Egypt is one of the world's largest table-olive producers, with fruit grown across the Nile Delta, Fayoum and other regions and harvested through the autumn. Importing bulk olives for the first time can still feel opaque. This guide sets out how an order with Triple Company for Industrial Development runs, from the first sample to the documents your customs broker needs. We are a newly established exporter and have not yet completed an export shipment, so where something is agreed per order rather than standard, we say so.
1. Start with a sample
Before committing to a container, ask for a sample of the variety, caliber and packaging you intend to sell. We send 1–5 kg, and sample requests are confirmed within 24 hours by our export team. Your team can then judge flavour, firmness, brine balance and colour against what your market expects. You can request a sample to begin.
Use the sample stage to fix the specification in writing: the type and form (green, stuffed green, natural black or oxidized black; whole, pitted or sliced where offered) and any specific cultivar, whose availability we check for your request, the caliber, the brine and the packaging. Those details become the baseline for your order. If you are unsure which variety fits, see choosing the right variety.
2. Understand calibers and brine
Caliber is the count of olives per kilogram: the lower the number, the larger the fruit. Retail jars usually take larger fruit, while food service and repacking often accept smaller fruit at a lower cost per kilogram. Our olive varieties are offered across a caliber range of 140–360, and the caliber for your order is confirmed from that range during quotation. Each product is in the catalogue.
Brine decides shelf life and taste, so ask for the salt percentage, acidity and pH of every product. We publish those figures for every product — for example 5–8% salt, 0.2–0.5% lactic acidity and pH 3.7–4.2 for green olives — and confirm them in writing for your order.
3. Agree the terms and the minimum order
We quote FOB Alexandria, CIF or CFR, in US dollars or euros. Under FOB you arrange ocean freight and insurance from Alexandria; under CIF or CFR we arrange freight to your destination port. Payment is typically a 30% T/T deposit and 70% against a copy of the bill of lading, and lead time is confirmed per order.
Our minimum order is one 20ft container, about 16–18 metric tons, confirmed during quotation. We don't offer smaller trial orders — the 1–5 kg sample comes first — so plan cash flow and warehouse space around a full container from the start.
4. Choose packaging for your channel
The format shapes shelf life, landed cost and where the product can sell. We supply glass jars from 320 to 1050 ml, tin cans, food-grade buckets of 2, 5, 10 and 20 kg, and 220 kg plastic barrels; the exact sizes are on Packaging & Sizing.
Plan this before you order. The guide to packaging olives for export compares the formats channel by channel.
5. Prepare the documents for customs
Clearance depends on complete paperwork. For every shipment we prepare the commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin, and phytosanitary or health certificate, with the bill of lading. Which further documents your destination market requires is confirmed during quotation, once we know where the container is going. Where our own documentation stands is set out on Quality & Documentation.
Missing or inconsistent documents are a common cause of demurrage at the destination port, so check the set against your broker's list before the container sails. What to ask any supplier about this is in choosing an exporter.
Fix the specification at the sample stage, agree the terms and the full-container minimum early, choose packaging for your channel, and check the document set before shipment. When you are ready, request a quote: Mohamed Abdullah, who handles our sales, will take you through each step of your first container.