Size code
Orange size 13 and the legal minimum diameter
Size 13 begins at the minimum diameter for selling an orange fresh, which makes its floor a legal line rather than a grading preference. No code sits beneath it, so the tolerance that otherwise lets a package borrow from the size below runs into an absolute limit written into the standard, and under that limit the fruit has nowhere left to go.
The figures
| Size code | 13 |
|---|---|
| Diameter range | 53–60 mm |
| Varieties we pack in this size | None of ours is packed mainly in this size |
| Minimum diameter for oranges under the standard | 53 mm |
| Lower limit of the 10 % size tolerance | 50 mm |
What it changes on an order
You are clearing a conformity check on import
An inspector at this code is checking a legal minimum and not a commercial grade. Fruit under the floor is not a discount, it is a load that cannot be marketed fresh, and that is a different conversation with a different outcome.
You buy the tail of a grading line
The smallest fruit of a pick is the part of the crop with the fewest homes, which is why it reaches you first and cheapest. Knowing exactly where the legal floor sits is what keeps a cheap offer from turning expensive.
You are checking a rejected consignment
Two floors matter here and they are not the same number. One is the size at which fruit stops meeting the code, the other the size at which it stops being marketable at all, and a rejection has to say which one it means.
What this note does not settle
- This page covers the size rules. Minimum juice content, the sugar to acid ratio and colouring are separate maturity requirements with thresholds of their own.
- Nothing of ours is graded at this code, and the grading tail of our pick is not something we sell from this site.
- National rules at the port of entry sit on top of the marketing standard and are not reproduced here.
A floor, not a grade
Every other line on this scale separates one commercial quality from another. This one separates fruit allowed on a shelf from fruit that is not, and the difference bites at the moment a load is inspected rather than at the moment it is bought.
Underneath the floor the standard leaves a narrow margin for the tolerance to work in, and then it stops. No code below, nothing to be downgraded into, no discount that makes the fruit marketable. That is the whole mechanism, and it is worth knowing before a cheap offer lands in your inbox.
Two floors, and the one your rejection means
A rejection at this end of the scale has to say which line it invokes. Fruit below the code is a contractual matter between buyer and seller. Fruit below the legal minimum is another thing entirely, and it changes who carries the loss and what becomes of the pallet.
Size is also one threshold among several a consignment has to clear. Juice content, the sugar to acid ratio and colouring are set separately for oranges and checked separately too, so a load passing on diameter has passed one test out of four.
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.