Size code
Orange size 0, the largest code in the standard
Size 0 is the largest code on the EU orange scale, and the top of its band is the only stretch of the scale that no other code reaches. None of our varieties declares it in its size range, so a specification built on this code is a question to put to the grower before it becomes an order line.
The figures
| Size code | 0 |
|---|---|
| Diameter range | 92–110 mm |
| Varieties we pack in this size | None of ours is packed mainly in this size |
| Millimetres no other code reaches | 101–110 mm |
| Package spread limit at 110 mm and over | None set by the standard |
What it changes on an order
You are drafting a size clause
Naming the top code sets a ceiling that nothing above it breaches, because the scale ends here. Every other code on your sheet has a larger one sitting on top of it, and a clause written for one of those inherits an argument that this one never has.
You buy for a display or a gift pack
Large fruit is bought for how it sits in the hand, and the code is the only part of that a standard will defend. Colour, finish and whether a short leafy twig stays on the fruit are presentation questions and belong in their own line of the specification.
You are comparing two offers
An offer quoted at this code and one quoted as a diameter range are not the same promise. The code fixes both ends of the band. A range written by the seller fixes whatever the seller chose, and the two coincide only by accident.
What this note does not settle
- No variety in our catalogue declares this code, so what you have here explains the standard and not an availability we could hold for you.
- Diameter is read across the widest part of the equatorial section. A fruit that has grown oval gives two different readings depending on how the gauge is held, and the standard does not arbitrate between them.
- The scale fixes the band and the class. It says nothing about which market pays for fruit at the top of it, and neither do we.
Where the scale simply stops
Every other code on the sheet has a bigger one above it. This one does not. The consequence a buyer feels is that an argument about fruit being too large has no code to appeal to: past the ceiling of this band the standard stops limiting how much a package varies at all, and the question turns into one of presentation and price rather than conformity.
That is why offers at the top of the scale so rarely arrive with a code attached. Sellers describe them, photograph them, quote them by the piece. A code remains the cheapest way to pin the conversation down, and it is worth insisting on even where the seller would rather talk about how the fruit looks.
Why our catalogue has nothing here
Fruit of this size comes off particular trees, in particular years, after particular thinning decisions. It gets graded out of a pick rather than planned into one. Our varieties declare what the grower says they produce, and not one of them claims to reach this code. Publishing it anyway would be the easiest lie on the whole scale to tell and the hardest to keep.
Where the requirement really is for fruit at this end, the honest move is to say so in the first message. We will tell you what our top code actually is, and whether the week you want holds any of it. Short answer, and better than a catalogue that agrees with everything.
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.