Exporting red onions from India is a delicate dance of timing, temperature, and paperwork. In 2025, India is set to ship between 1.8 and 2.2 million tonnes of onions worldwide, with red varieties making up 70% of that volume. One small mistake—like letting the bulbs sit too long in the heat or skipping a fumigation step—can ruin an entire container.
At Sadbhaav Spices, we’ve been moving 10,000+ tons of Nashik Red onions every year for over a decade. We handle everything from the moment the bulb is pulled from the soil to the second it’s loaded onto a refrigerated ship. Our system is APEDA-registered, FSSAI-compliant, and built on end-to-end cold-chain control. This guide walks you through every stage of the journey—clearly, honestly, and with real details from our 2025 operations.
Step 1: Choosing the Right Farms and Timing the Harvest
Everything starts in Nashik, Maharashtra, India’s onion heartland. The black cotton soil here is rich in potassium and naturally low in salt, giving red onions their deep color and firm texture. We work only with farms that pass strict checks: soil pH between 6.0 and 7.5, no detectable pesticide residue, and drip irrigation to save water.
We grow three main varieties—Agrifound Dark Red, Pusa Red, and Nashik Local. Harvest happens during the Rabi season, from February to April. The signal to start is when 70% of the plants show neck fall and the outer skins turn dry and golden. Our teams begin at 5:30 AM while the air is still cool, pulling each bulb by hand and cutting the tops two inches above the neck to avoid bruising.
Step 2: Field Curing to Lock in Freshness
Freshly harvested onions carry too much moisture—around 85%. If shipped like that, they’d rot in days. So we spread them on raised bamboo mats under shade nets that block half the sunlight. Solar-powered fans keep air moving gently across the rows. Over the next three to five days, the moisture drops to 75%, and the neck wounds seal naturally.
Once cured, workers trim the roots to five millimeters and brush off loose skins. The bulbs go into 50-kilogram jute bags and ride in covered trucks to our packhouse—no longer than a four-hour trip. Temperature loggers travel with every load to make sure nothing warms up.
Step 3: Sorting and Grading at the Packhouse
Our 50,000-square-foot packhouse in Nashik runs like clockwork, processing up to 200 tons a day. Bulbs roll down a conveyor where optical sorters scan for color, size, and defects. A second machine weighs and separates them into three bands: 40–50 mm, 50–70 mm, and 70–80 mm.
Twelve trained inspectors stand at the end of the line. They toss out anything with bruises, green necks, or mold. What comes out is Grade A—deep red, perfectly round, and export-ready—or Grade B for industrial buyers. Every lot is sampled at 1% to keep quality consistent.
Step 4: Pre-Cooling and Cold Storage—The Heart of Freshness
Heat is the enemy. Within six hours of arriving at the packhouse, we lower the core temperature from 30°C to 2°C using forced-air cooling tunnels. Air flows at 1.5 cubic feet per minute per kilogram of onions, pulling the heat out fast.
From there, the bulbs move into one of three cold-storage chambers holding 15,000 metric tons total. We keep the rooms at 0–2°C with humidity between 85% and 90%. Ethylene scrubbers make sure the gas stays below one part per million, and wireless sensors on every tenth pallet send live readings to our phones. Properly stored, these onions stay fresh for four full months with almost no weight loss after the first week.
Step 5: Fumigation and Plant Health Certification
Most countries require fumigation to kill hidden pests. We use aluminum phosphide tablets—two per metric ton—inside a sealed chamber for 48 hours, followed by 24 hours of aeration. Residue tests afterward show less than 0.01 parts per million, well within EU and Japanese limits.
The Plant Protection Quarantine Station in Nashik issues a phytosanitary certificate confirming the load is free of Khapra beetle, onion smut, and neck rot. Organic shipments skip chemical fumigation and use heat treatment at 50°C for two hours instead.
Step 6: Packing for the Long Journey
Export onions travel in 20-kilogram polypropylene mesh bags with a red stripe for branding. Each bag gets a 500-gram silica gel sachet to absorb extra moisture. We print the HS code 07031010, lot number, and origin right on the bag.
Eighty bags stack neatly on heat-treated wooden pallets, wrapped in stretch film with corner boards for stability. The final height never exceeds 2.2 meters so the pallet fits inside a 40-foot high-cube reefer container.
Step 7: Paperwork That Opens Doors
We prepare every document within 24 hours of packing. The commercial invoice lists the FOB value and HS code. The packing list counts 800 bags at 20 kilograms each. The bill of lading names the reefer container. A certificate of origin from the local chamber qualifies buyers for duty breaks. Phytosanitary and fumigation certificates prove plant health, while an FSSAI health certificate confirms food safety. Insurance covers 110% of the value.
Step 8: Port Loading with Precision
We prefer Mundra port, though Nhava Sheva works too. A 40-foot reefer container is set to +1°C with ventilation at 30 cubic meters per hour. Loading starts with ventilated crates on the floor, then palletized bags in the middle, and temperature probes at the front, middle, and rear. Customs seals the door with a numbered bolt.
If the buyer wants it, SGS or Intertek inspectors verify weight, quality, and temperature before the ship leaves.
Step 9: Transit and Safe Arrival
Transit times vary: seven to ten days to the UAE, twelve to fifteen to Malaysia, and twenty-five to thirty to the UK. Every container carries a GPS logger that texts us if the temperature drifts above 3°C or below 0°C. Buyers receive a digital certificate of analysis by email the moment the ship docks, so clearance takes less than a day.
The Full Journey in Ten Days
Day 1: Harvest at dawn. Days 2–4: Field curing under shade. Day 5: Sorting and grading. Day 6: Pre-cooling and cold storage. Day 7: Fumigation. Day 8: Packing and paperwork. Day 9: Port loading. Day 10: Vessel sails.
Why Sadbhaav Delivers What Others Promise
We arrive with 99% freshness, where the industry average is 92–95%. Our rejection rate is under 0.5%. Cold-chain uptime is 100%, and lead time from order to port is seven to ten days. Seventy percent of our volume is certified organic for buyers who need it.
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From Nashik’s black soil to your warehouse door—fresh, fast, and flawless.