Size code
Orange size 8, and the tolerance behind the label
A package marked size 8 is allowed to hold more than the code says. The standard grants every class a tolerance of one fruit in ten from the code immediately above and the code immediately below, and at this narrow part of the scale that pushes the lawful content of the box well past its own band.
The figures
| Size code | 8 |
|---|---|
| Diameter range | 64–73 mm |
| Varieties we pack in this size | None of ours is packed mainly in this size |
| Size tolerance in every class | 10 % from the code above and below |
| Widest lawful content of a package marked 8 | 62–76 mm, tolerance included |
What it changes on an order
You sample on arrival
A handful of fruit outside the band proves nothing by itself. The tolerance is counted by number or by weight across the package, so your sample has to be large enough to show the outliers pass one in ten.
You write penalties into a contract
A penalty triggering on any fruit outside the band contradicts the standard and will not survive a first inspection. Set the threshold at the tolerance or above it and the clause becomes something you can enforce.
You are looking for this size from us
Our declared ranges stop above this code, so an order for it is an order for fruit we have not said we grade. Tell us what the size has to achieve, because the requirement behind the number is the part we can answer.
What this note does not settle
- The tolerance described here is the standard's floor for any class. A contract is free to be stricter, and this page does not make ours stricter.
- No line in our catalogue declares this code, so nothing on it is an offer.
- Sampling method, sample size and who witnesses the count are contract matters. The standard sets the threshold and stops there.
The label and the box are not the same claim
A code printed on a package describes what the package was sized to, not the diameter of every fruit inside it. The standard builds a margin into every class, in both directions, and the margin exists because a grading line is a machine with a real error rate rather than a promise.
Where the bands are narrow, that margin does most of the work. Lawful content stretches into the codes on either side, which is why an arrival check that measures a handful of fruit and finds outliers has found precisely what the rules predict. The test is proportion, and proportion needs a sample.
Writing a clause that survives an inspection
Contracts forbidding any fruit outside the band read well and fail at the first check. An inspector applies the standard, the standard grants the margin, and a clause stricter than the rule needs the supplier to have agreed to it in writing and priced it accordingly.
The version that works names the threshold, the sampling method and the moment of inspection. Three lines, agreed before the first load, and the argument about the fourth load never happens. Our catalogue stops above this code, so with us the conversation would begin elsewhere, though the drafting lesson holds wherever you buy.
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.