Size code
Orange size 5, and the codes its edges touch
Size 5 is the only code on the orange scale whose two edges both land exactly on another code's edge. Its floor is the ceiling of size 8 and its ceiling is the floor of size 2, so a fruit at either end of this band carries a second code three steps away. All three of our oranges pack it.
The figures
| Size code | 5 |
|---|---|
| Diameter range | 73–84 mm |
| Varieties we pack in this size | Navel Foios, Navel Lane Late, Navelina |
| Lower edge, shared with size 8 | 73 mm |
| Upper edge, shared with size 2 | 84 mm |
What it changes on an order
You are drafting a substitution clause
A code whose edges touch codes three steps away is the widest net you cast without writing a range. Useful when the point of the order is volume through a season rather than a look on a shelf.
You take fruit from more than one packer
Two houses working honestly to this code hand you fruit that a third house would have coded differently at each end. Agreeing the gauge and the sampling method in advance costs less than arguing about a pallet after it lands.
You are choosing between a code and a count
The standard accepts a count in place of a code, and a count changes meaning with the box. If your customer's paperwork runs on counts, fix the format first and the rest of the specification turns into arithmetic instead of a negotiation.
What this note does not settle
- Our varieties declare this code. The week in which each of them fills it is decided by the crop and by the packer, not by the catalogue.
- No count per box or weight per fruit is fixed here. Both are still to be confirmed.
- The edges described above are the standard's, not a tolerance. The allowance for fruit from the neighbouring codes sits on top of them.
A band that touches both its distant neighbours
Read down the scale and the bands slide past each other in small steps. This one lands so that its floor is the exact ceiling of a code three places below, and its roof the exact floor of a code three places above. Nothing else on the scale manages both.
For a buyer that turns into reach. A specification written here overlaps more of the scale than any other single code, which helps when the order is about keeping a line running and hurts when the order is about a shelf where every fruit has to look like its neighbour.
What reach costs you
The same width that makes this code easy to fill makes it loose to inspect. Two packing houses working honestly to it will hand you pallets that look different, and both of them will be right. Agreeing the gauge, the sampling method and who reads the result turns that from a surprise into a known quantity.
There is a second option the standard offers and buyers forget: size by count. A count is unambiguous once the box is fixed, and it is the language most retail paperwork already speaks. Ours are not published yet, and saying so is the only honest answer until the packer confirms them.
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.