Planning Canned Food Orders Around the Harvest Season
Canned produce is made when the crop is picked, not when the order arrives. These are the windows that decide whether your container ships this year or next.
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Why Season Beats Lead Time
With most manufactured goods, a lead time is a negotiation. With canned produce it is a calendar. The raw material exists for a matter of weeks, and once the harvest is over the next opportunity is twelve months away. A buyer who approves a specification in October for an apricot line has already missed that year.
Mushroom October to March
The mushroom season runs from October to March. This is the longest window in the calendar and it covers the mainstream champignon lines as well as the speciality varieties. Straw mushroom is the exception and is harvested separately from June to July.
Yellow Peach June to September
Yellow peach runs June to September. It is the largest fruit line and the orchard belt that supplies it sits 70 km from the cannery, which is why the fruit is processed close to picking rather than after a long haul.
Pear June to November
Pear has the widest fruit window at June to November, which makes it the easiest fruit line to schedule late. It is packed from Su pear and Crown pear varieties.
Apricot May to June
Apricot is the tightest window of all, at roughly six weeks from May to June. Any apricot programme has to be agreed, sampled and approved before May. Golden Sun and Chuanzhihong are the varieties used.
Building a Plan That Works
Work backwards. Fix the specification and approve the sample before the season opens, book the volume against the raw material intake, then schedule production and shipment to your own plan. Vegetable and bean lines are less tightly bound to a single window, so they are usually the flexible part of a mixed container.
Questions on This Topic
Which product has the narrowest season?
Apricot, harvested May to June. It needs to be agreed and approved earliest of all the lines.
Can I order mushroom outside October to March?
Production follows the raw material season. Volume booked in advance is planned against that intake, so early booking matters more than a late enquiry.
Are vegetable lines season-bound in the same way?
They are less tightly bound than the fruit and mushroom crops, which is why they are often used to balance a mixed container.
Apply This to Your Own Order
Send the importing country and the product data and we will confirm the specification that fits your market.