Two different orders, one search box
In the United States, freeze dried bulk and freeze dried fruit bulk are typed into the search box by two different buyers. One wants plain dried fruit by the sack, nothing added and nothing coated, for snack packing, cereal, bakery or emergency food. The other wants the finished confection: whole fruit under a chocolate or sugar shell, which is what chocolate covered freeze dried strawberries means on a retail shelf. We are the second buyer's supplier. Plain uncoated fruit, including bulk freeze dried strawberries in sacks, is sourced on request; we confirm composition and format before quoting.
On our lines it is a centre, not a novelty
On the dragée lines in Gaziantep the freeze-dried piece is a centre like any other. Whole strawberries and blackberries go into the pan and come out under milk, dark, white or coloured coatings; a fig centre runs on the same line. The fruit keeps its shape and its acidity, which is the whole point, and it is why the coated piece tastes nothing like a fruit jelly. The range sits on the dragées page beside the sugared almonds and the crispy centres, because it shares the same pans, the same cartons and the same factory.
Doypack for the shelf, carton for the line
Two formats cover most of what a US buyer asks for:
- Retail doypack. A resealable stand-up pouch for the checkout rack, the specialty grocer or an online listing, in our standard pack or under your own brand.
- Bulk carton. Lined cartons for repackers, bulk-bin programmes, bakery and ice cream plants, and for anyone building a gift assortment of their own.
The format is decided before the offer, not after. A pouch and a carton do not share a pallet plan, and a retail pack and a bulk pack of the same product can sit on different tariff lines.
Chocolate or compound: the name on the pack
US standards of identity define what a food may be called, and the chocolate names are among them. A vegetable-fat coating is a legitimate product with real advantages in warm-weather distribution, but it is not chocolate and cannot be sold under a chocolate name. Every quotation states, line by line, whether the coating is chocolate or compound, so the wording on your pack is settled before anyone designs it. If the listing has to read dark chocolate covered freeze dried strawberries, the line is quoted as real chocolate and priced that way.
Allergens, the data sheet and the US file
Each product carries a technical data sheet: ingredients, allergen statement, storage and handling. That sheet is the source for everything downstream. The label is English, and the Nutrition Facts panel and the allergen declaration are prepared to US rules; on private label we prepare them and nothing is printed until you approve it. The regulatory split does not move either. Our factory holds its food facility registration with the US food authority through a US agent, and the offer carries it for every line so your file points at the right plant. Prior notice and supplier verification stay with the importer; what we hand over is what those need, product by product.
One container, several lines
Freeze-dried dragées rarely fill a container on their own, and they do not have to. They travel with the rest of the range, chocolate, sugared almonds and lokum, each line on its own pallet with one packing list per pallet. Coated pieces need a controlled temperature and a reefer in the warm months. Payment is half with the order and half against the loading photographs before the doors close; delivery is FCA Gaziantep, FOB Mersin, CIF or DAP. There is no free trade agreement between the United States and Türkiye, so the offer states the tariff line and the duty that applies on the day. The written offer follows within two working days, in US dollars, and the United States page covers what stays the same on all of them.
Do you supply plain freeze-dried fruit in bulk?
Not from our own range. Plain uncoated fruit is sourced on request; we confirm composition and format before quoting. What runs on our lines is the coated piece: a whole strawberry or blackberry under a chocolate or sugar shell.
Is the coating real chocolate?
It depends on the line, and the quotation says so line by line. US standards of identity reserve the chocolate names for cocoa-butter products, so a vegetable-fat coating is quoted and labelled as compound, never as chocolate.
Can the doypack carry our own brand?
Yes, on selected dragée lines. Label content, including the Nutrition Facts panel and the allergen declaration, is prepared from the technical data sheet and approved by you in writing before anything is printed.
Who files the US import paperwork?
The importer of record. Prior notice and supplier verification sit on your side. We state our factory's registration for each line in the offer and supply the technical data sheets, our certificates and lot traceability that your file needs.
