Trade term
Wax on citrus, and where it has to be declared
A thin coating is commonly applied after washing to slow water loss and restore the shine that washing removes. It is a food contact material and it belongs on the packaging declaration. A buyer who needs to state it downstream cannot discover it from the fruit.
The figures
| Purpose | Slows moisture loss and restores gloss after washing |
|---|---|
| Where it is declared | On the package, not on the fruit |
| Who needs it | Anyone labelling the fruit further down the chain |
What it changes on an order
You sell into retail
The declaration has to travel with the goods, because your own label depends on it. Ask for it in writing with the order and not after the pallet arrives.
You supply an organic or clean label programme
The permitted list is narrower, and a coating that is fine in one programme can disqualify a lot in another.
You are repacking
Fruit that arrives coated stays coated. Your own declaration has to carry it through.
What this note does not settle
- Whether our fruit is waxed is unconfirmed. It is listed as pending on all four varieties, and we will not state it until the packing is settled.
- Which coatings are permitted is set by food law and by the programme you sell into, and both change. This note does not list them.
The declaration belongs on the package
Citrus loses water through its rind from the hour it is cut, and a thin coating slows that loss, holds the gloss a display needs and carries the fungicide that keeps rot out of a pallet. The coatings permitted for surface treatment of citrus are authorised food additives. What few buyers know is that the European marketing standard turns the question into a labelling obligation: where a preservative or another chemical substance has been used after harvest, the package has to say so.
So the first place to look is the box rather than the specification sheet. A package carrying no such statement is making a claim about the fruit inside it, and a supplier who treats without declaring has a compliance problem rather than a commercial preference. Few things in a citrus purchase are verifiable on the receiving dock with no instrument at all. This one is.
Too heavy a coating and the fruit breathes its own exhaust
A coating is a barrier, and a barrier works in both directions. Laid on too thickly, or chosen too tight for the fruit, it slows the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide until the flesh begins fermenting inside an intact rind. The fruit looks immaculate. It tastes of alcohol and stale air, and that complaint reaches you from the shelf rather than from your intake bay, which is what makes it expensive.
Ask what was applied, ask whether fungicide went on with it, and tell the supplier what the fruit is for. A customer who zests peel or candies it has a different requirement from one selling loose fruit by the kilo. Our own post-harvest treatment is unconfirmed, the field stays open on the datasheets, and the question belongs in the first conversation rather than the last.
Talk to the grower
Tell us the variety, the sizes and the delivery week you need. You get a delivered price and what we can commit to in writing, from the person who picks the fruit.
The grower handles enquiries. Response times are still to be confirmed.