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Egyptian Baladi Lemon Export: Counts, Season and Packing
Baladi is Egypt’s traditional lemon: rounder and thinner-skinned than Eureka, more acidic, carrying more seeds but giving more juice. It is the juice and foodservice lemon, and the one Middle Eastern buyers ask for by name. Where a European supermarket expects the long, thick-skinned lemon shape on the shelf, that is Eureka, not Baladi.
This page is the ordering view: the window, the counts, the packing and the cold chain. For the full technical comparison of Baladi against Eureka, and the storage detail that makes lemons different from every other citrus, see the Egyptian lemon export specifications.
Table of Contents
Baladi or Eureka: Which to Specify
| Baladi | Eureka | |
|---|---|---|
| Shape | Rounder | Elongated |
| Peel | Thinner | Thicker |
| Seeds | More | Few |
| Acidity | Higher | Lower |
| Juice content | Higher | Lower |
| Best for | Juice extraction, foodservice, intense lemon flavour | Retail appearance, zesting |
| Strongest markets | Middle East | UK, Germany, Netherlands, France |
Availability Through the Year
Egyptian lemons are the one citrus available in all twelve months. Peak quality runs October through April, with full yellow colour and the best condition. Summer fruit, May to September, comes from different orchards and later-maturing trees: it is sound fruit but may show more green, and prices are firmer because several other origins are between seasons.
Volume still varies month to month and is confirmed per shipping week rather than committed across the year. The month-by-month view sits in the citrus seasonality calendar.
Counts and Grading
Lemon counts run from 75, the largest, to 140. European retail usually asks for counts 95 to 125; Middle Eastern juice and foodservice buyers take a wider range, because appearance matters less than yield.
| Count | Approx. weight per fruit | Typical buyer |
|---|---|---|
| 75 | 190–210 g | Large-fruit retail, gifting |
| 95–125 | European retail core range | |
| 140 | 100–110 g | Juice, foodservice, value retail |
Class I is the grade most contracts are written against, under the applicable UNECE marketing standard. Extra Class sits above it as a separate, stricter tier — the tolerances are in our Extra, Class I and Class II reference.
Packing Formats
- 15 kg carton — the export standard, and what a quotation assumes unless you say otherwise.
- 10 kg carton — easier handling for smaller buyers.
- Bulk bins — for juice and processing buyers who do not need carton presentation.
- Retail-ready packs and mesh bags — for supermarket programmes, with a minimum per format.
- Private label — custom carton printing carries a minimum per design and needs lead time before the first shipment.
Full carton dimensions, pallet configuration and container loading are in our citrus export packaging standards.
The 10-13°C Rule
This is the single most expensive mistake made with Egyptian lemons. Lemons are sensitive to chilling injury below 10°C. Oranges store happily at 5–7°C, but a lemon held at that temperature develops peel pitting, brown staining and internal breakdown within days — and the damage is often invisible until the fruit warms up at destination, by which point the quality is already gone and the claim is being argued after the fact.
- Store and ship Baladi lemons at 10–13°C, with 85–90% relative humidity.
- Never load lemons in the same container as oranges unless the box is set for lemons — and at that setting the oranges suffer instead. The 5°C gap makes a shared container a choice about which fruit to damage.
- Specify a data logger in the contract, with its placement and recording interval, so the temperature history exists if a question comes up later.
Held correctly, lemons keep up to six months — longer than any other citrus. Fruit held that long belongs in processing rather than fresh retail. The protocols are in our cold chain guide.
Markets We Ship To
- GCC and the wider Middle East — the core Baladi market, on flavour and juice yield.
- Europe — specialty, ethnic and foodservice channels; mainstream retail there generally specifies Eureka.
- Industrial and processing — juice and concentrate buyers, where appearance is irrelevant and yield decides.
What each destination requires on size, grade and documentation is in our export markets index.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Baladi lemon?
Baladi is Egypt’s traditional lemon: rounder and thinner-skinned than Eureka, more acidic, with more seeds but a higher juice yield. It is bought for juice extraction, foodservice and intense lemon flavour rather than for retail appearance.
Are Baladi lemons available year-round?
Egyptian lemons are available in all twelve months, which is unusual among citrus. Peak quality runs October through April; summer fruit from May to September is sound but may show more green, and prices are firmer because other origins are between seasons. Volume is confirmed per shipping week.
Why must Baladi lemons be stored at 10-13 degrees C?
Below 10 degrees C lemons suffer chilling injury: peel pitting, brown staining and internal breakdown within days. The damage is often invisible until the fruit returns to room temperature, so it surfaces at destination. Oranges store at 5 to 7 degrees C, which is why lemons need their own cold room and their own container setting.
Can I ship Baladi lemons in the same container as oranges?
Not without damaging one of the two. Lemons need 10 to 13 degrees C and oranges 5 to 7, and a single container has one setting. Ship them separately, or accept that whichever fruit is outside its range will arrive downgraded.
What is the minimum order for Baladi lemons?
One 40 ft reefer container. The carton count and net weight are confirmed against the pack specification for the count and format you order. Mixed containers with other citrus are possible in principle, but not with oranges, for the temperature reason above.
Request a Quote for Baladi Lemons
Tell us the destination port, the count range, the volume and the shipping week, and we will come back with a quotation and the container setting we will ship at.
Email: [email protected]
WhatsApp: +20 109 911 1918
Office: +20 109 911 1918