Packing format
Mesh bags of oranges, and who owns the label
A mesh is a consumer sales unit made at the packhouse. Once the fruit is inside, the bag is prepacked food: the net quantity and the particulars the citrus marketing standard asks for belong on it rather than on the box around it. What the bag fixes is weight, and that leaves the count open.
The figures
| Net weight | 1–3 kg |
|---|---|
| Intended for | Retail shelf |
| Sales unit | Consumer, so the bag is what the shopper buys |
| Outer package | A box, with bags per box agreed separately |
| Marketing standard particulars | On the consumer unit |
| Net quantity | Declared on the bag, under food information rules |
What it changes on an order
You sell under your own brand
Whoever makes the bag prints the details on it. Artwork, language versions, barcodes and the identification of the packer all have to be settled before the first pallet, and a change of artwork mid-campaign is a packhouse job rather than a phone call.
You order by weight and sell by piece
Each bag holds whatever number of fruit the size gives. Small sizes put more oranges into the same weight, which is visible on the shelf and changes what the shopper thinks they are getting, so the size band belongs in the order next to the bag weight.
Your goods-in team weighs what arrives
Fruit loses weight after packing. Ask how the line sets its fill weight and when the bags are checked, because the weight that has to be right is the one at your door and the packhouse is working days ahead of it.
What this note does not settle
- We have no confirmed bagging line, artwork process or private label service. Everything about a consumer pack has to be agreed with the grower and the packhouse before it can be part of an order.
- The exact wording and placement required on a consumer unit depend on the destination market and on your own retail customer. Read this as the shape of the question and take the wording from the regulation and from your buyer.
- Count per bag is not a property of the format. It follows the size of the fruit, and a buyer who needs a count has to fix the size band at the same time.
Source: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2429, Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on food information to consumers
Two packages, and only one of them speaks
Packing into consumer bags creates a second package with a different job to do. The box protects and travels; the bag is what a shopper reads, holds and carries to a till. Details that live on a transport package in bulk trade move onto the bag as soon as it exists, and designing that bag is a production decision at the packhouse rather than a graphic one.
Artwork, languages, barcodes and the identification of the packer therefore have to be finished before the first pallet is built. A change halfway through a campaign means a new print run and a line changeover rather than an email. Agree the lead time for artwork in the same conversation where you agree the fruit.
The weight is fixed and the count is not
A bag is filled to a weight, so the number of oranges inside moves with their size. Smaller fruit puts more pieces into the same bag, which is visible on a shelf and changes what a shopper believes they are getting. Where count matters to your customer, the size band has to be written into the order next to the bag weight, and the two are agreed together or not at all.
Fill weight carries a quieter problem. Fruit loses weight after packing, and a bag that was correct on the line is asked to be correct at your goods-in scale days later. Ask how the line is set and when bags are checked, so the answer exists before a delivery gets queried instead of afterwards.
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.