Your second Egyptian order is worth more attention than your first, because it is the first one you can place with evidence instead of assumptions. The trial container told you how the supplier communicates, how the goods travel on your lane and how your own warehouse handles them. Most buyers repeat the first order unchanged, which throws that information away. Here is what to change instead.
Review the first load against four numbers
Before changing anything, write down four figures from the first shipment. Percentage of cartons rejected or downgraded on arrival. Days from arrival to the last carton sold. Actual landed cost per carton against your estimate. Days between the RFQ and the goods reaching your door. Every decision below comes out of one of those four.
| What you saw | What to change |
|---|---|
| Fruit sized above or below what sells | Name the count, not the grade, and add a tolerance percentage |
| Sold out in four days | Raise that line and cut a slow line, keeping the same pallet count |
| Still selling after three weeks | Halve the quantity before renegotiating the price |
| Handling damage at your own unloading | Change pallet height or carton format, not the supplier |
| Landed cost above estimate | Find the line that moved, usually freight or local charges, before touching the FOB price |
| Arrived a week later than planned | Move the RFQ earlier rather than compressing the packing schedule |
Turn the trial into a written specification
The single highest value change is to stop ordering by product name. Second orders should carry variety, count or calibre, carton net weight, pack format, minimum Brix or firmness where it applies, tolerance percentages and the maximum acceptable defect level. That document is what a future dispute is measured against, and writing it after the first load means the numbers in it are real rather than copied from a template. The product specification guide sets out the clauses in order.
What you can reasonably ask for on order two
- A named contact who handled the first load, rather than the general sales desk.
- Loading photographs and the temperature logger placement agreed in advance rather than requested afterwards.
- A softer deposit, since payment history now exists. Moving from full advance to a deposit plus balance against documents is a normal step at this point.
- An indicative price for the following month, so you can quote your own customers forward.
- A reserved pallet position on a specific weekly sailing, which is the first step towards the rolling programme that makes cost per carton fall.
What not to change yet
Resist changing supplier, product mix, pack format and Incoterms all at once. If the second load underperforms after four simultaneous changes, there is nothing to learn from it. Change the specification and one commercial variable, and hold everything else steady for one more shipment.
Peivana supplies these loads and is not an impartial adviser on supplier selection.
Place the second order
Send what arrived, what sold and what you want changed, and we will quote the revised load with the specification written in. WhatsApp +20 10 9911 1918.