The basics for finding suppliers, publishing your offer, choosing an Incoterm and getting paid safely. This is general information: every deal has its own particulars.
Find a supplier
How to use the directory and the calendar to find who has the product you need, when you need it.
On PlentiFrut every company declares what it produces, from which region and in which months. The calendar tells you what is harvested each month and where; the directory lets you filter by product, country, season and verification.
Without a membership you see profiles anonymously; as a Member you see each company's name, website and contact details.
How to do it
Check the calendar to see in which months and regions your product is in season.
In the directory, filter by product and country, and turn on “In season now” if you are buying right away.
Open the profile: check volumes, certifications, photos and whether the company is verified.
Save the ones you like with the star to compare them later.
Become a Member to see contact details, or request a quote and we will introduce you.
Publish your offer
How to build a profile that buyers can find and trust.
Your profile is your offer: what you produce, where from, in which months and in which presentation. The more complete it is, the easier it is to find you in the directory and the calendar.
Signing up is free.
How to do it
Create your free account and confirm your email.
Complete your company details: country, a description of at least 80 characters and your logo.
Choose your sectors and the markets where you operate, export to and import from.
Add each product with its region of origin and its season months or weeks, and upload photos (we review them before publishing).
Publish your profile and, whenever you want, request verification with your documents.
Understand Incoterms
Who pays for what and where the risk transfers, in the most common terms.
The International Chamber of Commerce's Incoterms 2020 define where the seller delivers, who pays for transport and insurance, and when the risk passes to the buyer. They do not set the price or the ownership of the goods.
The most common: EXW (the buyer collects at the seller's premises and bears almost everything), FCA (the seller delivers to the buyer's carrier, cleared for export), FOB (the seller puts the goods on board the vessel; sea only), CFR (the seller pays freight to the destination port, but risk passes once on board), CIF (like CFR, plus minimum insurance paid by the seller), DAP (the seller delivers at destination, without unloading or paying import duties) and DDP (the seller delivers at destination with import duties paid).
How to do it
Agree on the Incoterm in writing, with the exact place: “FOB Manzanillo”, “DAP Rotterdam”.
For containerised fruit, FCA is often clearer than FOB: risk passes on handover to the carrier, not on loading on board.
If you sell CFR or CIF, remember the risk during the voyage is the buyer’s even though you pay the freight.
With perishables, put in writing who buys the insurance and at what temperature the cargo travels.
Get paid safely: letter of credit
How a letter of credit works and when it makes sense to use one.
With a letter of credit, the buyer's bank undertakes to pay the seller if the seller presents, on time, the documents the letter requires (invoice, bill of lading, certificates). It gives the seller certainty of payment and the buyer certainty that payment is only made against shipping documents.
It is governed by the International Chamber of Commerce's UCP 600 rules.
How to do it
Agree in the contract on payment by letter of credit, the bank and who pays the fees.
The buyer requests it from their bank. As the seller you want it irrevocable and, if the issuing bank is in a risky country, confirmed by a bank in your own country.
Check the letter when you receive it: names, amounts, dates, ports, Incoterm and the list of documents must match what you can deliver.
Ship and present the documents exactly as the letter requires and within the deadline.
The bank checks the documents and, if they comply, pays on the agreed date.
Got a deal coming up?
Tell us the origin, destination and product, and we will propose a route, transit times and documents.
