How should freeze-dried longan be packed and loaded to arrive crisp?
In a foil barrier bag with silica gel, gently vacuumed, sized to one production batch, in a 5-ply carton, floor-loaded into a standard dry container. That is the whole recipe, and each part has a job. Packed that way, freeze-dried longan keeps 12 months at ≤25 °C and RH ≤60%, and 18–24 months in cool storage at ≤18 °C and RH ≤50%. A 20 ft container takes about 550 cartons; a 40 ft HC up to 1,120. The two things that can still go wrong are a bag opened in humid air and a hollow ball crushed in transit, and both are solved before the container is closed.
Why does freeze-dried longan need its own packing recipe?
Because it is light, hollow and sweet. Each ball is an open shell where the seed was, so it breaks under pressure, and its natural sugar draws water from the air the moment the bag is open. Packing has to protect it from two things at once: moisture and squeeze.
| Layer | Specification | What it does for you |
|---|---|---|
| Bulk bag | 1–5 kg PET/AL/LLDPE foil laminate, 100–120 µm | Blocks moisture, oxygen and light; sized to one mixing batch |
| Seal | Gentle vacuum, heat-sealed | Bag sits flat and tight, so balls cannot shift and rub |
| Desiccant | 50–100 g food-grade silica gel per bag | Mops up any moisture that gets in at the seal or during inspection |
| Gas | No nitrogen flush | A puffed bag gets squeezed when cartons stack, and hollow balls crack first |
| Carton | 58 × 28 × 34 cm, 5-ply export board | Stacks seven high on the container floor |
| Retail option | 30 / 50 / 100 / 500 g foil zip pouches, window pouches in high-barrier laminate | Sealed in a dehumidified packing room at source |
The no-nitrogen choice surprises some buyers, so here is the field reason. Nitrogen protects fat from going stale, and longan has almost no fat. What longan fears is crushing, and a pillow-shaped bag of gas becomes a cushion that the carton above presses into the balls. Badly packed, puffed lots can reach port with 15–20% fines; gently vacuumed lots stay within the ≤3–5% fines limit in the specification.
How many cartons fit in a container?
Freeze-dried longan fills a container by volume, not by weight. The box is full long before it is heavy, so the grade you choose decides how many kilograms you ship.
| Container | Cartons (floor-loaded) | Whole balls, 7 kg | Pieces, 9–10 kg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 ft | about 550 (8 across × 10 deep × 7 high) | about 3,850 kg | about 5,000–5,500 kg |
| 40 ft HC | up to 1,120 (8 × 20 × 7) | about 7,840 kg | 10,080–11,200 kg |
| 40 ft palletised | 20–24 pallets, about 760–840 cartons | about 5,300–5,900 kg | about 6,800–8,400 kg |
Three decisions sit in that table:
- Grade. Pieces put about 30–40% more fruit into the same container as whole balls, so every fixed cost (freight, port, broker) is spread across more kilograms. Use whole balls where the shopper sees the shape and pieces everywhere else.
- Floor-loaded or pallets. Pallets cost 25–32% of the space but unload by forklift in minutes. Floor loading suits importers with a team at the dock; pallets suit 3PL warehouses that charge by the hour.
- Six or seven layers. Seven layers fill the box to the roof. For a rainy-season sailing or a long transshipment, six layers (about 480 cartons in a 20 ft) leave about 35 cm of headroom, so condensation dripping from the roof lands on air, not on the top row.
How long does freeze-dried longan last, and what decides it?
Storage temperature and an unopened bag. In the original foil bag with its desiccant, freeze-dried longan keeps 12 months at ≤25 °C and RH ≤60%, and 18–24 months in cool storage at ≤18 °C and RH ≤50%. The product leaves the partner facility at water activity ≤0.25, well inside the 0.30 contract limit, and that margin is what carries it through a sea leg, a port and the first months in your warehouse.
| Your warehouse | What to expect | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Air-conditioned, ≤25 °C, RH ≤60% | 12 months in the original bag | Rotate first-in, first-out |
| Cool store, ≤18 °C, RH ≤50% | 18–24 months | Use it for stock held past a season |
| Hot, humid (Gulf summer, Southeast Asia, unconditioned sheds) | Shorter; crunch fades first | Move cartons into conditioned space on the day of devanning |
| Private label with a long printed date | Depends on your retail pack | FruitBuys runs an accelerated shelf-life study on your final pouch |
Producer’s tip for the line: open one bag per batch. Bulk bags are sized to one production run so that your team empties a whole bag into the mix and every other bag stays sealed until its turn. A half-used bag left open on a humid shift floor is how crisp longan turns chewy.
What can happen between the packing room and your dock?
Three things, and each has a fix built into the pack or the booking.
- Port heat. A dry container standing in summer sun at Cat Lai or a transshipment hub gets far hotter inside than the air outside. The foil bag and the aw buffer carry the product through days of that; what matters is moving it into conditioned storage once it lands.
- Container rain. Warm, humid air inside a container condenses on the cold steel roof at night and drips. The foil bag stops it reaching the fruit, the 5-ply carton absorbs the first drops, and six-layer loading keeps the top row clear of the roof.
- Customs inspection. An inspector who opens a carton may slit a bag. Ask your broker to have opened bags taped shut and noted on the inspection record; check those bags first at receiving.
At your dock, photograph the container as opened, check two or three bags from different rows for crack, colour and aroma, and read water activity on a freshly opened bag. Report anything outside the specification within 14 days of devanning for packaging, appearance, breakage or water activity, and within 30 days for laboratory results. FruitBuys keeps a retained sample from every container lot for its full shelf life and tests it alongside yours. The full receiving routine and the release limits behind it are in what moisture, water activity and COA freeze-dried longan should ship with.
Which packing fits your channel?
| Your channel | Pack | Carton | Load |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snack brand repacking whole balls | 1–2 kg foil bags | 7 kg | 20 ft floor-loaded, about 3,850 kg |
| Granola, cereal, bakery line | 5 kg foil bags of pieces | 9–10 kg | 40 ft HC, 10,080–11,200 kg |
| Tea blender | 1 kg bags of whole balls or halves | 7–8 kg | 20 ft, six layers for long transit |
| Distributor to retail | Retail pouches, 30–100 g | By pouch count | Palletised for the 3PL |
| Private label | Your printed pouch, sealed at source | By pouch count | See private label freeze-dried longan |
If your warehouse has no climate control and stock has to sit through a hot season, the better fit is a smaller bulk bag (1 kg instead of 5 kg) and scheduled monthly call-offs instead of one large container: Mekong longan is harvested every month, so FruitBuys packs each lot close to its call-off date and your stock never has to sit through a hot season. How the packing room and sealing are controlled at the partner facility is in how freeze-dried longan bulk matches the approved sample, and the full product sheet is on the freeze-dried longan product page. Loading choice and carton format belong on the first email; the full list is in the freeze-dried longan RFQ checklist.
FAQ
How is freeze-dried longan packed for export?
In 1–5 kg PET/AL/LLDPE foil bags, gently vacuumed with 50–100 g of silica gel, in 58 × 28 × 34 cm 5-ply cartons: 7 kg of whole balls or 9–10 kg of pieces per carton.
How long does freeze-dried longan last?
12 months at ≤25 °C and RH ≤60%, and 18–24 months in cool storage at ≤18 °C and RH ≤50%, in the original unopened bag with desiccant.
Why no nitrogen flush?
Longan has almost no fat to protect from oxygen, but its hollow balls crack under pressure. A gently vacuumed bag sits flat and tight; a puffed nitrogen bag gets squeezed when cartons are stacked.
How many cartons fit in a 20 ft container?
About 550 floor-loaded, seven layers high: about 3,850 kg of whole balls or 5,000–5,500 kg of pieces. A 40 ft HC takes up to 1,120 cartons.
Does freeze-dried longan need a refrigerated container?
No. It ships in a standard dry container. Move it into conditioned storage at ≤25 °C on the day it is devanned.
Can I order pallets?
Yes. A 40 ft takes 20–24 pallets, about 760–840 cartons, unloaded by forklift at your warehouse.
What should I do with an opened bag?
Use it in the same batch. Bags are sized to one production run so the rest stay sealed until their turn.
