Two columns, and what they say about the first list
On what this country declared for 2024 the two shelves behave differently. Sugar confectionery came to 11,880,026 US dollars, supplied along the same coast: Côte d'Ivoire at 61.1 per cent, Nigeria at 17.1, Türkiye eighth at 0.44. Chocolate came to 7,266,340 US dollars from further off: France at 41.8 per cent, Italy at 21.6, Türkiye fourth at 8.39.
Chocolate lines therefore join as an origin your shelf already accepts; confectionery lines as the part of that column not bought on cents per kilo. One container carries both.
Which lines go on the list
The range is chocolate, dragées, Turkish delight, wrapped confectionery and spreads in jars, and a first list usually draws from several of those. Measured French search points at one group: the wedding-guest phrase at 140 searches a month, the word dragée at 70, the wedding-dragée request written three ways at 30 each — one request rather than three.
Beside it sits loukoum at 50 a month, a product nobody here needs explained, and in English a chocolate box at 50. Small figures, presented as small, but they match things made in Gaziantep.
Format is a second decision, and it moves the price
Line and format are chosen separately. The same product exists as a bulk carton, a kilo bag for a counter, a printed retail box, a single-portion wrap, and a jar where the product is a spread.
Each format carries its own case weight, minimum and lead time, so each is quoted on its own row instead of folded into one price. Dragée colour is a production run rather than a packing choice, so the minimum per colour and its lead time belong in the offer, not in a phone call.
What the carton has to carry
The mandatory information goes on in French, with English alongside where your shelf wants it: the name of the food, the ingredient list with allergens, metric net weight, the importer's name and address, and the date marking. For own-label lines the content comes from our technical data sheet, and your artwork is checked before printing.
One rule does not bend: a line coated in vegetable fat is named a compound or a glaze on the data sheet, on the pack and in the price list, never chocolate; in the European Union it cannot be labelled chocolate at all.
Heat and route decide what shares the box
This is a coastal market, so the load reaches a port of entry directly rather than crossing a neighbour first, with the route, the entry point and the transit named in the offer for your clearing agent to check. Terms quoted are FCA Gaziantep, FOB Mersin, CIF or DAP, and Mersin port is about three hours from our factory by road.
Chocolate and chocolate-coated lines are quoted in a reefer through the warm months, while Turkish delight, dragées, jellies and wrapped confectionery travel dry. Both can share one container, so say beforehand whether the last leg is cooled.
Confirm these and the container gets built
Five things settle it from your side: the lines you want priced, the format for each, an indicative quantity, the delivery point, and whether the pack keeps our standard pack or carries your brand. Name the importer of record too.
What comes back is written: price per line, case weight, lead time, delivery term, and the origin document with therules as they apply on the day. Certificates are issued for our factory and the holder isnamed, not claimed as ours. Couverture, bulk chocolate by the kilo, raw nuts, cocoa, baklava, halva and tahini are sourced on request, with composition and format confirmed beforequoting. Send the list and ask for the offer — the container is built from that sheet.
Turkish product is a fraction of the sweets column here. Is it worth putting on a first list?
Not the plain sweet sold by the kilo — on that line a West African source at 61.1 per cent of the column wins on freight. What is worth listing is the part of the shelf that is not bought on cents per kilo: dragées in colours and printed boxes, chocolate-coated lines, boxed Turkish delight, gift packs and own-label runs. In the chocolate column Turkish origin is already fourth at 8.39 per cent, so there the question is only whether you want a second source quoted in writing.
Does a mixed container mean one minimum for the whole load?
No. The load is one full container, but the minimum sits per line and per format, so a first order can carry several categories in modest quantities instead of committing to one product. Dragées add a further step, because colour is a production run: the offer states the minimum per colour and the lead time for it separately.
What has to be confirmed before you can quote?
The product references, the format for each line, an indicative quantity, the delivery point, the importer of record named on the pack, and whether the label keeps our standard pack or carries your brand. Tell us as well whether the last leg is temperature-controlled, because it changes which lines belong in the same box. The answer comes back in writing, line by line.
