (Europe, Far East), summer shipments, table potatoes, any load where arrival quality is contractual | Higher freight; reefer slots tighten in citrus season — book earlier |
Rule of thumb: under ~10 days transit in cool months, dry or ventilated works; anything longer, hotter or quality-critical goes reefer. Potatoes are the most sensitive of the three — table potatoes headed for retail almost always justify a reefer at +4 to +8 °C with vents managed against greening and sprouting. Equipment supply differs by port too; see our Egyptian ports guide for how we pick the gateway.
The Pallet Math: 25 kg Bags in a Container
Staples are sold by the tonne, so the math matters more than in any other category. The standard export unit is the 25 kg mesh or PP bag, stacked on wooden pallets (or floor-loaded, below). Typical figures for a 40ft box:
| Product | Bags per pallet (25 kg) | Weight per pallet | Pallets per 40ft | Payload (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potatoes | 40–48 | 1,000–1,200 kg | 20–22 (reefer) | 24–26 t |
| Golden onions | 40–48 | 1,000–1,200 kg | 20–22 | 24–26 t |
| Dry garlic | 50–60 (10 kg cartons × 100–120 also common) | 600–900 kg | 20–22 | 13–18 t (volume-limited) |
| Mixed example | 10 pallets potato + 8 onion + 4 garlic | — | 22 | ≈ 22–24 t |
Floor-loading note: on price-driven lanes (onions to the Gulf especially), bags are often floor-stacked without pallets, lifting payload toward 27–29 tonnes in a 40ft — at the cost of slower discharge. We quote both ways so you can weigh freight-per-tonne against handling cost at destination. Weight, not volume, is usually the binding constraint: road limits at destination can cap the legal payload below what the box physically holds, so confirm your country’s limit before maxing the load.
The Sweet Potato Add-On
The smartest upgrade to a staples box is 2–4 pallets of Egyptian sweet potatoes (Beauregard). They ride at similar temperatures to table potatoes, harvest from late summer through winter with storage stretching supply into spring, and sell at a clear premium over white potatoes in European and Gulf retail. For wholesalers supplying supermarkets, sweet potatoes often carry the margin of the whole container while the classic staples carry the volume. The same slot can alternatively take beetroot or carrots in season — ask when you request your quote.
Year-Round Windows from Egypt
| Product | Fresh harvest | Storage supply | Practical export window |
|---|---|---|---|
| Potatoes | Jan–Jun (main winter/spring crops), autumn crop Oct–Dec | Cold-stored through summer | Nearly year-round; peak Feb–Jun |
| Golden onions | Mar–May (main), early crop from Feb | Dry-stored Jun–Nov | Feb–Nov, often into Dec |
| Garlic | Feb–Apr (fresh/green), dry from Apr | Dry-stored to winter | Fresh Feb–Apr; dry Apr–Dec |
| Sweet potatoes | Aug–Dec | Stored to ~Apr | Aug–Apr |
The overlap means a staples program rarely has to pause — the mix simply tilts (more potatoes in spring, more storage onions in autumn). Cross-check against the full Egyptian produce seasons calendar when planning a rolling schedule, and note that these staples also anchor the winter citrus and onions container when you want fruit in the same box.
Documents and Destination Basics
Staples travel with the standard Egyptian export set — phytosanitary certificate, certificate of origin, packing list and invoice — plus market-specific extras (some destinations require sprout-inhibitor declarations or soil-freedom statements for potatoes). The full paperwork walkthrough is in our export documents and shipping guide. First-time importers will also find the ordering process demystified in the mid-size importer guide.
FAQ: Potato, Onion and Garlic Containers from Egypt
Do onions from Egypt need a reefer container?
Not always. On short lanes in mild months, ventilated or dry containers are standard and cheaper. For long transits, summer shipments or premium table onions, a reefer with vents managed (or set around +5 °C) protects against condensation and quality claims.
How many tonnes fit in a 40ft container of potatoes or onions?
Palletised in 25 kg bags: roughly 24–26 tonnes. Floor-loaded without pallets: up to 27–29 tonnes, subject to the road weight limits at your destination. Garlic cubes out before it weighs out, at roughly 13–18 tonnes.
Can I mix potatoes, onions and garlic in one container?
Yes — it is one of the most common mixed loads we ship. All three tolerate the same carriage conditions on most lanes; a typical split is 10 pallets potatoes, 8 onions and 4 garlic, with sweet potatoes as an optional premium add-on.
Price Your Staples Box Today
Tell us your destination port, preferred bag size and monthly volume, and we will return a same-day quotation with both palletised and floor-loaded options. Contact PEIVANA or message us on WhatsApp.