Nobody should put a full reefer behind a supplier they have never bought from. The question is what the smaller step should be, because the three usual options prove very different things and buyers often pick the one that proves the least.
Step one: the courier sample
A courier sample is two to five kilos sent by DHL or FedEx, arriving in three to five days. It costs 80 to 200 US dollars depending on weight and destination, and the exporter usually absorbs it on a serious enquiry.
What it proves is narrow. You see variety, size, skin condition and, on fruit that survives the journey, flavour. You do not see packing quality at scale, cold chain discipline, grading consistency across a lot, or whether the supplier can hold a specification over 5,000 cartons. A perfect courier sample is the exporter hand-selecting twenty pieces. Treat it as confirmation that the product exists and roughly matches the description, nothing more.
Ask for the sample to be drawn from a live packing lot with the lot code recorded, and ask for photographs of the pallet it came from. That single request separates exporters who pack what they sell from those who pack a sample.
Step two: the air freight trial
An air trial is 100 to 500 kg flown from Cairo, arriving in one to two days. Freight runs roughly 2.50 to 4.00 US dollars per kilo depending on destination and season, which means the landed cost is well above sea freight and the shipment will not be profitable. That is the point. You are buying information, not margin.
An air trial proves grading consistency across a real lot, carton and label quality, documentation accuracy and how the supplier behaves under a deadline. It is worth doing when the product is high value, when you need to put fruit in front of a customer before committing, or when the sea season is about to close and you cannot wait five weeks for a container to answer the question.
Step three: the small part-load
For most mid-size buyers this is the right first order. Two to five pallets inside a mixed container, sea freight, arriving under normal commercial conditions on a real reefer with a real set point.
This is the only step that tests the whole chain. Pre-cooling, stowage, temperature stability over fourteen days, arrival condition, documentation, and how the supplier responds if something goes wrong. A supplier who handles a two-pallet problem properly will handle a twenty-pallet problem properly. One who goes quiet on a small claim will go quiet on a large one.
Put a temperature logger in the load and ask for the download at both ends. Photograph the pallets before the container is stripped. Our guide to the first hour after the doors open covers what to record and in what order.
Paying for a first order
Neither side has a track record on a first shipment, so terms tend to be conservative. Advance payment by TT is common on small volumes. Cash against documents gives the buyer a little more control at modest cost. A letter of credit is rarely worth the bank charges on a two-pallet order. The trade-offs are set out in payment terms for Egyptian produce orders, and what a proper quotation should contain before you confirm anything is in reading an Egyptian produce quotation.
Peivana accepts trial part-loads from two pallets and quotes the same day, with GLOBALG.A.P and BRC certified sourcing and mixed containers built to order. To arrange a sample or a first small shipment, message us on WhatsApp at +20 10 9911 1918.