Two road legs, and the sea leg between them
The producers load in Gaziantep; Mersin is about three hours away by road. That first leg sets the date the container is available for a vessel.
From Mersin the sea leg runs to the gateway port you name. There the box is discharged, goes back onto a road and heads inland to a border post. Your shelf arrived the same way: on 2024 declarations about 80.8 per cent of chocolate and 78.0 per cent of sugar confectionery crossed a land border. The shape is familiar; what differs is the number of warehouses between producer and truck.
The gateway is a decision, not a detail
Beira and Durban are the usual gateways, and they differ: sailing time from Mersin, and the length of the inland run behind each. A price without a named port compares with nothing, so the offer names the one it is written against.
Four terms are quoted: FCA Gaziantep, FOB Mersin, CIF or DAP, and the term marks where your cost and risk begin. FCA hands the cartons to your forwarder at our factory door, so all three legs are yours; FOB moves the handover to the vessel; CIF reaches the port of discharge; DAP your delivery point.
Inland under transit, entered at the border
Discharge at the coast is not entry. The container travels inland under transit, still closed, and is entered at the border post — two steps, and the second is the one that touches your stock.
The entry is filed by the importer of record, who answers for the description given. Your clearing agent confirms what applies on the day; no supplier abroad holds that position. The offer names the port, the route, the term and the point of entry before you order.
What travels with the cartons
The supply file is the part we answer for, and it reads the same on every route: the technical data sheet per product, the analysis report per line, and our certificates. Certificates are issued for our factory, with the holder andcertifying body identified per line.
The origin document is named in the offer in the form valid on the day it is written; arrangements and rates move, so the offer states what applies on the day and your agent confirms it at entry.
The label content, in English
English carries the mandatory information: the name of the food, the ingredient list with allergens declared, metric net weight, storage conditions, the importer’s name and address, and the date marking. For own-label lines it is drafted from our data sheet and checked againstyour artwork before print.
One word does not move on any route. A coating made with vegetable fat is a compound or a glaze on the data sheet, on the pack and in the price list, never chocolate — in the European Union it may not be labelled as chocolate at all. The jar line is a spread.
Where the cool chain ends, and what to send
On a route that ends overland, a reefer booked for the sea leg alone leaves the last stretch to an open road, in the heat. So the offer names the reefer lines — chocolate and chocolate-coated through the warm months — and where the cooled part stops.
To have the route priced, send the lines you want quoted, the format for each, an indicative quantity, the gateway port and delivery point, and whether the pack stays in our standard pack or carries your brand. One container can be mixed across as many lines as you like. Couverture, bulk chocolate by the kilo, raw nuts, dried fruit, cocoa, baklava, halva and tahini sit outside the range: sourced on request, with composition and format confirmed before quoting. Send the list; the offer comes back in writing.
There is no seaport here. Where does the container change hands?
That is what the delivery term settles, and the offer names it: FCA Gaziantep, FOB Mersin, CIF or DAP. Under FCA every leg from our factory door is booked by you; under DAP the inland leg from the port of discharge sits with us. Beira and Durban are the usual gateways, and the offer names the one it is quoted against along with the point of entry.
Who declares the goods, and what do you supply behind that?
The importer of record files the entry and answers for the description given; your clearing agent confirms what applies on the day. Our side is the supply file: the technical data sheet per product, the analysis report per line, and certificates issued for our factory with theholder and the certifying body identified.
Does the reefer cover the road leg as well as the sea leg?
It has to on a route that ends overland, so the transport instruction is written that way and the offer states where the cooled part of the journey stops. Chocolate and chocolate-coated lines are quoted in a reefer through the warm months; Turkish delight, dragées, jellies and wrapped confectionery travel dry. Both can share one container.
